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FYI
04-11-04

ROCK ISLAND GRAND PRIX UPDATE

Rock Island, Illinois — Lots of exciting things have been happening for the upcoming 10th annual Rock Island Grand Prix kart races, Sept. 4-5, 2004, in Rock Island, Illinois.

CLASS STRUCTURE: Class structure has been approved for the 2004 Rock Island Grand Prix. As noted previously, we have added Animal Heavy and Animal Junior 4-cycle classes, replacing 4-cycle Stock Light and 4-cycle Junior II. The Animal Heavy class is billed as “The Rumble at The Rock,’’ and the Animal Junior class has been named the “Tom Argy Jr. Animal Roundup’’ in memory of our long-time race director and his commitment to the careers of many young kart racers. Briggs & Stratton will pay half the entry fees for the first 30 entries in each class. We will continue to offer 4-cycle Medium and Heavy classes for Raptors.

Program director Roger Ruthhart said, “In gearbox, we are pleased to once host SKUSA’s “King of the Streets’’ race for the fifth year. SKUSA National rules will apply. We are also licensed by the FIA/CIK and will host two international classes – the ICC and ICA World Street Championships -- which will run CIK rules. We also are offering a 125cc moto class and a 125cc Masters class. Masters will follow SKUSA National rules which allow ICC and moto power in the same class.”

Ruthhart continued, “We are proud to once again support the TAG International program and will run TAG International Sr. and TAG International Masters classes. The Top Ten finishers in each race will qualify for the Tag International Finals to be held in October. Also on the schedule again this year are four Yamaha classes that have always been popular at ``The Rock.’’ We will run 2-cycle Senior Sportsman and Super Sportsman classes for 3- and 4-hole cans; spec cans will be provided by RLV Tuned Exhaust. We will also run Yamaha Medium and Heavy pipe classes. Watch for your entry packets for complete details and Supplemental Rules.”

CLASS CAPS: Last year the Rock Island Grand Prix instituted caps on classes to assure that the event remained a manageable size. That practice will continue this year, but with one minor adjustment. This year, instead of designating which classes will be capped at 30 entries, and which five classes will be allowed to grow to 55 entries and have a Last Chance Qualifier, that designation will go to the first five classes to register more than 30 entries. After that, all remaining classes will be capped at 30 entries.

ENTRY FORM/WEB UPDATE: The RIGP is in the process of updating their printed entry form and web site with information about the 2004 race. Entry packets should be mailed and online registration capabilities ready by mid-April. Promoters appreciate your patience. In the meantime, please be sure that they have your most current mailing address.

NEW AIRLINE SERVICE: If you’re looking for airline access to the Quad-Cities and don’t mind the red eye, AirTran Airlines has added flights to and from Quad City International Airport from Las Vegas. Flights leave Quad City International (Moline) Thursday –Monday at 10:30 p.m. and arrive at McCarran International at 12:05 a.m. Flights from Las Vegas leave at 12:55 a.m. and arrive here at 6:10 a.m. Northwest Airlines has also reinstated two flights daily to Memphis from the Quad-Cities. This was in response to American Airlines dropping flights to St. Louis and adding more flights to Chicago O’Hare. For those in the west, United Express also has one direct flight daily to Denver, but your best bet is probably still to connect through Chicago or Minneapolis. Besides Denver, Memphis and Las Vegas, the Quad-Cities also has direct air service to both Chicago airports, Atlanta, Orlando, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS: As noted in last month’s newsletter, blocks of rooms have been established again at the Four Points by Sheraton. Unfortunately, the Four Points Hotel reportedly is already full. A listing of other nearby hotels, locations and rates, on our website at www.rockislandgrandprix.com, has also been updated. The remainder of the information on the website will be updated next month. Please make your reservations soon.

SPEEDWEEK: This year the Rock Island Grand Prix is joining other local motorsports events in promoting SPEED WEEK in the Quad-Cities. If you’re a true race fan, we encourage you to spend more than just the race weekend in the Quad-Cities. Here are some reasons why. Besides the Rock Island Grand Prix, Cordova Dragway Park, a quarter-mile drag racing facility located 15 minutes north of I-80, will be hosting the 56th annual World Series of Drag Racing the weekend before our race. This is one of the premier drag racing events in the country. For more information and a detailed schedule, call (309) 654-2110 or visit www.cordovadrag.com. Also, the Putnam Museum and IMAX Theatre in Davenport, Iowa, is showing ``NASCAR 3D: The IMAX Experience." This film briefly takes fans into reverse to review the history of the sport, told from the viewpoint of some of its legendary drivers, and will then thrust into high gear with a look at the thrilling phenomenon that is NASCAR today. Featuring the most competitive and skilled drivers and race teams in the world, the NASCAR-IMAX film captures the behind-the-scenes aspects of a sport. Call 563-324-1933 or visit www.putnam.org for more information.

The Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa, is a place to see great dirt track racing. There are races each week on Wednesday and Friday along with special ones such as extreme races, winged sprints and midgets, motorcycle races, and demolition derby. Their new wall and fence combination quickly became the industry standard for venues of this type. The new track signal light system for the drivers and the lap counter display board to help spectators keep track of the positions of the first five leader cars and of how many laps are left to go is also a hit with spectators. For more information and a detailed schedule, visit www.mvfair.com.

SKUSA MOVES TO RACING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Noblesville, Indiana — Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) has moved its corporate offices from its home in Dublin, Ohio to new office space in Noblesville, Indiana. Noblesville is a growing northern suburb of the internationally famous racing city, Indianapolis, Indiana.

“This move will allow us to simplify the office management and infrastructure that will be moving SKUSA forward”, states SKUSA founder and acting CEO Don Janowski. “I feel 100% confident that our customers will begin to realize a much faster response time to membership issues, marketing issues, and event management.”

Highlighting the move will be a new phone system for SKUSA. “The new system will allow our customers to get right to the person they need to speak to, whether it is for membership services, our National Directors, or just to get our contact information.” The new phone number for SKUSA is (317) 774-7025. The new fax for the Noblesville office is (317) 774-7030. The new mailing address is: SKUSA, PO Box 2161, Noblesville, IN, 46061.

Customers who have sent entries to the former mailing addresses in Dublin, Ohio for event entry, or membership, are advised to stay in contact with the new office to ensure that their paperwork has been re-routed to the new address. “We are aware that any time a business executes a move, there are always potential logistical problems, such as mail not being forwarded in a timely manner. We’ve attempted to head these off at the pass, but we would still like for all that have mailed information to the old address to contact the new office to make sure their requests are being processed”.

Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) is the internationally recognized leader of the shifter kart and TAG (TAG SKUSA) racing community. For more information about SKUSA, its events, and its services, please contact the SKUSA National office at +1 (317) 774-7025 or online at www.skusaonline.com.

ITALIAN MOTORS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — Italian Motors is pleased to launch the company’s new website, www.italianmotors.com. “We carry many of the leading product lines in the industry and we offer a wide range of services. Our goal is to serve our customers better and our new website will not only have on-line ordering but detailed information on all of our products,” says Claudio Valiante, president of Italian Motors.
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Italian Motors was originally an Italian car company that was established by Beverley and Claudio Valiante in 1977. In 1998, Italian Motors relocated to a 17,000 square foot shop in Vancouver B.C. which also houses the brand new Eddie current dyno which has contributed to IM’s karting team’s success over the course of 2003. Italian Motors employs nine full time personnel for day-to-day operation.

“Our company has continued to evolve and we felt it was time for a new company website,” says Claudia Valiante, business manager of Italian Motors. “We ship daily across the United States and Canada, and we feel that it is important for our customers to know more about the products they are purchasing. We will continue to update our products list in the upcoming weeks.”

Along with offering many different services as well as operating a successful racing team, Italian Motors are NORTH AMERICAN importers for Italkart, SKM, MIR Racewear Efficiemme hones, Parilla, TM and IBEA.

For further information, please visit the company’s web site at www.italianmotors.com.

‘STARS’ BRIDGES THE GAP USING AMB
As one of the premier kart racing series in the United States, ‘Stars of Karting’ is also the first step on the Championship Auto Racing Teams Driver Development Ladder System. The Stars series has been carefully crafted to provide young drivers with the opportunity to advance their skills opening the door for a career in professional motorsports.

Well-known CART Drivers Bobby Rahal and Bryn Herta head the Stars program, ensuring young drivers will advance through the motorsport ranks with karting as their starting point similar to the careers of professional drivers Gil de Ferran, Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier. Aiding the young drivers’ progression are several coveted scholarships, which include a full season ride in the Formula Dodge National Championship (a $45,000 USD value) and the Jim Tureman Scholarship Award of $25,000 USD to an aspiring open wheel racer. The Stars program also helps fund team’s travel expenses, and Snap-On Tools is providing a combined total of $50,000 USD in tools to all Stars teams for this year’s season.

The Stars program chose the AMB TransX 160 system for timing and scoring for all Stars national-level events which take place at popular venues including Road America, Buttonwillow, Infineon Raceway, BeaveRun and California Speedway.

END

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