HAPPY BIRTHDAY TEAM DRIVERS!
Team July Birthdays and Celebrations!
Terrie Araki - July 4th!
Nob and Terrie Araki 53rd Anniversary on July 4th!
Team August Birthdays!
Carter Williams - August 2, 1998
Noah Garza - August 5, 2000
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 4th night in the Mini Sprint this season and his two wins in the first three attempts puts him 6th in points going into the night. Kolby started the night out with another poor draw for qualifying lining up 20th out of 29 cars. The track went away fast as the two fast qualifiers were the 1st and 3rd 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
May 6, 2008
Photo of the Weekend!
Justin and Mom at the team dinner. Scrapes and bruises but no staples this time!
Kelly does resemble Eva Longoria doesn't she?
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
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 4th and 7th 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 2nd overall.
Other notable drivers include Carter Williams who put his Yamaha on the pole in Rookie Sportsman and finished the day in 3rd. 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 7th 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 4th in Junior Superbox and 3rd 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
Team PKS scores two wins and ten top five finishes in round one of the IKF Region 7 Southwestern Super Series. What began as a cold and sunny day at the Cal Speed Kart facility in Fontana , California early Saturday morning turned into a colder and rainy affair on Sunday during the first IKF weekend for Team PKS in 2008.
On Saturday, Neil McCoy started off the mains with an impressive win in HPV3, then followed up on Sunday with a fourth place finish in HPV4. The next win came from one of the younger drivers, Zane Smith scoring his first IKF victory in the Rookie Sportsman class. Zane showed the field that he’s not afraid to pass and he definitely doesn't like to follow the leader. After several lead changes Zane took the lead coming to the white flag and never looked back.
Taylor Miinch rejoined Team PKS after a two year hiatus in the Birel camp. Taylor came away with two second place finishes in Junior Super Box and HPV2, and a third place finish in HPV4 Junior. Kolby Araki followed Miinch to the line in Junior Super Box to score third with Raquel Martinez in tow for fourth. Raquel posted an impressive run for third place behind Miinch in the rain in HPV2 on Sunday.
The entire team did a great job and there were some notable performances. Some of the drivers to watch this year include Carter Williams who put his cadet chassis on pole in Rookie Sportsman and Jason Hannegan who placed 3rd in Junior 1. Noah Garza is back in his Kid Kart and is sure to be at the top of the field all year.
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.