The Musselman circuit was particularly suited to the 150cc singles and 300cc twins; it also provided a short track using a cut through for the historic karts from the late fifties and early sixties.
The expected good Arizona weather did not disappoint, T shirts being the order of the day from late morning to mid afternoon.
Thursday 16th was given over to testing, as was most of Friday 17th . Circuit activities ceased mid afternoon on Friday to arrange the kart show. Thirteen gleaming karts lined up for judging.
Northern California resident Mike Jacobs brought 8 historic karts to the show; 3 Carettas, a Cates, a Hornet, a McCulloch Stinger plus 2 Bug Stingers. The McCulloch Stinger was adorned by almost every accessory that was made by Robert Palmini back in the day, namely fuel tank, steering wheel, engine mounts, hydraulic brake, exhaust headers, carburettor intakes and sprocket carriers. The McCulloch Stinger which was McCulloch’s first venture into kart chassis supply was actually made by Bug Engineering the famous southern California kart manufacturer during the early days of karting and beyond.
One of Mike’s Caretta karts was particularly interesting. It was painted in a light shade of purple and carried a decal on the Nassau panel advertising 'The Friendly Purple Shops, Magic Mufflers' which was a Los Angeles chain of car exhaust and shocks suppliers which was very much into motorsport. The kart was manufactured in 1960 and was fitted with a direct drive McCulloch MC10 outfitted with a rare Caretta muffler and coil holder. Braking on the kart was accomplished using a neat rod and lever system connected using small chromed bell cranks. The kart was shown as found and was in very good condition despite its 65 years in existence. According to Mike Jacobs all the kart needed was cleaning when it came into his ownership. It was no surprise that the kart was awarded the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the show and the prize for Best Un-restored Survivor. Incidentally Magic Mufflers closed in September 2018 after 62 years in business having been founded by Howard Hudson in 1956.
Mike also displayed an immaculate 1963 Caretta/McCulloch MC20 and a pristine 1959 Caretta/dual Clinton E65’s featuring the very early 11 inch diameter Caretta steering wheel which was fabricated from a circular hoop ¼ inch diameter and welded to three spokes. The rim was covered with neatly wound tape. Also in the Jacobs stable were two immaculate Bug Stingers, one powered by a Komet K88 circa 1969 and the other a 1968 model to which was fitted a McCulloch MC91B.
Mike’s other display karts were an early immaculate Cates/dual West Bend 820’s circa 1960, the version without the cast alloy motor mounts that provided frame stiffness alterations and a Richard Peck manufactured Hornet/dual McCulloch MC101’s from around 1964. The Hornet was outfitted with extremely rare rear wheels featuring outer halves that looked like polished spinnings with integral hub caps featuring bolt holes approximately ⅞ inch diameter to allow bolting to regular hubs and inners.
Other karts to feature in the show were three Steve O’Hara owned classics, namely a Caretta/ McCulloch MC30, his 1968/69 Bug Sprint/McCulloch MC92B and a Rupp GP/Dual McCulloch MC100’s circa 1966. O’Hara, a former 1971 Grand National International Karting Federation Champion in American Reed Senior Light also displayed a very rare McCulloch MC1 motor and a McCulloch powered hand held belt starter.
Dean Knocz, who with the help of Max-Torque’s Jim Donovan, cooked the free after show food also took time to show his 1962 Fox powered by a McCulloch 101 fitted with a Margay gearbox as well as a blue Dart A Bone and a red Dart Grand Prix one of which won the Best Historic Single class.
Karts from a later era also featured in the show. Dennis Faust’s 1987 Bug 2000/Yamaha KT100 was awarded Best Sidewinder Single on display.
The award for Best Sidewinder Twin was presented to Mike Stryker for his 1980’s Invader Star/Parilla TT75’s.
Around the paddock there were the usual tables displaying components of interest to vintage karters such as mounts, chain guards, wheels, pistons and brakes. Other attendees showed off their restoration skills and a few traded old karts in need of new homes. One such kart on its way to a new owner was a 1961 Go Kart 800/McCulloch MC10 driven by Dick Connors a former Go Kart Manufacturing and Caretta works supported driver. Also on display was a 1968 Caretta /Saetta V18GP laydown enduro said to have been owned by Leroi 'Tex' Smith, the author of 'Karting', a hardback book first published in 1971 by Arco.
SHOW AWARDS
Best Historic Single: Dean Knocz’s 1960 Dart 'A' Bone
Best Un-restored Survivor: Mike Jacobs’1960 Magic Muffler Caretta
Best Historic Rear Twin: Steve O’Hara’s 1966 Dart Grand Prix
Best Sidewinder Single: Dennis Faust’s 1987 Bug 2000
Best Sidewinder Twin: Mike Stryker’s 1980 Invader Star
Best Restoration: Steve O’Hara’s 1969 Bug Sprint
Saturday was given over to 3 heat format racing. The historic karts operated on a shorter track whereas the not so old karts preformed on the full circuit which incidentally was capable of handling sports cars.
The dual 150cc Open class featured very special motors that at one time might have been Komet K30’s, K99’s or Parilla TT75’s. Such motors were highly modified featuring reworked heads, special ported liners, re-manufactured connecting rods and pistons as well as newly forged crankshafts. Some of the replacement crankcases were CNC machined from billet. All these modifications made these karts more powerful than the modern KZ class of kart. Such karts featured 4 wheel braking and were said to require only experienced competitors in the seat.
Other sidewinder karts were present in abundance and mainly featured the Yamaha KT100 motor in single and dual form.
It was announced that race results would be available on Speedhive.
Should you plan on attending next year’s event at Tucson make sure you have strong sun glasses with you because if you are driving east towards the track in the early morning the rising sun makes the vehicles in front almost impossible to see; thankfully the Ford Edge we were travelling in had automatic braking.
