July 17, 2018 - Being prepared and proactive to help its members, the World Karting Association (WKA) Manufacturers Cup program is pleased to announce their 2019 racing schedule and class structure along with a new point program as they prepare for the future. Taking the customers travel planning and costs of racing into consideration, a six race schedule over eleven months provides teams and competitors with a great platform.

"We have been working hard to not only finish our 2018 program strong, but also plan for our 2019 racing season,"explained WKA President Kevin Williams. "We want to provide our customers the opportunity to plan well in advance, thus being able to save on travel costs and put the Manufacturers Cup schedule on their upcoming calendar."

Kicking the season off as always in Daytona Beach in December, the series will then make their trek northward to Mooresville, North Carolina in March. The third event weekend of the series will be in Dousman, Wisconsin in May while the same can be said about the June event in Wampum, Pennsylvania. Making a return trip to Norway, Illinois in August, the Manufacturers Cup will conclude with their Grand Nationals at the famed New Castle Motorsports Park in October.

2019 Schedule
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, Florida - December 27-30, 2018
GoPro Motorplex - Mooresville, North Carolina - March 29-31, 2019
Badger Raceway - Dousman, Wisconsin - May 17-19, 2019
Pittsburgh International Race Complex- Wampum, Pennsylvania - June 28-29, 2019 *Tentative
Concept Haulers Motor Speedway - Norway, Illinois - August 23-25, 2019
New Castle Motorsports Park - Spiceland, Indiana - "Grand Nationals" - October 11-13, 2019

The 2019 point structure will start at a base of 200 points with 20 bonus points available for both Daytona and NewCastle event weekends. The per entry bonus points have been removed for 2019. The change in the point structure will also allow competitors to drop two full event weekends, allowing them to be flexible with their 2019 racing schedule.

Williams added, "In the past, the series forced racers to compete on a more strict structure. The new approach allows more flexibility for WKA Members to select the dates and venues that work best for them, without much penalty, and still have fighting chances in Championship Points. Coming to the end of the season at our Grand National in New Castle, a racer from the Northeast can meet their competitor from the Midwest to race for the Championship."

"The 2019 WKA Manufacturers Cup class structure has also been altered," explained Williams. "Our thought process is to offer venues, dates, and classes that are popular among WKA's membership base to better serve the WKA Members. The points/drop schedule allows racers to tailor their competition year with more flexibility on the calendar and the locations we are visiting. This was a great effort of contributions from our Competition Committee, made up of strong industry experts, which include Chuck Gafrarar, Bill McLaughlin, Eric Jones, Pat Slattery, Jamie Sieracki, and Nick Tucker."

The 2019 WKA Manufacturers Cup class structure will include IAME Micro Swift and Mini Swift as well as the 206 Cadet program. For the junior ranks, competitors will have the choice to compete in KA100 and IAME Junior while Senior competitors will have the same option in KA100 Senior and IAME Senior. Looking out for the future of the sport, WKA will also offer the Kid Kart category at all event weekends, which includes Daytona, while the Margay Ignite Challenge will return to Daytona this year.

Other notable enhancements to the Manufacturers Cup Program is the return of tire sales back to valued industry retail partners and shops, starting with the first event of the year at Daytona. Also new for 2019 is the implementation of the push-back bumper program, with video review officiating available for the new regulation.

Stay tuned for more information coming from WKA in the very near future.