NEWS
There are still a few pit spaces for the 2024 OVKA season available at G&J Kartway. Please check the updated map HERE to see which spaces are open. You can contact our Pit Space Coordinator Rex Johnson at the information on the 2024 Pit Space Reservation form HERE to reserve your space. We'll see you at the track!
G&J Kartway has requested that trailers not be moved into the track until April 6th, the weekend before Karting 101 & the Charity Race.
ATTENTION OVKA MEMBERS:
G&J Kartway crews have been hard at work cutting out the legacy turtles and pouring new, modern apex and runoff curbing around the facility. They will continue to work next week to be ready for the 2024 OVKA Season. That being said, we do not believe that the new concrete will be 100% ready on our March 30th opening day as we had hoped.
Instead, on March 30th we will be transitioning our Opening Day Event to our annual Clean-Up Day. We welcome all OVKA members and friends out to the track to help position crash bags, garbage cans, and help get get the rest of the track ready for the 2024 season. This will be a great help to G&J Kartway be ready for reopening. We will meet at 10am and lunch will be provided for all volunteers.
Thanks for following along with us in the off-season and we can't wait to celebrate our 60th Anniversary Season with you!
Please contact Aaron Banfield or Elliot Bokeno with any questions.
TRACK UPDATE: After some scheduling delays, we have broken ground on installation of modern FIA curbing at G&J Kartway, with concrete work beginning this week. Unfortunately, this effort will require us to postpone our planned Opening Day Event. We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we work to bring these exciting updates to this historic facility. We will tentatively set our new Opening Day date for Saturday, March 30, to give the new concrete time to cure and finish grading and sodding the track edges where they meet the new surface levels.
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)
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.