Summer 2006 - Jess Peterson is the 2006 Western ICA Stars Champion!

Summer 2006 saw us continue our Stars of Karting campaign. After finishing a safe 18th in the rain in Norman, we headed to Tucson and a brand new track modeled after the famed Suzuka course. Saturday we were leading the race when we lost a bottom end. Nevertheless, we finished 6th. There was so much wind and dust that only 4 racers finished out of the 18 or so that started the race. The tempermental Ica's with Burris Oil just could not handle the conditions. Sunday, the same thing happened as only 4 racers finished the race, one of them being Jess in 4th place. To survive, he richened the carb to the extent that he looked like a steam engine in the old west going down the straighaway. As the advice from Phil Giebler proved correct: finish the race and get the points.

Next stop was Buffalo Bills in Primm, Nevada and a parking lot course. Joel Miller was the man in both races and won both days by several kart lengths. Hovever, we were quick and finished 2nd both days. It was another victory for consistency.

The final western races took place at Infineon Raceway in California. We had a small points lead and only had to be consistent to secure the Western Stars Ica championship. Saturday we were 2nd, but Sunday was another story. With the 2nd, we had only to finish 8th to clinch. Joel Miller would not give up easily as he was 2nd when his engine gave way. Fortunately for Jess, as he had bent an axle and was on the sidelines after Grant Hebner stuck an engine in front of him. The next stop is the finals in Toronto where we will have a small points lead going into that race.

Spring 2006

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Jess Peterson on his Intrepid Silverstone at the Stars Ica race in Norman, OK in March 2006. His visor is up because the race was run in a strong rainstorm. He couldn't see a thing with the visor down.

Winter 2006

Here's Mirko Sguerzoni, founder and owner of Intrepid Karts and SKM Kart parts at the 2006 Oklahoma Stars race. Mirko brought an entire support staff over from Italy to support the US Intrepid Team. He is standing next to Brett Berryhill, Champion racing's part owner and engine builder. Champion is the world's largest Intrepid dealer.

Brett Berryhill of Champion Racing inspects Phil Giebler's ICC engine at the Stars Race in Oklahoma. At right is Alessandro Manetti of Intrepid, a 5 time world champion. Alessandro was there to work with the US Intrepid Team. Karting is big business in Europe, and most modern karts are made in Italy.

Summer 2005

The year 2005 brought many changes to our racing program. Matt, now 21, is heavily involved in a mechanical engineering program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He decided to take a year off to concentrate on college. Jess, however, had no intention of slowing down. First off, we decided to race him in the ESPN Russell Racing Mazda Championship at Infineon Raceway at Sears Pt in California. It's an 8 weekend, 16 races series that runs from April to October. The Formula Mazda's are quite fast, reaching speeds of over 100 mph. It is our first foray into cars. As of this writing (August) Jess is 5th in points in the series.

We've also been on a full karting schedule. Currently, Jess is leading in points in the ESPN Russell's Tag Expert class at Infineon. In this series, we're running an Alpha Galaxy with a Woltjer powered Parilla. Early this spring, Doug Sharp of Kart Key in Petaluma, Ca persuaded us to test in an Alpha Galaxy. We liked it so much we decided to run it in the Russell Tag Expert race series. Last month, Jess won a Duffy in IKF Tag at the grand nationals at Moran Raceway in So. California. He also won a Duffy in HPV 4 on an Italkart Supersonic, along with a 4th in Formula Y and a 3rd in HPV 3.

This year, Jess is also acting as the race director for the Northern Nevada Kart Club in Reno, Nv. for their club races. He also works with Kart Key customer's at the Infineon kart track.

Coming up we plan to compete in the Stars race at Infineon in September, as well as national Tag events. We'll also finish the ESPN Russell Tag Expert and Mazda series at Infineon.

Just recently, we've agreed to a deal with Alpha karts, and will run their karts in the Stars ICA division the rest of 2005 and 2006. This arrangement was engineered by Doug Sharp of Kart Key in Petaluma, Ca who is their chief tuner and engine builder.

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Jess on his Alpa works at the Stars Nationals in Austin, Tx in Oct. 2005.

Fall 2005

This fall we entered some Stars of Karting races in the Ica division. These are 100cc direct drive engines that turn over 20,000 rpm with horsepower ratings in the mid 30's. Previous to this, we've had limited experience with direct drive classes. Tuning is critical in that if you get it right you're fast, and if you're a bit lean, the engines stick. It's not unusual to see only half the class finish. The high horsepower puts a lot of pressure on the equipment. In Sept., in Saturday's race at Infineon, Jess was running 3rd when we broke a reed. Sunday wasn't any better, as Jess pushed it too hard at the end of the straightaway making a pass and ended up in the hay bales. We were happy, though, because we were fast timewise so we knew we could compete.

Knowing that we needed more experience this year, we went to the national finals in Austin, Tx. The race was held at Iron Rock Raceway at the Austin airport. It was very interesting as all the Italians were there supporting their teams. Of course, this is because most karts are made in Italy, as are the Ica engines. There were several past world champions helping competitors. The European engine builders were there as well. We stuck an engine in qualifying, but still started 9th out of 26. In Sat's pre-final, Jess bent a tire rod when he clipped a water-filled barrier. Sunday, we started the main 22 out of 26. Jess made it up to 8th on the 16th lap before a hose clamp broke on the cooling system. Nevertheless, we ran very competitive times all weekend, and were glad for the experience. Our Zartarian Ica's ran very well, and the Alpha chassis was terrific and responded predictably to even minor changes in the setup. In all, it was good experience to get ready for a full campaign in 2006.