OVKA will be hosting an Opening Day Test & Tune Event at the freshly repaved G&J Kartway on SATURDAY March 2nd. We will kick off the day with an open track walk, followed by Ceremonial First Laps for Gary and the Gregg Family, followed by a Structured Practice Day from 10-4 to give everyone safe and useful track time on the new surface.

The event will be $25/entry and the tentative format for the day is shown here. Run groups & session duration may be updated depending on turnout for the event, and the event date & schedule are subject to change due to weather. We will keep everyone updated as the day approaches. We hope to see you out to celebrate the new track surface!

View the February Board Meeting Agenda HERE for the upcoming meeting on 2/6/2024 at 7:00pm at the link on the Board Meeting Page.

The 38th Annual OVKA Kart Racing Swap Meet is THIS SATURDAY, February 3rd, 2024. Below is the Vendor Map and Information for Load-In. There are just a couple of spaces left, so we will leave registration open through the end of the week for stragglers.
UPDATE: We've added a few more vendors and shuffled a couple of spaces, please review the new map. There are just 6 spaces left!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD VENDOR MAP
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD VENDOR LIST
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD VENDOR INSTRUCTIONS

The Official 2024 Rulebook and Schedule have been ratified by the OVKA Board for the upcoming season, and have been updated on their respective pages.

The 2024 OVKA Schedule contains two races on new configurations at G&J Kartway labeled as "X Configs." These will use the Turn 2 cut-through on every lap, as opposed to just racing Lap 1. We're excited to see you all out at the racetrack for the upcoming season!

We're excited to see you all on Saturday, January 20th for our 2023 Season Awards Banquet. Details at the Banquet Page. You can view the Board Meeting Agenda for the 2:00pm meeting HERE.

TIRE EXCHANGE:

OVKA and Hoosier Kartsport will be offering a Tire Exchange at the OVKA Swap Meet on February 3rd, where you can exchange NEW, IN-WRAPPER R60B compound tires for new R70 compound tires of equivalent size. To help us prepare, please let us know how many R60B tires you plan to exchange by filling out the form HERE.

Remember: OVKA will be running R70 compound tires for ALL CLASSES in 2024.

VIEW the Agenda for the upcoming January Board Meeting, which will be held on TUESDAY, January 2nd at 7:00pm, online at the link on the Board Meeting page.

The Swap Meet is proud to offer two different Tech Training Classes through our partners at RIX Tech Tools and Carlson Motorsports for 2024:

AKRA Tech Certification Class

with Don Gordner, AKRA Tech Director

Receive your AKRA Tech Certification

Training on: LO206, Clone Box Stock, Ducar 212 engines

To Sign-Up, contact Lewis Stout of Rix Tech Tools

Phone: 423-790-0468

email: sales@rixtechtools.com

Briggs LO206 Technical Evaluation Class

with Brian Carlson, Carlson Motorsports

Designed for track tech staff, race teams, and individuals

Become proficient in technical evaluation based on Briggs ruleset

Engine tear-down and parts evaluation

Fundamentals of keeping your LO206 race engine legal

***NOT an Official Briggs Tech Certification***

To Sign-Up, contact Brian Carlson:

Phone: 765-339-4407

email: bcarlson@carlsonmotorsports.com

***These trainings are offered through our OVKA Swap Meet Partners but are not organized or conducted by the OVKA***

REMINDER: As announced last month, OVKA will be moving to the Hoosier Racing Tire R70 slick tire compound for the 2024 season for ALL CLASSES.

OVKA and Hoosier Kartsport are working together to provide a tire exchange at the OVKA Swap Meet on February 3rd, where new, unopened, in-wrapper R60B tires can be freely exchanged for brand new R70 compound tires.

We will also be giving out new R70 compound tires as part of our 2023 participation awards and raffle prizes at the Awards Banquet on January 20th (Registration at: OVKA.com/banquet)

Due to this exchange, there will NOT be a grace period for R60B tires in the 2024 OVKA Championship Season, since the R60B compound would present a performance differential to the new R70.

Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to sharing the full 2024 rulebook & schedule with you in the coming weeks, and are excited to have you all on track with us in 2024!

The Seminar Schedule for the OVKA Swap Meet has been released.

