Ryan Suchon and Kyle Lick are dirt racers.  They are also the Competition Team at LVGP.  To spice things up at last nights league they decided to add a little of their dirt racing background to the league experience.

Powder Night!  The league drivers got to experience the first ever Powder Night at LVGP.  Using a combination of baby powder and shuffle board wax they created an entirely new experience on the track.

Upon entering the track, driver’s appeared to be driving on ice!  Sliding all over the track and struggling to adjust to the new surface.  It was fun to watch the drivers compete.  ”The true driver’s can figure out how to go fast on any type of surface.” said Ryan.

Overall, the event seemed to be a huge success.  You could see big grins on the driver’s faces as they slid around the track!

Here is a link to a video taken by League Driver, Walt Sahaydak.

Looking back upon 2011 it is amazing to think it was only 12 months!  We gave witness to Tony Stewart win a Cup Championship and bring life back to NASCAR while on the other end of the spectrum we witnessed Dan Wheldon’s life taken.  LVGP inked a deal with Indy Car driver, Marco Andretti and found tremendous growth.  It was a year of excitement; changing the track layout and adding a new lighting system as well as a year that provide a positive outlook to what is ahead.

The management team, lead by Mike Achey has been putting new training programs in place to ensure that customers receive great service and a great experience while attending the facility.

The competition team, headed by Ryan Suchon, was hard at work this year introducing a new Summer Iron Man series that received rave reviews as all three races sold out.  There was also the introduction of the new and improved Jr. League series with new Assistant Race Director, Kyle Lick, taking the reigns.  We had our best received Jr. League in company history!

There was also the changing of the guard as LVGP named a new President to the facility.  Kristine McCreary, former President Mike McCreary’s wife, will be taking on a new title as the racing facility grows.  Kristine has shown great leadership in Sales and Finance and will continue to take the company to a new level.

Looking ahead to 2012 there are really exciting new products being added to the facility.  Construction has begun for the new bar Octane that will be opening in early 2012.  The bar has always been a dream of the team at LVGP as the facility looks to improve and add products to our customers.  Octane will provide a great venue for customer’s to enjoy beverages and a bite to eat after racing to talk up their on track experience.

Octane has opened the doors to new partnerships such as Pocono Raceway.  The team is excited to be working with Pocono to hold viewing parties for some of the NASCAR races this upcoming season.  The first party will be held for the Daytona 500 race on February 26th.

2012 will also be the year of the mobile device.  The facility is going to be unrolling the new mobile website that will include the ability to check hours, look up race results as well as purchase gift cards.  In a world that lives on it’s cell phone we are excited to give our customers a more convenient way to interact with LVGP.

As we close out 2011, the team at LVGP would like to give a big thank you to our 20,000 racers this past year!  2011 has been a great success and we attribute that to our customers that we value dearly.  Thank you so much and we look forward to providing you with an adrenaline rush in 2012!

~The team at LVGP

Do you have what it takes to make the Wall of Fame??  The new leader board at LVGP will be displaying; Top Race Times, League Champions and Endurance Race winners!  The board is designed to show case the racer’s in the competition events as well as the drivers laying down the fastest laps.

The Top Times from 2011 will be posted for the New Year.  The Top Times section will be updated annually to reflect the top 20 race times accomplished over the past year.  To make this year’s board you need to lay down a top 20 time by the end of business on Dec 31st!!

“To get your name on the board it takes a great deal of skill.  Some of the fastest indoor karting drivers in the nation are right here at LVGP.  It is a great accomplishment to make it!” said Ryan Suchon, competition director at LVGP.

Here is a list of the Top 20 times up until Dec 22nd.

Adult

1. Fast Kid – 26.979
2. Lickone – 27.090
3. Warren Wallace – 27.205
4. Von Blargen – 27.205
5. Bligan – 27.228
6. Casey Jones – 27.229
7. Slowski – 27.230
8. Fox Racer – 27.305
9. Landon Pondfish – 27.376
10. Louisianimal – 27.393
11. Bone – 27.417
12. imfOCUSedman – 27.533
13. Anthony Federico – 27.558
14. Mater – 27.637
15. MJ – 27.688
16. KC Jam – 27.705
17. SilverEmperor – 27.731
18. THE Scooter – 27.749
19. Lil Jac – 27.793
20. Fluffy Rock – 27.795

Junior Top 20:
1. Z Racer – 28.399
2. Flaming Bull – 29.090
3. JoetheTraitor – 29.518
4. JPSRacer24 – 29.588
5. Race Kid – 29.681
6. Richie – 29.836
7. Dominator24 – 29.886
8. Sanitator – 29.970
9. WildChild – 29.999
10. Maxman – 30.097
11. Fox Racer 33 – 30.254
12. KalynnTheMadness – 30.258
13. Soccerdude – 30.327
14. LooneyTune – 30.336
15. Ethan – 30.353
16. Zero – 30.383
17. Coool Man Dude – 30.428
18. Da Bonester – 30.550
19. Tronix – 30.557
20. Passer – 30.572

Hope to see you on the list!!

