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FYI ARCHIVES
01-21-2001

ROSSI TO DRIVE FOR MONEY FOR KGB N.A.

After two years of counter espionage, double secret agent Michael Rossi has returned to KGB headquarters to fend off all challengers. It has been over two years since Rossi has won on the national scene where he has shown moments of great speed but failed to get result that were expected from a driver of his caliber. Rossi’s last win aboard a KGB kart was KGB’s “first race – first place” National event win at the Las Vegas IKF Grand Nationals in the summer of ’98. Rossi continued to race for Team Parolin KGB in Europe through 1999 before leaving to pursue other racing activities in North America.

Rossi has been training in Europe since he was 16 years old and was instrumental in the design and testing of the successful KGB Spy chassis while with Parolin. He will continue in the role of KGB test pilot for KGB North America assisting in the development of new race chassis. He is the creator of the well-known KGB Spy-Guy and is currently designing for the GearBox brand apparel line.

It appears that Rossi will be the first American Kart driver that will be paid to race! Dan Ruth, KGB’s Team manager says, “He is worth his weight in gold!” He continued, “And we are delighted to get him back on track.”

Rossi will be piloting the SuperNationals winning 2001 KGB Phoenix 125 chassis in the SKUSA Super Pro class for Team KGB North America at selected events in 2001.

CHICAGO AWARDS BANQUET HONORS AUTO RACING

The 25th Annual National Driving Championship Recognition Dinner was held on Fruiday January 12 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. The dinner was attended by over 1000 race fans and was sponsored by Cooper Industries and Valvoline with benefit proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago.

In a prepared statement, Daniel Cotter, President of Cotter and Company, owner of True Value Hardware said, “Believe me, this National Driving Championship Recognition Dinner will take the checkered flag. From its humble beginnings back in 1976, the Driver’s Dinner has become motorsports most respected awards banquet. This year, I’m proud to join you to honor America’s auto racing champions.” Cotter continued, “These champions, from all form of auto racing, have given their time to come to Chicago for this dinner to raise money for the children of the Lathrop (Chicago) area. The demands on their time – both on and off the track – are tremendous. We are honored that they have chosen to support this worthy cause and join us here tonight.”

“But the real winners this evening,” he reiterated, “are the children of the Daniel A. Cotter Boys and Girls Club. These boys and girls, many of whom are with us this evening, make this event, and our work with the Boys and Girls Club year-round, worthwhile. Seeing children grow into responsible, successful young man and women provides even more joy than seeing our favorite driver celebrate in victory lane.”

The evening’s activities began with an area titled “Autograph Alley”, where the attendees could talk to, photograph and obtain autographs of their favorite drivers.

A fine dinner followed then the awards portion of the program began which was MC’d by broadcasters Ken Squire and Paul Page. Scheduled to receive awards were Bobby LaBonte, Buddy Lazier, Gil deFerran, Juan Montoya, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Green, Dale Earnhardt Sr, John Force, Steve Kinser and Ron Leek.

A special “Thank You” to the fine folks at WD-40 for inviting the editor of e-KMI to this very special and exciting evening.

IAAPA ELECTS 2001 OFFICIALS

At it’s business meeting November 15, 2000 at their annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia, the membership of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) elected its officers and board of director’s slate.

William (Bill) Sims (USA) was elected Chairman of the Board, Alain Baldacci (Brazil) was elected first vice-chairman, John Collins (UK) was named 2nd vice-chairman, Gary Story (USA) was selected 3rd vice-chairman. Bobbie Wages (USA) will continue as the association treasurer, and John Graff, CEO/President was tapped for IAAPA secretary.

The board is made up of the following: Chip Linville (USA), Gary Smart (UK), Jane Cooper (USA), Beverly Berenson (Canada), Anne Norris (USA), Andy Quinn (USA) and John Wood (USA). All were elected for a three-year term.

ILLINOIS AMUSEMENT SAFETY MEETING HELD

On Thursday, January 18-19, the annual meeting of the Illinois Carnival-Amusement Safety Board was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Illinois. The Thursday meeting was an open forum meeting where the board took questions from the audience, which was comprised of some forty amusement operators. The Friday session was a business meeting.

At the Thursday session, the board heard comments from the audience ranging from educational videos for schools to a heated discussion about the lack of Rider Responsibility laws in Illinois. All the items discussed were brought up in discussion at the Friday session.

Also included in the Friday meeting was a discussion about reviewing the Illinois statues as they apply to outdoor concession karting and the need to perhaps draw up new provisions for indoor karting. More information on this subject in future columns.

Present at the two meetings were the Carnival-Amusement Safety Board comprised of Deborah Pusey, Lee Sullivan, Darrell Sitarz, and Chairman Nick Dispensa. Also attending were William Rolando of the Illinois Department of Labor, Scott Miller, General Council IDOL and Chief Inspector Carl Kimble.

END

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