HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEAM DRIVERS!

Team January Birthdays!

Cody Moss - January 2nd

 

Bryce Volpa Wins Plaza Park Championship!

 

Bryce Volpa of Fresno, CA drove his PKS powered Junior Sprint to a track championship at Plaza Park Raceway.  Bryce held off one of the most competitive groups of drivers this class has seen in several years.  Bryce secured his championship last Friday night on his mom's birthday.  Congrats to Bryce and his family.

 

 

Zane Smith Victorious at CalSpeed CKI Race!

 

Zane Smith wins his first CKI (Championship Karting International) this past weekend at the Calspeed Karting Center in Fontana, California.  Zane started the main from the ninth spot after setting fast time in qualifying and a shakey heat race which caused him a DNF.  Zane was able to work his way up to the lead pack during the main to take advantage of a last corner pass for the lead.  Zane will travel with the team to Oklahoma for the season finale. 

 

July 30, 2009

  Team PKS Topkart USA at the Nationals!

 

   Miinch and Kay Win in Final Two Days of Nationals

Taylor Miinch has another Duffy to add to his collection.  Taylor captured his fourth national title by winning the HPV2 Junior class of Friday.  Taylor secured his expert plates last year by winning three classes in one event.   Cody Kay went on to win his third Duffy of the weekend in Junior Super Sportsman on Saturday.  Team owner Glenn Araki would like to congratulate the entire team and thank all of the team families and friends for their support.   

   

   Brennen Mankin Wins Rookie Sportsman!

Team PKS cadet driver Brennen Mankin of Fresno, California took home his first Duffy in the Rookie Sportsman class.  It was all about emotions at the trophy presentations as Brennen dedicated his win to the recent passing of Nob Araki.    

 

Team PKS Driver Cody Kay Scores two Duffies!

Cody Kay is one of the latest drivers to join Team PKS Topkart USA.  Cody joined forces with PKS just in time to compete at the IKF Grand Nationals at his home track in Reno, Nevada.  Cody's dad hired National Champion, Neil McCoy for tuning duties which paid off big.  Cody started off on day one by winning the Junior Sportsman Class then backed that up with a last lap pass to win the Junior Super Sportsman Class on Thursday.  The two wins captured the Junior Expert status for Cody which places him among a small field of junior expert drivers with Taylor Miinch, Raquel Martinez and Camden Geise.  Cody and the rest of Team PKS have two more days of racing.  Stay tuned for news and results.

 

      

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2009

Kolby Wins Wingless Class in Lemoore

While the PKS kart team was over in Reno, Nevada all week to race for a National title, Kolby was at home trying to continue developing  his dirt track skills.  It's all starting coming together Saturday night at Lemoore as Kolby put his PMP chassis on the pole in qualifying among 15 drivers.  This was only Kolby's third wingless show this year but he looked like a veteran.  Kolby went on to win the main event, pulling away from the field.  It was a special night as Lemoore Raceway and KE Promotions dedicated the evening the the recent passing of Kolby's grandpa, Nob Araki.    Kolby would like to thank PKS Kart Suppliles, Primerica, Graphix Plus, and Meclec Metal Finishing for their support.

June 22, 2009

Bryce Volpa Wins Outlaw Nationals

The 2009 Mini Sprint Outlaw Nationals were held this past weekend at the Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia California.  Team drivers Bryce Volpa and Ryan Perry in the Junior Sprint Division and Kolby Araki in the Super 600 class were on hand to battle over 80 other drivers entered for the event.  The Outlaw Nationals is a gathering of the fastest mini sprint drivers in the western US and has been an ongoing event since the mid 80's.