Sign-Up today at:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094BAAA623ABFC1-46760956-2024#/

Seminars are free to attend with paid entry to the Swap Meet. Registration helps us ensure that each room is sized and setup appropriately for the attendees. This year's classes include:

Intro to Karting Open House (9:00am - 1:30pm)

with Elliot & Ethan Bokeno and OVKA Karting Ambassadors

Welcoming Remarks & Basic Karting Explainer - 9:00am

Open Q&A session until 1:30 pm with OVKA Karting Ambassadors

Hands-On Explainers and Technical Help

Get a Head-Start as a new racer by reading our Intro to Karting Guide

Branding Speed: How to Market Your Club Racing Team and Create the Image You Want (9:30am - 10:30am)

with Fritz Wilke of Ollie Rocket Racing

How to apply motorsports branding lessons to your your race team

Marketing yourself to sponsors and partners

Building and Growing your brand personality

Foundation to Victory: Exploring Fundamental Kart Chassis Tuning Strategies (11:00am - 12:00pm)

with Dan Schlosser of Pro Kart Concepts

Sprint Karting chassis setup

Handling change characteristics

At-the-track tuning strategies

Unleashing Power: Optimizing Performance of the Briggs & Stratton LO206 (12:30 - 1:30)

with Gary Lawson of Lawson Speed Shop

Maintenance tips and tricks

Getting the most out of LO206 performance

Tuning and Gearing

Learn more about the OVKA Swap Meet HERE

The following list of classes has been submitted to the OVKA Board as part of the 2024 Rules for final approval. The changes and additions include:

-IAME Micro Swift will run as a points class (225 lbs kart+driver, w/ IAME 16mm restrictor)
-206 Senior and 100cc Senior weights will return down to 360 lbs to align with national series
-206 Masters and 100cc Masters age requirement is lowered to 30 years-old to align with national series
-206 Legends will be added for age 50 & up (390 lbs kart+driver)
-OVKA 420 will return as a points class (450 lbs kart+driver)

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE CLASS SHEET

View the upcoming board meeting agenda occurring Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00pm via Microsoft Teams

Reminder: The January Board Meeting will be held in-person at the 2023 Season Award Banquet and not on the regular 1st Tuesday of the month Date.

OVKA will be hosting an Opening Day Test & Tune Event for the freshly repaved G&J Kartway on March 2nd, 2024! We will kick off the day with Ceremonial First Laps for the Gregg Family, followed by a Structured Practice Day to give everyone safe and useful track time on the new surface.

The tentative format for the day is shown here. We will keep you updated as we get closer to the Spring and as always, format, schedule, and date will be subject to change due to cooperating weather.

The Official Schedule for our 60th Anniversary Season is also here! A couple of updates from the Tentative Schedule we released in October:

>No Spring Clean-Up Day: we will be taking care of our regular track preparations in the off-season as we continue working with our contractors on new curbs, upgraded electric, and restroom renovations for the Spring.

>Points Race #1 has been shifted back one week to April 28th to deconflict with the CKNA date.

>Weather Dates have been added.

We will be revealing the full details, with Formats & Configurations at the OVKA Banquet on January 20th. We hope to see you out for an exciting Anniversary Season on the fresh track!

Our 2023 Season Banquet will be held on January 20th, 2024 at the Cincinnati Marriott North in West Chester, Ohio.

Registration is now live at OVKA.com/banquet/ including tickets for the Dinner & Awards Ceremony and a link to book hotel rooms at the discounted OVKA rate. Your annual letters with final points and participation breakdowns will be sent out in the coming days.

Please complete registration before January 13th, 2024.

We will also be offering a chaperoned experience at Main Event West Chester for our younger members after the awards banquet for a place to play and catch up! This 2-hour event will offer 2 hours of unlimited bowling, laser tag, high ropes and 1 hour of unlimited arcade time with snacks and drinks, and is available for signup at the registration link or on the print & mail banquet registration form.

Come out and join us for a great evening to celebrate the 2023 Season!

The OVKA Board has voted on our Spec Tire compounds for the 2024 season:

ALL CLASSES will run the Hoosier R70 slick tire and Hoosier WET compound rain tire.

This is a change for most classes from the R60B compound used in 2023, based on the positive feedback we collected during the season from our 100cc Masters/Heavy trial of the R70. The OVKA Board will provide details at our December meeting about opportunities to swap out any unopened Hoosier tires and discuss if we will allow a grace period for leftover R60Bs.