Endurance, grit, toughness and the will to win are all required to win a 3hr endurance race at LVGP.  One team shined above the rest but as a whole it was a tough race run by all competitors.  Team Speed Dudes used a winning combination of strategy and quick lap times.  Kevin Carney of Speed Dudes created a formula for success and the team executed to perfection.  Andrew Pettijohn of Speed Dudes layed down the fasted time ever recorded at LVGP of 27.402.  The previous record of Jianni Koburi only stood for 3 days!!

Other notable finishes:

2.  Team #1- Josh Scrhreiber ran the race as a solo driver and has finished 2nd in the last 4 endurance races.

3.  Bone- Jason Frankenfield finished in 3rd place also competiting as a solo driver.  Bone has proven that he can race against the best on the short races and the long enduros.

4.  333-  Carl Bligan had a strong 4th place finish.  Only 16 years old, Carl completed the entire 3hr race himself!  Carl is competitive at karting on a global level and just returned from the Indoor Karting World Championships.

5.  Trorosso- Pat Gillin and Kyle Shenk finished strong in 5th place.  Making 2 kart swaps hurt their chances at podium but they both threw down their fastest laps ever at LVGP!

6.  Wahoud Racing- Mike Egge and Ishmail Wahoud ran a competitive race in the Amateur class.  They won the second class.  The team hit some road bumps with seat adjustments but proved that they can hang with the PRO’s.

7.  No Pulse- Brian and Lauren Hammerman and teammate James Apgar finished 2nd in the Amateur Class.  This was the first endurance race for this team.  They finished with a respectable 26 laps behind the top place Pro Team.  That is an amazing feat for a new team!!

8.  Ground Zero- Jianni Koburi and Giuseppe Curto.  This team came out of the blocks strong setting the pole position in qualifying.  During the race the team lacked communication and teamwork and it showed in their last place finish.

Overall, a big congratulations to all competitors.  It was a great race.  Our next competition will be leagues held on Oct 5th at 7pm.  To register contact Ryan Suchon at competition@lehighvalleygrandprix.com

Lehigh Valley Grand Prix 3 HOUR ENDURO RULES:

8:00am – 8:30am: Team registration and team weigh in.

8:30am – 8:45am: Drivers Meeting. Kart draw- Each Kart number will be put into a hat and you will pick the kart to start the race with.

8:45am – 8:55am: Team Kart preparation.

9:00am – Race begins.

Race Rules:
Teams of 1 -3 driver(s).

8 Minimum Stops, either driver exchanges or a stop and go in the pits.

No maximum drive time.

No minimum drive time.

Yellow flags- In the event of a caution, we will turn all the yellow lights on. At this time everyone will be required to go half speed. The goal is to not gain any ground or lose any ground from the person in front of you or behind you. If a driver seems as if they are going excessively fast under yellow they will be black flagged and pulled into the pits. Once everyone is at half speed the track marshals will straighten out the karts involved and then the race will go back to green. If the caution was caused due to someone spinning the other out, the driver who spun the other driver will then be black flagged under green flag racing conditions to assess their penalty.  You can NOT do a kart swap under a yellow flag.

Black Flag- The black flag is going to be used heavily in this race. Consider this your warning. If there is any type of contact, whether it be your fault or not you will get a black flag waved at you and then have to pull into the pits. When you receive the black flag you will pull into the pits with in 2 laps of receiving the black flag, and do a stop and go as your penalty.  As the race goes on your black flag penalties will get more sever. First black flag is a stop and go. 2^nd black flag is 3 second penalty, 3^rd black flag and on is a 5 second penalty. You can NOT do a kart swap or driver exchange while serving a black flag penalty.

Individual driver weight for the race is 185 pounds. We have weight provided on the track for those who do not make the 185 pounds.

1 MANDATORY kart change- The kart exchange must be completed between 2:00:00 – 1:00:00 in the race. Meaning in the middle portion of the 3 hour race the pit flag will be green for open kart changes. Then with one hour to go the red flag will close the pits for kart exchanges. Karts may be exchanged before the 2 hour remaining mark, and after the hour left mark, but will not count as a kart exchange. Failure to swap karts within the designated hour window is an automatic disqualification.

No Blue flags will be used throughout the race, using good judgment and sportsman ship is key when not using blue flags.

In late 2010 the team at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix, decided it was time to shake things up at the track.  The idea that evovled was to completely change the track layout.  ”It was a tough decision to go ahead with the plan, due to the fact you are changing the identity of the facility” said Ryan Suchon, mgr and competition director.

The next step for the team would be to figure out a layout.  The decision was simple, the team decided to let customer’s draw their dream track!!  What would be more fun then letting the customers decide what the track would look like.  With over 100 designs submitted, it was exciting to see what people came up with.  Designs included everything from; figure 8′s, ovals, road courses that provided straight aways into the wall!!

In the end, one plan stood out amongst the rest.  Tim Pettijohn, father of Fastkid, developed a design that would make a lasting impression on the LVGP faithful.  This exciting new track layout is now available for racing at LVGP.  For having his design chosen Tim won a FREE MONTH OF RACING AT LVGP….since Tim’s son was too young for the StockCar Prize for winning leagues, the two swapped prizes and each of them made out!!

Lehigh Valley Grand Prix would like to give a big Thanks to Tim for his efforts as well as the team at Stock Car Racing Experience!!

Since opening the facility in August of 2007, Lehigh Valley Grand Prix has always raced on the same track layout.  Nearing the facilities 4 year anniversary the team has decided to change it up!