Bryce Volpa in his PKS powered PMP chassis was the big winner of the weekend with a main event win on Saturday night.  Bryce blistered the track beating his competition by a whole straightaway. Ryan and Kolby both experienced crashes during their main events while running strong during the weekend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 14, 2009

Buttonwillow Region 7 Report

Team PKS brought back 5 poles and 8 top five finishes from round two of the IKF Region 7 Series.  The team couldn't seem to get to the top of the podium as two drivers were beat in three classes by a total of less than a half second.  Brennen Mankin finished second behind four class winner Brendan Baker by less than .009 seconds in one class and .02 seconds in the other.  Both races were spectacular as the top drivers diced the entire race.  Kolby Araki won the pole in PRD TAG but found trouble in the heat race breaking a drive chain with a 3 second lead.  Timmy Bachman stole the show in the PRD main with a 22nd place start and a 5th place finish.  Timmy won the Hard Charger award for passing the most karts.  Kolby was quick again on Sunday in the HPV2 class.  Kolby and Position One driver Bobby Kelley swapped leads for the first two laps then settled in to leave the field.  Kolby made a last turn effort for the lead and the two drag raced down the straight where Kelley beat Kolby by .02 seconds.  Carter Williams captured the pole in  Junior 1 but was bitten by the same Baker that Mankin encountered.  Carter placed second in an impressive drive.

 

February 11, 2009

Timmy Bachman Re-unites with Team PKS

Team PKS would like to welcome Timmy Bachman back to Team PKS.  Timmy will join Neil McCoy as one of the team senior drivers competing in TAG Senior in the IKF and STARS events.

 

February 8, 2009

Team PKS IKF Region 7 Round 1 Results - Calspeed (Top Five)

Saturday

HPV2 - Taylor Miinch 2nd

Junior Super Sportsman - Taylor Miinch 1st

Rookie Sportsman - Zane Smith 4th, Brennen Mankin 5th

HPV4 Senior - Colby Wright 4th

Tag - Neil McCoy 2nd, Timmy Bachman 5th

 

Sunday

HPV1 - Brennen Mankin 2nd, Carter Williams 4th

HPV2 - Taylor Miinch 1st

Jr. Super Sportsman - Taylor Miinch 1st

Junior 1 - Carter Williams 2nd

 

December 25, 2008

Glenn Araki Elected to IKF Board of Directors

 

October 31, 2008

Team PKS Topkart USA - IKF Region 7 Champions!

Neil McCoy - HPV3 Senior & HPV4 Senior

Zane Smith - Junior 1 & Rookie Sportsman

Noah Garza - Kid Kart Heavy

 

September 9, 2008

 

Buttowillow Raceway IKF Region 7 Report

    Round 7 of the IKF Region 7 Southwestern Super Series sponsored by Bridgestone Tires was held under the bright hot sun in the Bakersfield Desert at the Buttonwillow Raceway Park this past September 6-7.

    Team PKS Topkart USA continued their winning streak coming home with three wins and 16 top five finishes.  Kid Kart pilot, Noah Garza found his way to the checkered taking the win on Sunday after placing second on Saturday.  The Kid Kart class has always been very competitive and the success of these drivers seems to carry right into the cadet classes.  Zane Smith is proof of this as the nine year old multiple winner takes another one in HPV1 with his Fleming powered Topkart.  Zane lead most of the main and held off a late charge from team driver Carter Williams who ended up third.  Zane also finished third in Junior 1.  Neil McCoy was once again on his game in HPV4 bringing home the win on his P1 Engines powered Topkart Flash.  Neil also finished 3^rd in HPV3 on Saturday.     

    Other notable finishes include Jason Hannegan with a third in HPV1 and fifth in Junior 1, Brennan Mankin with a second place finish and pole qualifying effort in Rookie Sportsman, Kyle Blum with a fourth place finish in Junior 1, Raquel Martinez with a second place finish in both HPV2 and Junior Super Sportsman, a third place finish in HPV2 by Branden Underwood, and Kolby Araki with a third in Junior Super Sportsman and fifth in HPV2.

    The entire team has come along way this season especially the new young drivers.  Team manager Glenn Araki has been very impressed with the efforts of all of the team drivers and their parents and hopes that their success will continue to grow.  Team PKS Topkart USA will head to the final round the first weekend of October at the Grange Motor Circuit, located in the California Desert south of Barstow.  

    Glenn would like to thank IKF, Region 7, Bakersfield Kart Club, Buttonwillow Raceway Park and all of the event sponsors for another great event.

