2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge Race 2 set for this weekend

The second race of the exciting 10 race series for the 2009 Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge will take to the track this Saturday, May 2nd.

Following a record turnout of 68 karts in for the April race, another record number of entries is expected. We know of at least another half dozen new entries joining the action this weekend.

The Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge is a best 8 out of 10 race series which runs 7 races at the Jim Russell International Karting Center at Infineon Raceway and 3 races at the Kinsmen Kart Club, Dixon Kart Track in the late summer and fall.

The big surprise so far this year has been the strong turnout for the new Micro-Max (8-10 years) and Mini-Max (10-12 years) classes. In addition to the full compliment of Rotax classes, the Jim Russell Cadet and Junior Arrive and Drive classes will be racing.

There will be practice available on Friday from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. Practice starts at 8:30am on Saturday, Qualifing at 11:15am, with the Pre-Mains and Mains starting at 1:00pm. The Track layout will be the Sprint layout.

Admission for spectators is free, so come out and see some great racing.

Food will be available from J&D's Snack Shack trackside.

Do you need to be a 2009 Rotax Member?

For 2009, it is not a requirement to be a Rotax member to race in the Jim Russell Northern California Rotax Challenge. Membership is not required to be eligible for any of the prizes in the series from all the great sponsors.

But, if you are thinking of going to the Rotax Grand Nationals or want to be part of the Rotax National Points Championship, you must be a 2009 Rotax member not later than May 2nd.

To qualify for the Rotax Grand Nationals, you must be a Rotax member and run in four local Rotax Challenge events. Three of these 4 races must be in the Region in which you have joined Rotax.

Rotax membership is also required for the Rotax National Points Championship. This is a series in which the points you earn at your local regional Rotax Challenge will be counted toward the National Points Championship.

The results for the April 4th race will be sent to Rotax on May 5th. If you are not a member of Rotax but want to become a member and get credit for the April race, then you need to join Rotax immediately.

Joining Rotax is easy. Go to www.RMAXChallenge.com and click on membership. You can join Rotax online with a credit card, or print out the membership form and send it in with a check. Or you can fill out a membership form at the May 2nd race and give it to Kit at the Marin Karting trailer and she will send it in on May 5th and make sure you get credit for the April race. Marin Karting is the Northern California Rotax Challenge administrator and handles all the series paperwork that gets sent to Rotax.