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Badger Racway 2009
Vintage Kart Exhibition and Show
By Bill and Mary Jo McCornack
Badger Kart club turned 50 this year. Happy Birthday Badger! Vintage karters came from all over the Midwest to join in the celebration at Badger Raceway in Dousman, Wisconsin. This vintage event attracted about 30 demo race entries and 20 kart show entries.
Badger Kart Club is one of the best run clubs in the United States. Henry Duga led his team of about 20 dedicated volunteers as Race Director. Each volunteer was knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. To make things hum along with ease, this group used no less than three lap-top computers to handle registration, track lap times, etc. What other track can make that claim?
Erin Lemay was Chief Scorer and Melissa Rospkof was the Announcer.
The club really went all out for the vintage enthusiasts. It started with the Friday night dinner – which was simply delicious. Where in the world can you get a better brat than in Wisconsin? There were First, Second and Third Place trophies in every class. They had seven classes in the kart Show instead of the usual four, and there were tee-shirts and “Cheese Cows” (a block of good, old Wisconsin cheddar shaped like a cow) for everyone.
Greg and Doug Mayr of Oak Creek, Wisconsin had one of the best displays of 5 vintage karts.
Some of the winners at the Kart Show were:
Jim Mann – Margay Pro-X
Doug Mayr – McCulloch Kart with dual Mc20s
Brian Espeset – Margay Concept enduro with dual Mc101Bs
Dick Teal – 1961 Fox kart with WB820
Birge Braun – Blackhawk Kart w/McCulloch
Jim Liska – King Kart enduro
Brian Espeset of Mankato, Minnesota won the award for the furthest distance traveled – proving what a truly Midwestern event this was.
Although we don’t want to embarrass Melissa who did a great job as announcer, there was one funny thing that happened when she was announcing winners of the Kart Show. Poor Melissa was reading the award for “Best Rear …” when she hesitated. Everyone chuckled and checked behind them to see if they had a “rear” worthy of an award.
Skyler Morall, Dylan Runge and Ryan Carroll demonstrated at Brodhead and again at Dousman, how much fun kids have driving vintage karts in the Sportsman Junior class.
The most memorable part of the weekend was sportsmanship at it’s best, displayed at the end of each heat. The drivers dismounted their machines in the pits and gathered to shake hands and congratulate each other on a race well run. Many racers are old friends and isn’t that what vintage karting is really all about – doing something you really enjoy with your friends.
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