August 10, 2008

 

IKF Grand Nationals Report

 

   Team PKS Topkart USA spent the past week in under the beautiful skies of Santa Maria, California for the 2008 IKF Sprint Grand Nationals.  The team was more prepared and ready for racing than ever before and it was all evident as the week progressed.  Team PKS nailed down 7 Duffies (wins), 27 top fives, 4 Screaming Eagles (fast qualifier), two new senior experts and one new junior expert.  Winners included Raquel Martinez in Junior Sportsman, Neil McCoy in Senior Super Sportsman, Garrett Wright in Senior Sportsman, and Zane Smith in Rookie Sportsman.  The big winner of the week was young Taylor Miinch who put together a dominating performance in Junior Super Sportsman, Junior Super Sportsman Heavy and HPV2, earning his junior expert plates.  Garret Wright and Neil Mcoy's wins added to previous National wins to earn both of them their Senior Expert Plates.  

 

    Team manager, Glenn Araki was very pleased with the performance of all of the team members and especially proud of the team effort between drivers and crews.  All of this success is attributed to un-selfishness and willingness to share information and equipment.  Glenn and would like to thank Mike from Grand Products, Team Kartel Topkart USA and Team Empire Topkart USA for all of their help and support during the week.

 

 

July 22, 2008

 

Team PKS TopKart USA prepares for Grand Nationals

 

   Team Manager, Glenn Araki is busy getting his team ready for the IKF Grand Nationals to be held at the Santa Maria Kart Track from July 28 thru August 2.  The team will compete in every class offered from Kid Kart to Senior TAG.  Stay tuned for news and results.

 

July 20, 2008

 

Kolby Makes it Five Feature Wins at Plaza Park!

 

   Kolby started the night qualifying in the P8 spot among 29 cars which put him in the P3 spot for the heat race.  Kolby won his heat race and finally found some luck with a draw that put him off pole for the feature.  Cohen Shaw paced the field from the pole in the main and took off at the green leaving Kolby about a half straight back.  As the race progressed, Kolby's car began to come in as he began to real Shaw in.  Lapped traffic proved to be Shaw's demise as Kolby caught, passed and put lappers between himself and Shaw.  With 6 laps reaming a yellow flew for a spin.  At the drop of the green, Kolby had three lapped cars between himself and second place allowing him to cruise to the win.

 

   This makes five wins at Plaza Park for Kolby as he leaves the weekend second in points after missing two races.  Kolby will miss a third race next weekend to attend the gokart Nationals in Santa Maria, California.

 

 

June 30, 2008

 

Team PKS TopKart USA Scores Three Wins at Santa Maria

 

   Team PKS TopKart USA spent last weekend at the Santa Maria Kart track for the IKF Region 7 Southwestern Super Series.  This is considered a pre-race for the Grand Nationals scheduled at the same facility the last week of July.  The team came home with 3 wins and 16 top five finishes.

 

   Junior driver Taylor Miinch came back from an IKF break to win the HPV4 class on Saturday and followed that up with a second place in both HPV2 and Junior Super Sportsman.  Noah Garza was on fire all weekend taking first and third in the two Kid Kart classes.  Cadet drive Kyle Blum has been fast all year but hasn’t been able to capture the win, until this weekend where he ran off from the field in Rookie Sportsman.  Kyle also finished in the top five in Junior 1. 

 

   With 16 top five finishes for the team this past weekend, the outlook for the Nationals is pretty good for Team PKS. 

 

June 6, 2008

Kolby Makes it Three for Four in the Mini Sprint

   Friday night was the sixth race of the 2008 Mini Sprint season at Plaza Park Raceway. Fuel prices and graduation parties didn’t keep the competition or fans away from the track.  This was Kolby’s 4^th night in the Mini Sprint this season and his two wins in the first three attempts puts him 6^th in points going into the night.  Kolby started the night out with another poor draw for qualifying lining up 20^th out of 29 cars.  The track went away fast as the two fast qualifiers were the 1^st and 3^rd cars on the track.  Kolby hugged the bottom on both his qualifying laps and was able to take the P12 position. 

   Kolby would start his heat from the P2 spot where all he would need is a top four to put his Yamaha powered PMP Chassis in the main event.  Kolby jumped into the lead and then tested out the track from top to bottom.  Kolby finished the heat in second which would put him in the P10 spot for the main after the two fastest qualifiers failed to transfer directly to the main event.

