SKI Excellence Awards nominations

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR '03 SKI AWARDS

MISSISSAUGA, ON - The staff at Shifter Kart Illustrated is proud to announce the finalists for its fourth annual SKI Excellence Awards, a program which honors the best of the best in North American shifterkart racing. This year's finalists were chosen by the readers of the magazine through a mail-in nomination form and after diligent calculations, the top four selections have been joined by a single additional nomination by the SKI staff to fill up the eligible quintet. Combining performance results gathered from all of the sport's organizations with an individual or team's approach to the sport, the staff of the publication will then select this year's honorees. These winners will be announced at the magazine's annual Friday evening SKI Awards Party, which will be held at the Rio All-Suites Casino Resort Convention Center on the night of November 1 as part of the Superkarts! USA SuperNationals event, which will be held this year on the grounds of the resort in Las Vegas, NV. The race is the biggest shifterkart event of its kind and annually attracts all the very best drivers in North America.

The SKI Awards feature seven separate categories in driver, team and industry classifications. For the sport's top competitors, individual honors will be handed out for Driver of the Year, Rising Star, Young Driver of the Year and Road Racer of the Year. The crucial people behind the scenes are by no means left out of the festivities with the prestigious Team of the Year and Tuner of the Year awards also being presented during the program's big evening. As is the case with any competitive racing package - from CART to karts - the powerplant plays a major role in a successful shifterkart racing season and SKI will cap the list of honorees by highlighting one of the industry's finest with the celebrated Engine Builder of the Year trophy.

Shifter Kart Illustrated is the only North American karting magazine to specialize in the sport's wildly-popular gearbox category and this special evening has become one of the highlights of its publishing season. Presented in alphabetical order are this year's SKI Excellence Awards nominees.

DRIVER OF THE YEAR
Phil Carlson
Matt Champagne
Alan Rudolph
Ron White
Bobby Wilson

TEAM OF THE YEAR
CRC Racing
Extreme Karting
First Kart North America
JAF Racing
MRP Motorsports

TUNER OF THE YEAR
Andre Champagne - Matt Champagne / Hurricane Racing
Tim Lobaugh - Nick Bussell / MRP Motorsport
Mike Speed - Alex Speed / JM Racing / Speed Concepts
Terry Ventresca - Bobby Wilson / First Kart North America
Kimball Williams - Phil Carlson / JAF Racing

RISING STAR
Nick Bussell - MRP Motorsports
Gary Carlton - KLS Racing
Philip Johnson - CRC Racing / Team Evolution
Ben Petter - APD Kart Racing
Kyle Wiegand - Factory Fury

YOUNG DRIVER OF THE YEAR
Colin Braun - Tracc 5 / Coello / MRP
Mike Giessen - Fullerton North America
Graham Rahal - Team Rahal Junior
Alan Sciuto - Extreme Karting
Wade Van Hooser - Van Hooser Motorsports

ENGINE BUILDER OF THE YEAR
RB Allen - Allen Performance Development
Darcy DeCoste - Darcy DeCoste Racing
Paul Leary - Hi-Tech Racing Engines
Reine Persson - SwedeTech Racing Engines
Daniel Woltjer - Woltjer Racing Engines

ROAD RACER OF THE YEAR
Scott Barnes - T2 Race Karts
Dave Clift - Clift Racing
Chris Hegar - Hegar Bros.
Lance Lane - Lane Motorsports
Preston Peltier - Peltier Motorsports

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