Strathmore Motorsports Park to host karting championships

By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter

The Calgary Kart Racing Club (CKRC) will host their inaugural North of 49 Karting Championship from July 22-25. The brand new event will be held at the Strathmore Motorsports Park and is just as much a spectator event as it is a competition. 

John Kwong, CKRC member and organizer of the event, said the club is working with sponsors to bring a great experience for spectators. The club is planning a beer garden, party tents, food trucks and more. 

“We want people from the town, from Strathmore, from Calgary. There’s some interest there, watch some motor racing,” he said. “Admission is free. We’ve got the big grandstands and then a couple of smaller grandstands up on the berm for people to view. They can wander amongst the pit area and talk to the drivers and everything.”

North of 49 will be a unique event in terms of competitive kart racing as well, as the event is unattached to any club so no points will be awarded, leaving the floor open for any racer to participate without interrupting club championships. 

“It’s a one off event. We’re going to run three days of racing. Most kart events it’s a lot of practice, qualifying, heat races, and then everything is won on Super Sunday. We’re doing it a little bit different,” said Kwong. “This one is heat races Friday night, other races Saturday in a different format, and then pre main and a long race, like a 20-lapper on Sunday. But the difference is all the races count towards the championship. So it’s like a series within a weekend.”

There will be ten different classes that racers can register under, mostly differentiated by age. 

“Every class will have its own champion. Different classes have different prizes afforded to them, given some of the sponsors that we have,” said Kwong. “So some of these prizes involve winning entry to the Canadian National, one of the classes is racing for an entry prize package to a race in Las Vegas in November.”

More information, including registration, is available on the CKRC’s website.