   At the drop of the green flag in the main, Kolby dove to the bottom of turn one where some of the cars pushed up on the dry slick track allowing Kolby to get by two of them.  By lap 6 Kolby was in P7 then the yellow flew on lap 8.  Prior to the yellow, most of the field was trying to hug the bottom and a second groove was developing in the middle but nobody was ready to run the cushion which was way at the wall.   On the restart, Kolby went to the cushion and started passing.  One by one Kolby worked his way up to P3, then with four laps to go, caught Austin Ligget and passed  for P2.  Lapped traffic brought the leader, Cody Smotherman to Kolby and the race was on.  Kolby up on the top was able to catch and pass Smotherman on the last lap for the win.

   Three wins in four attempts this year for Kolby.    Kolby would like to thank PKS Kart Supplies, Graphix Plus, the Perry Family at Primerica, TNA Embroidery, and TRP Motorsports.

 

June 2, 2008

McCoy and Smith win at Calspeed

Neil McCoy posted another win in the HPV3 class at the fifth round of the IKF Region 7 Series at Calspeed.  Neil also finished third in both the HPV4 and TAG classes.  A brake problem in qualifying spoiled Neil's chances at winning the Pro Tag event on Sunday.   Zane Smith is still on fire in the Cadet class posting another win in the Junior 1 Division.  Zane also finished 2nd in HPV1 and 4th in Rookie Sportsman.  Jason Hannegan had a great weekend placing second in both the Rookie Sportsman and HPV1 after a great battle for the lead in both classes.  Noah Garza drove his Topkart to two second place finishes in both Kid Kart classes during the weekend.  The PKS team will be heading to Santa Maria for Round 6 and a preliminary race for the IKF Grand Nationals in July.

 

June 2, 2008

Glenn Defends Tire Change Title at CalSpeed

Two years ago PKS team manager, Glenn Araki schooled the young gun tire changers at the first ever Region 7 Tire Change Competition at CalSpeed.   The competition had two years to prepare for their revenge but when it was all said and done, Glenn took the title once again by just 2 seconds.  The competition once again had controversy as Cory Pollock's first attempt, which looked to be a quick time was stopped due to a timing error.  Cory's second attempt wasn't good enough for the win.  Christina (Glenn's wife) was the big winner taking the $300 prize to go shopping for new shoes.

    

Louie Pagano (DPK) won the Junior Division beating Kolby Araki by only .02 seconds.  Louie actually changed the tire in just over 7 seconds but it took him 4 seconds to get back up off the ground.  Kolby will be spending the summer changing tires at PKS in preparation for the next event at Santa Maria.

 

May 18, 2008

Kolby wins Feature at Pepsi Challenge

Night One

  The first race of a double feature at the Plaza Park Raceway started Friday night on the high banked clay oval in Visalia.  Kolby drew a late qualifying spot which put him on a much dryer surface than earlier in the night.  Kolby managed to qualify his car in the third spot out of 28 cars just four hundredths of a second off the pole.   After a second place finish in the heat race, Kolby would start the main in the third spot. 

   On the start Kolby assumed the P3 spot chasing leader Trent Carter and Dominic Scelzi in second.  The three chased each other for ten laps, then fourth place car Tyler Williams caught the group in traffic.  Dominic went for the lead on lap 11 while Kolby, Carter, and Williams were all side-by-side for second.  On lap 14 Scelzi got caught up in a lapped traffic roll-over and was done for the night.  This left Kolby behind Carter for the re-start.  Kolby jumped to the high side at the green with Carter way at the bottom.  The two ran side-by-side for three laps until Kolby snuck by for the win.  Carter ended up second with Williams in third.  This was Kolby's second night out this year in the 600cc mini sprint and his second win. 

Night 2

  The second night of the Pepsi Challenge started with another bad qualifying draw putting Kolby on the track late in the line-up.  With two days of racing, it's almost impossible to have a decent track on the second day as number one qualifier Tyler Williams put his car on pole.  Kolby was the 26th car of 33 to qualify and he settled for a P12 effort.  Kolby would start and end his heat race in the P2 spot which landed him in the P11 starting spot for the main event.  

