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About
Peterson Racing
Peterson racing actually began in Duluth, MN in 1957, although I
didn't know it at the time. I was fooling around with a Soap Box
Derby kart. It didn't make any sense to me that it would only coast,
so I asked my grandfather if I could have one of his old lawnmower
engines.
With his approval, I crudely mounted it on my wooden soap box frame
and rigged a belt and pulley system to drive the rear wheel. We
started putting around the neighborhood streets and alleys having a
ball.
A lot of the fun came from the fact that we didn't have any brakes,
something that made sense at the time. This was made even more
exciting by the fact that Duluth is built on the side of a very long
and steep hill. You'd be surprised at how foot dragging can
substitute for a brake when necessary. The other complication came
from the fact that the police did not see our vehicle in quite the
positive light that we did. My mother didn't like it either.
Shortly thereafter a real go-kart track opened in Duluth. Of course
it had rentals, but there were a few guys screaming around it on
neat looking karts with West-Bend engines. I immediately started
saving and began pestering my dad relentlessly.
Eventually, we ordered a new kart (I can't even remember the name)
with a West Bend. However, it came with a yellow McCulloch, then
called an MC6. After a year or so, we graduated to a Dart Kart with
the new MC7, and eventually, an MC9. At picture of the classis
1960's Dart Kart is at right. Below is the logo of McCulloch, the
fastest and most cantankerous engine of the era. Click on both to
enlarge.
My dad and I raced it all over Minnesota between 1959 to 1964, even
traveling to Rock Island, Ill to compete in the IKF regional. I was
5th out of 38. At that time you had to be in the top 3 to go to the
nationals in California. We accumulated a room full of trophies and
lasting memories..
Thirty years later in Sparks, NV, my middle son Jess was digging in
some old storage boxes. In he walked with an old go kart trophy
asking what it was. Was it a go kart like the ones at Costco? No,
far from it.
He kept on me over the next few days with requests for further
information. Looking up "go kart" in the phone book I was surprised
to discover a local shop, whose proprietors informed me that there
was a local track and that Karting was alive and well. A trip to the
Reno kart track convinced me that there was some serious racing
going on here. It took me two weeks to show up with two cadet karts
with comers for my younger two sons.
The first year was tough, although Jess and Andrew managed to finish
#1 and #2 in the No. Nevada Jr. I Class, mainly due to a lack of
competition. Jess won the class again the next year, and Andrew won
it the 3rd year, 1999. Matt was Jr. Sportsmen Champion in 1998 and
Jr. Super Sportsmen Champion in 1999. The crowning achievement, of
course, was when Jess won a Duffy at the IKF nationals in Jr. I
2-cycle at Santa Maria, CA.
Amazingly, the boys have continued to excel. At the 2001 IKF
Nationals in Santa Maria, CA Jess won Screaming Eagles in Jr Super
Sportsman and HPV 2. In 2002 we decided to try running 4 cycles to
improve our smoothness. At the 2002 4 Cycle Nationals in Spokane, WA
Jess won 3 Screaming Eagles for fast time and 2 Duffy's. A third one
escaped us when his carb broke with a straightaway lead. The 2002 2
Cycle Nationals in Marshalltown, Iowa were truly amazing for us.
Jess won a Duffy in the Jr Super Sportsman class. But to everybody's
delight Matt won both the Screaming Eagle and Duffy in Sr Sportsman,
Sr Super Sportsman light and Sr Super Sportsman heavy. Everybody was
happy for Matt as he had historically been second fiddle to his
younger brother. What a thrill as I put yellow stickers on Matt's
kart as he earned his IKF expert status.
The year 2003 was a real challenge for us. We now were faced with
Jess moving up to the senior classes. We wanted to race just
selected venues, some IKF Region 7 and Region 11 regional. We did
that with some success, mainly in the Sportsman classes. Our intent
was to run a light schedule and concentrate on the IKF 2 Cycle
Sprint Nationals at the Tri-City Kart Club in Richland, Washington.
Our hope was to get my younger son Jess his IKF expert status and
yellow plates. Again Jeff Nelson and Shawn Regula at Invader came
through for us with a spectacular chassis design that emphasized
rolling through the corners. And, as usual, Carl Woltjer provided us
with Sportsman and Supercan engines that were just spectacular. The
combination was very formidable as Jess won 3 Duffy's in Senior
Sportsman, and both supercan classes. Matt and Jess became the third
brother combination in IKF history to earn expert status.
The photo top right shows Matt getting his yellow plates from Shawn
Regula, our long time friend. Shawn now works with Kyle Adkins at
his shop in Ohio. At bottom right is Jess crossing the finish line
in Richland, WA.
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