With twenty-five customers in attendance at the opening round of the 2020 ROK Cup USA Challenge of the Americas, SwedeTech Racing Engines claimed four wins and fourteen podium results to kick off their season. Pushing their results stats even higher, the leader in kart engine preparation scored more than twenty top-five finishes as they shift their focus to round two of the popular ROK program.
Claiming race wins on the weekend were ROK Master Shifter driver Jimmy McNeil, Micro ROK competitor Nico Sarphati as well as double race winner Hunter Pickett in ROK Senior Shifter.
“Great weekend in Tucson and our results were no fluke,” explained SwedeTech Racing Engines Jason Berry. “Our goal is to deliver the best possible products and service to our customer to give them the best chance at winning. The results were great, but we will push harder to better them at round two.”
Scoring nine of a possible ten top-five results, two podium sweeps and two race wins, SwedeTech Racing Engines dominated the ROK Shifter category. Taking both main event wins, Hunter Pickett (GFC) solidified himself as the driver to beat on the West Coast and will look to carry that momentum into round two. Sweeping every on-track session including fastest lap in both main events, Pickett will be tough to beat as the West Coast ROK program rolls on. Cole Shade (GFC) claimed a pair of top-five results finishing second on Saturday and fourth on Sunday. Kol Bailey (GFC) stood on the third step of the podium during the first day of wheel-to-wheel competition while Jake French (Birel) matched his performance on Sunday finishing third. Rookie driver William Ferguson (Kosmic) found his way to the podium on Sunday finishing second while Keawn Tandon (DR) and Kolton Griffin (Tony Kart) found their way to top-five finishes.
Putting three drivers in the top-five during Saturday’s ROK Master Shifter main event, Nick George (Aluminos), Jimmy McNeil (Aluminos) and Nick Firestone (GFC) finished second, third and fourth respectively. Trading a podium result for a race win on Sunday, McNeil scored the fastest lap of the main event and leveled up to take the checkers and set himself up in the championship points battle.
In the ROK Senior class, it was two podiums and four top-five results over the two days of competition. Liam Letzsch (FA Kart) led the way for SwedeTech finishing second on Saturday and returned to the podium Sunday with a third place effort. Bijoy Garg (Exprit) added a pair of fourth place results remaining consistent over the weekend.
Alex Rantala (CRG) finished second on Saturday and third on Sunday in the Vortex Mini ROK class while Nico Sarphati (GFC) turned his third place result in Micro ROK on Saturday into a win on Sunday.
Berry continued, “Thank you to all of our hardworking drivers and teams. We are only successful in business with them and we really appreciate their dedication and loyalty. A huge thanks to all of our drivers, but a special thanks to Team Visalia, GFC Karting, Speed Sense Motorsports and Christian Bird Motorsports.”
SwedeTech Racing Engines is already looking forward to the remainder of the 2020 racing season. SwedeTech Racing Engines invites you to call the shop to discuss all of their programs. For more information, please contact them at 916.687.3980, email Info@SwedeTechRacing.com or visit them online at www.SwedeTechRacing.com.