  On the start is was three wide with everyone trying to figure out where the track was as Kolby was stuck at the bottom.  It took about 11 laps for Kolby to find a clear spot to get to the top and start passing.  Kolby worked his way up to the sixth spot with 7 laps remaining as a yellow flew for a spin.  As the green waved, Kolby jumped back to the top but the front runners went with him.  Kolby managed to pass one more and finished 5th side-by-side with P4.  Congrats to former kart racer Tyler Williams for his first win at Plaza Park.

Other team drivers who had a great night include Ryan Perry, Bryce Volpa and Brayden Perry who all finished in the top ten in the Junior Sprint Division.

Kolby would like to thank all of his sponsors, PKS Kart Supplies, Graphix Plus, Primerica, TRP Motorsports, and TNA Emroidery.  Special thanks to Shaw Structures Unlimited and Graphics Emporium for the extra prizes and trophies.

May 8, 2008

Team PKS Leads Five Classes at Halfway Point

  At the half way point of the IKF Region 7 Southwestern Super Series Team PKS Topkart USA is leading five classes including Neil McCoy and Zane Smith with 2 classes each and Kolby Araki in HPV 2.

Carter Williams had great weekend at Willow Springs with his first IKF win in Rookie Sportsman followed up by a couple of 2nd place finishes in HPV1 and Jr 1.  Zane Smith won the Junior 1 class with Williams and Jason Hannegan sweeping the top three.  Taylor Miinch came back after a string of races in the STARS series to capture the win in HPV 2.  Dylan Albiani came back to the karts for his first senior race testing the Topkart Flash in an impressive way by taking the pole and winning  HPV 3.  Raquel Martinez is back on her game taking 2nd in Junior Superbox and 4th in HPV 2.

"I would again like to thank everyone for there continued hard work and support."

Glenn Araki, Team Manager

 

April 19, 2008

Kolby Araki is Feature Winner at Plaza Park Raceway

 

With an off weekend in karts, Kolby took the  opportunity get get his 600cc mini sprint onto the track at the second season race at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, California.  With Kolby suffering from a touch of the flu bug, things started off slow with a less than stellar qualifying attempt that put Kolby in the 8th spot in the 28 car field. 

    This put Kolby in the third starting spot in the qualifying heat race which requires a P4 finish to secure a starting spot in the final.  Kolby made his way to the lead by lap 3 then got punted going into turn one sending him to the back on the restart.  After a great restart, Kolby got past two cars then worked his way up to p3 where he finished.  This would put Kolby in the p5 position for the main event.

   IN the main, Kolby got a great start jumping into p3 coming out of turn 2.  A five car battle for the lead saw some of the best side by side action of the night.  Kolby worked his way past p3 then went to work on the leader.  Kolby and the leader spent the next several laps running side by side and when Kolby finally got past the leader, the yellow flew for a spin.  Racing action would get back underway and Kolby would stick to the very dry slick bottom as the leader ran the cushion on the high side.  Side by side again Kolby would beat the leader to the line again then a red flew for a flip in turn four.

    Making some adjustments to the car during the red paid off as Kolby got passed the leader within a couple of laps and never looked back taking his first feature win  since moving up to the 600cc class last year.

    Kolby would like to thank PKS Kart Supplies, Graphix Plus, TNA Designs, Primerica, TRP Motorsports, and Brad Espinoza Paint for all of their help and his crew, dad and Tyson for all their hard work in the pits. Kolby would also like to thank all of his friends and family for coming out to the races to support him.

 

April 8, 2008

Team PKS TopKart USA scores three wins at Apex!

 

    Round three of the IKF Southwestern Super Series found Team PKS TopKart USA at the refurbished Apex Speedway facility in Perris California.  Clear to overcast skies in Southern California made this another beautiful weekend for sprint kart racing.  The team scored 13 podium finishes including 3 wins. 

 

    Neil McCoy was on his game once again setting the example for the team in his HPV3 powered TopKart Flash as he paced the field to the first team victory of the weekend.  Neil made another run for a win in HPV4 but settled in for a P4 finish with team driver Garrett Wright just behind for sixth.

