With COVID-19 putting a hold on motorsports around the world for more than three months, it is finally time for the World Karting Association (WKA) to return back to the track. With the Charlotte Karting Challenge on the docket over the next two weekends, a return to the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway will kick off this weekend.

"We have been waiting and planning on this for quite some time," explains WKA President Kevin Williams. "We have three of our series in competition over the next two weeks, and it will be a great, and busy, return to karting for WKA. We have WKA Series Champions, National Champions, Florida Winter Tour Champions and drivers with international experience registered across all of our series. We have teams and competitors from up and down the East Coast as well as some drivers from out West. Karting is back, and we are excited about the opportunity and looking forward to be the first national events back on track in United States karting."

With a freshly paved Charlotte Motor Speedway karting circuit, WKA Bridgestone Tires Manufacturers Cup competitors will hit the track Thursday for unofficial practice before official competition begins on Friday. The WKA Vega Tire National Road Race Series will commence practice on Friday, July 3 beginning at 4:00pm and run under the lights in a unique environment until the final checkered flag later that evening. While competition inside the Charlotte Motor Speedway heats up, competition outside the confines of NASCAR's Home for Speed also comes as WKA Maxxis Speedway Dirt Series drivers hit the track over the Fourth of July weekend at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

"We are anticipating two great weekends of competition," adds Williams. "Entries were steadily on the rise until closing at midnight on Sunday, June 21^st as we did a good job conveying that all competitors competing inside the speedway must pre-enter. Dirt Series competitors were urged to pre-register but will also be permitted to enter trackside."

As a reminder WKA Manufacturers Cup and Road Race competitors will be able to enter additional classes when on site in Charlotte. Furthermore, all competitors and spectators entering any of the Charlotte Karting Challenge events will need to complete a COVID-19 Health Screen Questionnaire that can be found HERE or by visiting worldkarting.com. Parking maps for both weekends are also available to download - Manufacturers Cup and Road Racing HERE and Speedway Dirt HERE.

For more information on the World Karting Association Manufacturers Cup, please contact WKA at [email protected] or www.worldkarting.com.