The team was extremely hesitant at first due to the fact the original layout was such a success.  The original track offered a great straight away that ended with a big sweeping turn as well as some fun hair pin turns.  The other hesitation came from the fact that it is challenging to create a layout that fits the needs of the facility.  To address the issue LVGP ran a promotion where customers had the opportunity to draw their dream layouts.  The promotion gave the team a lot of ideas to work with and the competition winner received the benefit of a free month of racing.

The change thus far has been a huge success.  The reviews from the staff and customers has been tremendous!!  The team is excited for the new challenge of mastering the track and we hope that the customers find the same thrill.  We hope to see you at the track!!

Well…..we did it!  Starting today Lehigh Valley Grand Prix has joined the band wagon and is offering a great deal on Groupon.  It is amazing the buying culture that Groupon has created.  The fastest growing company in the world sounds like a nice idea to me!  Offering 50% off or more for products and services through a website and emails seems like a nice strategy.

Lehigh Valley Grand Prix is offering $50 of racing for $25!  Sweet deal, easy to purchase and a great adrenaline rush.  Hope you take advantage….See you at the track!

Remember the days when you used to go outside and rev up the go-kart in street or backyard?  Flying down the yard going 20 mph was a thrill that you would remember for a lifetime!  Times have changed, the toys have gotten bigger, faster and more technical.  The era of the backyard go kart is a thing of the past.  Homes are closer together, safety and liability linger and now the new age of electronics and entertainment have hit.

The go kart industry has kept pace with the ever changing demands of consumers.  What was once the backyard activity has now spawned facilities nearing 100,000 sqft and holding corporate teambuilding events, birthday parties, competition races and more.  What was a dream to many has now become a reality.  For roughly $20 a ride you can get the thrill of a lifetime.

Indoor karting facilities offer an experience like none other.  Road course style tracks, high performance karts, beautiful fit outs and high tech scoring systems make for an exciting afternoon.  To be a 10 year old kid or a 100 year old kid, it is amazing that racing has become so available.  No requirement for experience or investments, just the need for speed.

If you haven’t looked up go karting lately you might want to Google it and see what you can find in your neck of the woods.  I promise it will give you and adrenaline rush!

Whether it is the main event or a way to jump start your night, Go karting facilities are making a large dent in the bachelor party market.  The high speed, adrenaline packed venues are the perfect location to get the group together to compete, trash talk and create excitement for the big day.  Not only are these facilities; clean, fun and exciting but the are also keep the gang out of trouble.

“Many times we will have the bride to be making the arrangements for the bachelor party.  They want the marriage to start off on the right foot and go kart racing is good, clean fun!!” ~ Kristine McCreary, Event Planner at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix

Let the trash talk begin….Book you next bachelor party at the most exciting venue available!  Look into go karting for your next event!

It is with great excitement to write that Lehigh Valley Grand Prix has inked a deal with Monster & Coca Cola!  Monster is now the official energy drink of LVGP.  The new race suits coming next month will have the NASCAR Coke logo as well as the Monster logo.  This is going to bring a whole new level of excitement and energy to the facility!

Monster & Coke have also provided the track with new furniture, a new archway over the track and will be apart of the new apparel line coming out this Spring.  Stay tuned for new exciting events and programs at the track!

Teambuilding is vital for any group working together, playing together or interacting together with a focus of reaching a common goal.  This is something we have preached at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix for the past 4 years.  A couple of months ago it came to our attention that we were talking the talk but not walking the walking.  Last night LVGP held it’s first ever holiday party.  We used the night to celebrate our victories of 2010 and to get everyone excited for a fresh start in 2011.

To celebrate we chose to take everyone to a local bowling alley (couldn’t do go karting ;) ) and do a secret Santa gift exchange.  It was a great experience seeing everyone out of the working environment and enjoying each other’s company.  Not to pat myself on the back but I was very excited to see how strong our team has bonded here at the facility.  There was not one individual who did not show up to the event or was not engaged throughout the evening.  Bowling is not for everyone but the fact that everyone participated shows that they care more about the team interaction then they do their individual preferences.  THAT IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS!!

We will be posting our holiday pics on Facebook so if you are not a fan of Lehigh Valley Grand Prix you should be!!

The economy has had a major effect on the racing world over the past 2 years.  I believe that continuing to invest in your products and delivering on your customer’s demands is key to survival.  Just yesterday Indoor Karting News released that it will be closing it’s doors.  Excuses such as economic factors and business model issues were the major reasons for ending the sites existence.  I strongly believe that this could have been avoided if the company simply listened to their customers.

IKN had some great ideas on how to grow the indoor karting community through forums, driver rankings and advertising for tracks, however, I feel the site had some major flaws.  The driver rankings did not include drivers from tracks who were not partners with the website.  How can you have a true national ranking when you don’t have 80% of the drivers listed due to their track not advertising on the site?  Also, there were major flaws in how the scoring was kept.  Drivers from tracks with a great number of major races had points that were weighed heavier than the tracks with less events.  Also, the rankings did not differentiate endurance competitions from individual races.  The site also did not involve a kids ranking.

To finish on a high note, overall, I felt the site was a great step for the industry.  It is disappointing to see it fail but I think there was some great learning for other sites and future competition strategy.  Lehigh Valley Grand Prix is now partnering up with Sodi World Series which is an international ranking series that has some great promise in growing this fast growing sport.