 

    Zane Smith proved to himself and to everyone else that his win at the opening round at CalSpeed was no fluke.  A decent qualifying effort in Rookie Sportsman put Zane in P6 for the heat race, but engine problems dropped him back placing him in the 9th spot on the grid for the final.  It didn’t take Zane long to get to the front of the pack as he lead the way to the teams second win of the weekend.  Zane also placed 3rd in Junior 1 and 4th in HPV1 to complete his podium weekend.

 

    The third team win came from Kolby Araki in his Position One powered Flash in the HPV2 Class.  Kolby qualified in P6 and worked that into a P4 starting position in the final race.  Kolby started the final right behind team driver Raquel Martinez outside of the CRG team drivers.  Raquel got a jump to turn one but ended up off the track ending her day.  This put Kolby in P3 behind team CRG.  Kolby moved into P2 on lap 2 and set out on the chase for the leader, Dylan Nobile.  Kolby caught Nobile with 6 laps to go and stayed attached to his rear bumper until the last lap where Kolby made the pass to take the checkered.  Team driver Branden Underwood in his Position One powered Top Kart placed third right behind the leaders.

 

    Other notable finish included Branden Underwood’s impressive drive in Junior Superbox finishing second, Jason Hannegan who placed 4th in Junior 1 and 5th in HPV1, Carter Williams who placed 5th in Rookie Sportsman, and Noah Garza with a fifth and 4th in Kid Kart and Kid Kart Heavy.

 

    Team Manager, Glenn Araki stated he is very impressed with the entire team from the rookies to the veterans.  And he would like to thank all of the team members, their families and all of their sponsors for all of the support and the great dinner on Saturday night.  Glenn would also like to thank the series sponsors, Apex Raceway and Tri-C Karters for a great event.

 

    The next IKF Region 7 race event is scheduled at Willow Springs on May 3 & 4th, 2008.

 

 

March 13, 2008

Team PKS Tokpart USA Buffalo Bill's Report

    Round 2 of the IKF Southwestern Super Series was held this past weekend under the beautiful skies of Primm, Nevada on a temporary course at Buffalo Bill’s Hotel Casino.  Team PKS Topkart USA was on hand coming away with three wins, thirteen top fives and 3 poles. 

    Taylor Miinch grabbed the first win for the team in the highly competitive Junior Superbox class.  Miinch has been on a roll scoring several wins in the past couple of events.

    Newcomer to the team, Jason Hannegan put his Topkart on pole in HPV1, then backed it up with his first win in the IKF Region 7 series.  Also in the hunt within the lead pack were team drivers Zane Smith and Kyle Blum who finished 4^th and 7^th respectively.

    Neil McCoy continued his winning streak by leading the Senior HPV4 drivers to the checkered flag on Sunday.  Neil also had an impressive run in HPV3 finishing 2^nd overall.

    Other notable drivers include Carter Williams who put his Yamaha on the pole in Rookie Sportsman and finished the day in 3^rd.  Noah Garza put his Topkart on the pole in the Kid Kart class on Saturday but an on-track incident pushed him back to finish 7^th in the main.  Kolby Araki had two impressive main events in both the Junior Superbox and HPV2 classes.  After starting both mains back in the field, Kolby came away with a 4^th in Junior Superbox and 3^rd in HPV2.

    Team PKS Topkart USA will catch up to the IKF Region 7 Series next month at the APEX Kart Track in Perris, California.  Team manager, Glenn Araki would like to thank each and every one of the Team Members for there continued hard work and support.         

 

February 7, 2008

Team Results from Calspeed

 

January 15, 2008

     The PKS website is back in service.  We'll keep you up to date with the latest news and events.  

 

December 7, 2007

    Team PKS was at Buttonwillow last weekend for the 2007 Michael Clark Memorial Pro Race this past weekend.  The Junior Superbox class was dominated by the PKS drivers with Timmy Bachman taking the gold with Kolby Araki and Mason Marotta all together at the finishline.  Neil McCoy represented PKS in the senior pro race.  Neil got off to a bad start in the main avoiding a crash in turn one and was able to claw his way back to finish fourth.