The expected good Arizona weather did not disappoint, T shirts being the order of the day from late morning to mid afternoon.
Thursday 16th was given over to testing, as was most of Friday 17th . Circuit activities ceased mid afternoon on Friday to arrange the kart show. Thirteen gleaming karts lined up for judging.
Northern California resident Mike Jacobs brought 8 historic karts to the show; 3 Carettas, a Cates, a Hornet, a McCulloch Stinger plus 2 Bug Stingers. The McCulloch Stinger was adorned by almost every accessory that was made by Robert Palmini back in the day, namely fuel tank, steering wheel, engine mounts, hydraulic brake, exhaust headers, carburettor intakes and sprocket carriers. The McCulloch Stinger which was McCulloch’s first venture into kart chassis supply was actually made by Bug Engineering the famous southern California kart manufacturer during the early days of karting and beyond.
One of Mike’s Caretta karts was particularly interesting. It was painted in a light shade of purple and carried a decal on the Nassau panel advertising 'The Friendly Purple Shops, Magic Mufflers' which was a Los Angeles chain of car exhaust and shocks suppliers which was very much into motorsport. The kart was manufactured in 1960 and was fitted with a direct drive McCulloch MC10 outfitted with a rare Caretta muffler and coil holder. Braking on the kart was accomplished using a neat rod and lever system connected using small chromed bell cranks. The kart was shown as found and was in very good condition despite its 65 years in existence. According to Mike Jacobs all the kart needed was cleaning when it came into his ownership. It was no surprise that the kart was awarded the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the show and the prize for Best Un-restored Survivor. Incidentally Magic Mufflers closed in September 2018 after 62 years in business having been founded by Howard Hudson in 1956.
Mike also displayed an immaculate 1963 Caretta/McCulloch MC20 and a pristine 1959 Caretta/dual Clinton E65’s featuring the very early 11 inch diameter Caretta steering wheel which was fabricated from a circular hoop ¼ inch diameter and welded to three spokes. The rim was covered with neatly wound tape. Also in the Jacobs stable were two immaculate Bug Stingers, one powered by a Komet K88 circa 1969 and the other a 1968 model to which was fitted a McCulloch MC91B.
Mike’s other display karts were an early immaculate Cates/dual West Bend 820’s circa 1960, the version without the cast alloy motor mounts that provided frame stiffness alterations and a Richard Peck manufactured Hornet/dual McCulloch MC101’s from around 1964. The Hornet was outfitted with extremely rare rear wheels featuring outer halves that looked like polished spinnings with integral hub caps featuring bolt holes approximately ⅞ inch diameter to allow bolting to regular hubs and inners.
Other karts to feature in the show were three Steve O’Hara owned classics, namely a Caretta/ McCulloch MC30, his 1968/69 Bug Sprint/McCulloch MC92B and a Rupp GP/Dual McCulloch MC100’s circa 1966. O’Hara, a former 1971 Grand National International Karting Federation Champion in American Reed Senior Light also displayed a very rare McCulloch MC1 motor and a McCulloch powered hand held belt starter.
Dean Knocz, who with the help of Max-Torque’s Jim Donovan, cooked the free after show food also took time to show his 1962 Fox powered by a McCulloch 101 fitted with a Margay gearbox as well as a blue Dart A Bone and a red Dart Grand Prix one of which won the Best Historic Single class.
Karts from a later era also featured in the show. Dennis Faust’s 1987 Bug 2000/Yamaha KT100 was awarded Best Sidewinder Single on display.
The award for Best Sidewinder Twin was presented to Mike Stryker for his 1980’s Invader Star/Parilla TT75’s.
Around the paddock there were the usual tables displaying components of interest to vintage karters such as mounts, chain guards, wheels, pistons and brakes. Other attendees showed off their restoration skills and a few traded old karts in need of new homes. One such kart on its way to a new owner was a 1961 Go Kart 800/McCulloch MC10 driven by Dick Connors a former Go Kart Manufacturing and Caretta works supported driver. Also on display was a 1968 Caretta /Saetta V18GP laydown enduro said to have been owned by Leroi 'Tex' Smith, the author of 'Karting', a hardback book first published in 1971 by Arco.
SHOW AWARDS
Best Historic Single: Dean Knocz’s 1960 Dart 'A' Bone
Best Un-restored Survivor: Mike Jacobs’1960 Magic Muffler Caretta
Best Historic Rear Twin: Steve O’Hara’s 1966 Dart Grand Prix
Best Sidewinder Single: Dennis Faust’s 1987 Bug 2000
Best Sidewinder Twin: Mike Stryker’s 1980 Invader Star
Best Restoration: Steve O’Hara’s 1969 Bug Sprint
Saturday was given over to 3 heat format racing. The historic karts operated on a shorter track whereas the not so old karts preformed on the full circuit which incidentally was capable of handling sports cars.
The dual 150cc Open class featured very special motors that at one time might have been Komet K30’s, K99’s or Parilla TT75’s. Such motors were highly modified featuring reworked heads, special ported liners, re-manufactured connecting rods and pistons as well as newly forged crankshafts. Some of the replacement crankcases were CNC machined from billet. All these modifications made these karts more powerful than the modern KZ class of kart. Such karts featured 4 wheel braking and were said to require only experienced competitors in the seat.
Other sidewinder karts were present in abundance and mainly featured the Yamaha KT100 motor in single and dual form.
It was announced that race results would be available on Speedhive.
Should you plan on attending next year’s event at Tucson make sure you have strong sun glasses with you because if you are driving east towards the track in the early morning the rising sun makes the vehicles in front almost impossible to see; thankfully the Ford Edge we were travelling in had automatic braking.
