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Kart Expo International
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FYI
08-07-04

NEW WISCONSIN KART TRACK IS READY FOR RACING

The new USA International Raceway in Shawano, Wis. has racers across the Midwest talking. The 1.1 mile road course/oval designed by WKA vice president Kenny Venberg combines fast sweeping corners, tight hairpins, long straightaway and elevation changes you have to see to believe!

The owners have gone to great lengths to make their track a world-class facility. Asphalt used for the course was specially formulated to prevent wear, and track officials are preparing to add another layer of asphalt before next year, “Rosphalt” (a blend of rubberized asphalt) if the wear is greater than expected.

The track currently has a covered, side-by-side scale tech barn, but will build a larger tech barn for next season as well as a 3-story scoring/flagging tower.

Track officials are also waiting to add extensive curbing once a solid race line has developed on the multiple configuration road course. In its current configuration racers fly through a whopping 23 corners, with lap times well over one minute.

Owners of USA International Raceway are hopeful that the continuous track enhancements will put them in the running for a WKA regional race next year and eventually a WKA national event.

An oval series is currently in development, with a money race in the works for September. Track officials hope enough interest will be shown in the program to run a Friday night oval series under a brand new lighting system.

USA International Raceway also plans to keep racing year long with the addition of an indoor karting facility built next to the outdoor track in the near future.

For now, USA International Raceway is holding weekly races on Saturdays until the month of October. You can visit www.usainternationalraceway.com for more information on schedules and classes.

RED BULL DRIVER SEARCH NAMES FIRST SIX RUN OFF WINNERS
East Bridgewater, Massachusetts — This week, six young drivers have taken their first step in the long journey to the cockpit of a Formula 1 race car after emerging atop a field of 112 fellow Formula 1 aspirants in the first of two Run Offs for the Red Bull Driver Search.

The Red Bull Driver Search gives young American talent the chance to compete for the opportunity of a lifetime and scholarships worth over a half million dollars. Red Bull’s long term goal of finding the future Formula 1 champion might just be satisfied by one of the six drivers selected this week.

Justin Larson (16) – Safety Harbor, FL
Jeremy Warren (17) – Noblesville, IN
Chase Stroschein (16) – Shoreview, MN
Joey King (16) – Silvis, OH
Casey Neal (16) – Middletown, OH
Mathew Jordan (17) – Punxsutawney, PA

The drivers who participated were treated to extensive running at the F1 Outdoors facility, with a day of practice and qualifying preceding two rounds of racing on the second day. The final day saw the final 47 racing (63 were eliminated on day 2) for one of six coveted invitations to the Semi Final, which will be held at Sebring International Raceway in September.

Former Formula 1 racer and Indianapolis 500 champion Danny Sullivan led the panel of judges, who were not just watching lap times, as they also took into consideration the progress, willingness to learn, composure, behavior and fitness level of the Formula 1 aspirants.

With so many drivers shooting for so few positions, Sullivan also found himself playing the role of counselor for those who didn’t make the cut or who struggled on-track, often giving examples of his own experiences in the sport to relay the sometimes harsh realities of the sport.

The selected drivers earned this opportunity by performing well in the Open Qualifying phase of the Driver Search, which allowed any racer between the ages of 13 and 17 to set a fast time at one of 56 karting centers nationwide. The East Coast event will be followed by the West Coast Run Off, 24-26 August at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA.

The winners from this event will move forward to the Semi Final, one step closer to a Red Bull Racing scholarship as they will once again have to prove they have what it takes to make it to the top and earn a spot on the Red Bull Junior Team to race and represent America in Junior Formulae, both in Europe and the US.

The 2004 Red Bull Driver Search program aims to discover and support the "diamond in the rough," lacking the knowledge and contacts needed to embark on a career in racing, as well as talented young drivers already in racing. The long-term goal is to have a steady group of three to six American drivers racing in Europe, groomed to break into Formula 1 and compete for the World Championship.

K.A.R.T. BOARD VOTES TO DEFEND AGAINST POSSIBLE HARRAKA LAW SUIT
Raymore, Missouri— Karters of America Racing Triad, Inc. (K.A.R.T.) Board of Directors voted unanimously to defend itself against a possible Paul Harraka, Jr. lawsuit and to counter-sue for the untrue and libelous statements made by Paul Harraka, Sr., resulting in a post-race technical disqualification at the KART Sprint National Championships held last month at North Texas Kartway located north of Denton, Texas.

After viewing the comparisons of a legal stock (.115) Yamaha KT100S ignition key compared to the modified and very under-sized key in the Harraka engine at the 2004 KART Sprint National Championships, the KART Board has voted unanimously to defend itself and to counter-sue.

The Board members feel that it is their obligation to stand up and defend its rule book, tracks, promoters and technical inspectors that all work very hard to keep karting and its participants on a level playing field. It was felt that not defending itself could only invite more threats and suits in the future.

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY’S ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY CENTER TO EXHIBIT STUDENT PROJECTS AT FUN EXPO
Las Vegas, Nevada — The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), a graduate program at prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, will be exhibiting student projects -- working prototypes of computer-based games -- at Fun Expo, September 30-October 2, in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Teams of students with expertise in drama and other creative arts join with technology students to develop new games that are both fun and that promote cooperation and teamwork.

“I recently had the opportunity to take the grand tour, courtesy of the program’s director Dr. Don Marinelli,” said IALEI Executive Director Carole Sjolander. “I can’t express how fascinating I found it. I could have spent hours just playing one game – actually a series of games in one unit. They call it Jam-O-Drum and four players work cooperatively against the game to win. A whole series of games run from a simple PC computer.” A working model of Jam-O-Drum will be exhibited in the CMU/ETC booth at Fun Expo.

