Sixty entrants for Yamaha Senior 50-Kart Challenge at Daytona Road Race

Yamaha Senior karts ready for practice Monday at Daytona
Yamaha Senior karts ready for practice Monday at Daytona

When race group 4 takes the track Tuesday afternoon at Daytona KartWeek’s Road Race Championships, it will feature the largest laydown enduro field in likely over 30 years.

Once upon a time, classes like Yamaha Lite, Medium and Heavy would draw anywhere from 50- to 100-plus entries at Daytona KartWeek. The sprint-enduro versions of the Yamaha and Piston Port classes would typically draw similar numbers. This was back in the 1980s and the early 90s.

In more recent years, a 20- to 30-kart field is considered large at Daytona and any road race national or club event.

But not this year.

Thanks to John Brown and others, this year’s Yamaha Senior Final 1 division will see 60 laydown enduros fill the grid on Daytona’s pit road at the 2020 version of Daytona KartWeek.

The Brown Racing team working in the DIS garage after practice day
The Brown Racing team working in the DIS garage after practice day

The 50-Kart Challenge, announced in November on Facebook and WKA’s Pit Board, was a promotion put in place to entice as many active (and maybe even some inactive) laydown racers to refresh their Yamaha KT100s, bolt them on their chassis with a WKA-approved fixed pipe, and take part in a class that resembles the heyday of road race karting.

The program gained momentum through Thanksgiving time and into December, and the result Tuesday will be a very welcome sight for anyone who follows and appreciates enduro-style kart racing.

We caught up with John Brown in the DIS garage area Monday after practice day to talk about the 50-Kart Challenge for Yamaha Senior, how the idea came about and what he expects for the race after a day of practice on the DIS high banks.

Listen to John Brown:

Here’s the entry list for tomorrow’s 50-Kart Challenge for Yamaha Senior Final 1, which will pay $500 to win plus a host of contingency prizes.

Driver… Chassis

Joe Dempsey… CKI
Dusty Dean… Margay
Tim Linthicum… N/A
Keith Freber… Margay
Jeff Estes… Emmick
Brad Zoeller… CKI
Jason Lorang… RWC
Rusty Benson… Hatcher
Chad Dokken… N/A
Lyle Trudell… CKI
Rex Pierce… Coyote
Patrick Olsen… Coyote
Colin Jedrzejek… CKI
Ron Seller… Coyote
Rick Queen… Hatcher
Adam Trumbley… RWC
David Lee... CKI
Brian Ellis… Coyote
Matt Michel… N/A
Scott Stauffer… CKI
John Brown… Hatcher
Jamey Brown… Hatcher
Jeffrey Bierman… Hatcher
Rick Fulks… CKI
Sean O’Shea… RWC
John Ellsworth… Margay
Lindsay Walkup-FoxL… CKI
Charles Fox… CKI
Mark McNaught… CKI
Nate Grindell… Nate/Richie
Bryan Norman… Hatcher
Randy Fulks… CKI
Austin Henry… RWC
Chris Pence… Hatcher
Roy Shephers… Emmick
Matthew Gibson… Emmick
Gregory Boston… N/A
Robby Harper… Jaguar
Tim Koscher… N/A
Josh Rohlk… Hatcher
Jeff McClellan… Emmick
Tom Johnson… RWC
Michael Marr… CKI
Justin Greene… Coyote
Patricia Hechler… RWC
David Hechler… Emmick
Joe Payne… Elite
Brandon Schenkel… CKI/Anderson
Walt Stearly… N/A
Mike Radowski… N/A
Mike Hamilton… Emmick
Austin Queen… RWC
Glen Cherry… Emmick
Joe Cassidy… RWC
Jean Brown… N/A
Steve Pasteiner… N/A
Scott Cherry… N/A
John Larue… N/A
Johnny West… N/A
Santiago Ruiz de Gopegui… N/A

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