The 12hrs of VLK held at Victory Lane Karting in Charlotte, NC is always a great test to see how your team matches up against the best in the industry.  LVGP sent down 3 teams to take part in the annual event with hopes to prove that we have what it takes against the top drivers in the nation.

The field hosted competitors such as Fred Ogrim, Dan Burke, Johan Schwarz and other internationally ranked drivers.  Out of a 14 team field team LVGP took home 3rd, 7th and 11th respectively.  Missing 2nd place by a few tenths of a second to the team from Endurance Karting provided excitment for the drivers.

“Last year we fought for 5th place.  This year we proved we had what it took to get 2nd.  We just missed it, but I know they will be looking out for us next year,” said Kyle Lick aka Runt.

It truly was an exciting finish.  With just over an hour and a half left in the race Mike Bednar passed the kart off to Carl Bligan for the finish.  With a 1/4 lap lead, Carl had the impossible task of fighting off Dan Burke from Endurance Karting.  At the 55 minute Dan took advantage of some lap traffic and made an impressive move to sneak past Carl and team LVGP.  Dan managed to hold Carl off for the finish as the both crossed with a very little gap between them.

“We knew it was going to be tough to hold Dan off.  I have been on Dan’s team in the past and have seen him work his magic.  It was tough being on this side of it but I am extremely proud of Carl and the team for a strong finish and a great race!” Kevin Bligan, LVGP driver and father of Carl Bligan commenting on his son’s finish.

The LVGP teams all seemed to struggle in the pits throughout the race.  Seat belt issues plagued all 3 teams that were all running strong lap times.  It cost the team 2nd place but there was no chance the team had at catching the front runners from VLK.  There is great excitement on the improvement from last year but in the back of their minds the competitors know they left too much time in the pits.  Next year should be a fun and exciting test.

LVGP Team Roster

Kevin Bligan, Carl Bligan, Jason Frankenfield, Ryan Suchon, Kyle Lick, Jianni Koburi, Andrew Pettijohn, Pat Gillin, Michael Bednar

Click the Link for a video from the race!

LVGP will be holding a 12hr race at the end of March.  Look out for details!

The team at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix is always looking to improve products and to enhance the racing experience.  This fall the team has come together to establish, what could be the best league experience in indoor karting.

Competition Director, Ryan Suchon, and Assistant Competition Director, Kyle Lick, have evaluated the programs of the past and have taken their experiences to improve this next round.  Kyle is a new addition to the competition team and is now the director for the Jr Progam.  Kyle’s racing experience, knowledge of the karting facility and enthusiasm are sure to take the program to a new level.  Here is a list of areas that have been focused upon:

• Performance of Jr Karts-  We have torn apart all of the Jr karts to enhance the performance and experience of the drivers.  5 of the 9 karts used for the league racing will have new engines.  All of the karts will have brand new tires.
• Jr League Race Classes-  The fall leagues will now offer Jr league drivers the opportunity to race in adult karts pending they meet one of the 3 requirements.  The requirements are; 34.000 in a jr kart (prior to league start), 14 years of age, 55 inches in height.
• Points System for Adult and Jr Leagues-  The new point system is now heading towards an industry standard in the Sodi World Series.  All drivers are encouraged to register on the Sodi site to gain world wide exposure for their league results.
• Wall of Fame-  The facility will be adding a wall of fame to recognize top drivers in the facility.  League winners will be recognized on the wall for all the customers to see!!

For more information on the fall leagues email competition@lehighvalleygrandprix.com.

The Iron man series was a hit!  This new program completely sold out within days for the 2nd two races and proved to be an extremely competitive format.    The program consisted of 3 races that were 1.5 hrs.  These were individual drivers racing for a straight hour and half!!  ”If you have been to the facility and participated in the standard 8 minute heats, you can put into perspective what these drivers accomplished by simply finishing,” said Mike McCreary, owner of LVGP.

What was impressive with the competition is the fact that all 3 races had the top two drivers finish on the same lap!  In the first race Sean Roberts (Scooter) took the victory with Joe Voda only 24 seconds behind.  In the second race Kyle Shenk took the checkered flag with a 19 second lead over Pat Gillin and Andrew Pettijohn (fast kid).  The final race was won by Joe Voda by 4 seconds over Josh Schreiber and 23 seconds ahead of Kyle Shenk.  The most laps completed under the format was by Joe Voda finishing with 184 laps in the final race.

Prizes!!

The overall prize from the PRO CLASS is any choice of helmet from the Vega helmet company.  Kyle Shenk won that victory by securing a 3rd place finish in the final race.  The award was given to the driver to accumulate the most points over the 3 races.

The overall prize for the Amatuer Class was a 5 Race Pack valued at $80.  The overall amatuer victor was Mike Egge.

“It was a great race and a great accomplishment to finish all 3 races with no cautions!  This goes to show that our drivers are not only fast but respect each other and due to that it creates a great atmosphere for racing.  Thank you to all the participants,” Ryan Suchon, Competition Director

THE NEXT COMPETITION WILL BE A 3HR ENDURANCE RACE ON 9/11.  Contact Ryan Suchon at competition@lehighvalleygrandprix.com for details.