ETC has sponsors in the industry who often inspire or suggest the work they do. IALEI has recently signed on as a sponsor and is in good company. Other industry leaders who are sponsors of ETC include Electronic Arts, X-Gaming, Intel, Media Pull, Kodak, Optical Products Development Group, Walt Disney Imagineering’s Virtual Reality Studio, and the Brand Experience Lab, along with local supporters like the Carnegie Museum of National History, the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and the National Aviary.

A project developed for the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum grew out of a need for an interactive experience connected to the museum’s collection of rare and valuable puppets. The ETC developed a game by using elaborate copying techniques to recreate the puppets in 3D animation. Two players can choose from among the puppet collection, select a suitable background and style of music, and manipulate the virtual puppets by using joysticks. The result is a virtual puppet show that can be projected onto the wall or shown on a monitor. This technology will be exhibited at Fun Expo.

In a project that faculty thought could not be completed within the 15 week course period, students created a robot greeter. “Robot greeters, while not yet ubiquitous, are becoming more common,” said Marinelli. “But what makes this one unique is the software.” The robot is imbued with personality and exhibits various emotions and recognizes people thanks to artificial intelligence created by the ETC students. The robot, named Quasi by the ETC team members, utilizes ‘open source’ vision code, spatialized audio, multiple proximity sensors, and an I-Button reader to determine its “psychological” state. The students elected not to have the robot speak because “once he repeats himself, the illusion is spoiled.” The result is a robot that reacts much like a household pet.

As reported in TEQ, a publication of Pittsburgh Technology Council, ETC also did a simulator for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). Expected to go live in late 2004 or early 2005, the simulator bridges the training gap between theory/lecture and live training. The training scenarios aren’t so much about having participants practice hands on tasks, but more to learn about assessing a situation and decision-making based on that assessment. The scenario simulator enables the instructor to choose the location, environment, number of victims, even the type of container holding the hazardous material. The program can simulate high density areas like stadiums, subways and shopping malls, as well as smaller areas like office buildings and storage material.

HazMat Team leader, and recent ETC graduate, Jon-Paul Dumont (currently employed as a producer by Electronic Arts in Redwood City, California) said, “This application can’t use a lot of traditional video game treatments. It has to be totally realistic while being totally dynamic. We can’t pre-program too much. The instructor can intervene during the simulation to introduce more variables regarding the environmental conditions or how the victims are reacting."

ETC is looking to the FEC industry to provide real world testing for their games and for individuals or companies to partner with them in bringing the games to market. “I am sure Fun Expo operators and managers – and games manufacturers and entrepreneurs -- will find this exhibit very interesting,” said Sjolander.

Fun Expo will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall S-2 with Fun Academy programs running from Monday, September 27 to Saturday, October 2. Exhibits are open Thursday, September 30 through Saturday, October 2, and are co-located with the AMOA International Expo. Fun Expo is sponsored by the International Association for the Leisure & Entertainment Industry (IALEI), the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) and the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA).

For more information on exhibiting or attending, contact FUN EXPO Show Management, William T. Glasgow, Inc. at Telephone: (708) 226-1300; Fax: (708) 226-1310; Email: info@funexpo.com or visit our website and register on line at www.funexpo.com.

BUYERS BONANZA OFFERS FUN EXPO BUYERS DEEP DISCOUNTS ON SHOW PURCHASES
Las Vegas, Nevada — As a value added proposition to reward and attract FEC owners and operators who plan to make purchases at this year’s Fun Expo, thousands of dollars in discounts will be offered through a new incentive called “Buyer’s Bonanza.”

“Exhibitors have embraced this program with a positive response,” according to LETS Chairman Harold Skripsky, EMS, Inc. “To date, we have received discounts on more than 50 products, consulting services and equipment being offered by Fun Expo exhibitors, and we expect that list to continue to grow between now and show time. Through IALEI Board Member Frank Seninsky’s (Alpha-Omega Amusements) leadership, this program has had the active involvement and support of the IALEI Board, asking exhibitors to dig deep and go beyond the normal discount, and offer something that makes it worthwhile for operators to come to this show and buy. It’s our hope, that these discounts will more than pay for the trip to Las Vegas for operators who take advantage of these at-the-Show savings.”

To date, commitments for the Buyer’s Bonanza have been made by: American Student Lists, Birthday University, Bones Framed Pictures, Bullock-Smith, Castle Golf, Characters Unlimited, Colortime Crafts, Cost of Wisconsin, Dr. Feelgood Inc., Entertainment Technology, Eurosteam, Gemini Technologies, Harris Miniature Golf, Inflatable News/IIPGA, International Play Company, Jane Farrell Turf & Carpets, Joissu, Kids Juke Box, Koala Play Group, Land & Leisure, Laser Blast/Advanced Avionics, Lazer Images, Northwest Enterprises, One Stop Toy Company, Price Chopper Wristbands, Pronto Pup, Ride Development Co., Rebecca’s, Redemption Plus, SGD Gold Co., Von Schrader and Water Wars.

For a complete list of products and discounts that will be available for purchases made at the show, visit the Fun Expo website at www.funexpo.com and click on “Buyer’s Bonanza.”
Fun Expo will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, South Hall S-2 with Fun Academy programs running from Monday, September 27 to Saturday, October 2. Exhibits are open Thursday, September 30 through Saturday, October 2, and are co-located with the AMOA International Expo.

END

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