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You can mouse around this front page for the latest
stories about our karts and engines. Driver stories are here
too. To look at individual karts mouse up to the right hand
top of the home page and click on teh names of the karts or
engines you are looking to purchase. We also have pages
across the top of this home page that have videos, pictures,
team news and how to contact us.
Special Notes:
Used
Engines and Karts
Call today (916)390-6474
before they are gone! First to pay gets them, we do not
reserve engines for people. Great engines only come by every
once in a while.
Lead Stories:
Out Sick
I've been out for a
hospital trip. I have one more surgery planned and then hope
to be back at the end of this week. Engines break and people
do too. I'll be fixed up shortly. Sorry for the delay in
getting some of your projects out to you.
24 Hours of
Daytona
We will be down at the 24 hours
race this month to start our research. The boys are getting
old enough to race at this level and so we are going to
start researching in person. Our goal has been to put
together a team of drivers that started out in our kid karts
and put them in a Porsche or Corvette to get some
experience. Eventually maybe we'll pull together a higher
end class car. Our belief is that kid karters that started
at ages 3 and 4 like my sons have driving skills hardwired
into their brains. They have an ability to do things that
others that started later don't.
The biggest issue is that
younger drivers can get excited and make a mistake. The
endurance race is more about being smooth and consistent on
the driving while having well prepared mechanics in the
shop.
Luke Howard Sprinting Forward
The Midwest hot shoe will drive anything anytime anywhere.
He's had a very successful year so far. Technical issues
have slowed him down but only after the race. Here is a look
at his new ride. His success on the track has gotten him a
great deal on the next level car. Will he be the next Cole
Whit? You never know. He is still young and has two more
chances to win the big Midwest race in St. Louis for the Kid
Karts.
Here is a picture of the new car. Thanks for the nice
sticker on the sprint car! We enjoy the chance to give great
drivers like Luke a good solid start in racing. What they
will do as they go up the ladder is up to them, their hard
work and the racing gods.
Trever said to me I know you're not into sprints but I
wanted you to see what we've got. What he didn't know is
that I love sprints. I traveled with the World of Outlaws
for half a season and it is my favorite form of racing. Good
luck Luke!
Tanner Hudspeth Wins LAKC Leads Series
Tanner Hudspeth won the last LAKC race in Los Angeles. He
lead the field by 7.5 seconds and now leads the points race
for the title. Tornado's have always been fast at LAKC
because of its track configuration and surface.
Congratulations Tanner and thanks for taking us to victory
lane.
Tanner as you get faster in the summer and the older kids
get bigger and weigh more you'll have them on the run trying
to catch up. Keep up your hard work and research. It is
paying off!
Ayrton Ori Wins
Jacksonville FL
Ayton's crew chief has to
tune for two drivers. I know the pain, at one time I tuned
for my three sons in kid karts and my own Yamaha. It's gets
hard. A crew chief error mounting the tie rod back up
almost cost the win but Ayrton drove through the issue and
the Tornado still won with the ackermann steering off one
spot.
Ayrton now leads the series
in Florida and is starting to get the attention of other
teams. Where does this Tornado get all it's speed? In the
corners is the answer by the video. The answer to why is
because it was designed to be fast in the corners. Watch the
race here www.youtube.com/watch?v=azqBP5HSKAM
Used vs New Karts
Coast to coast the economy
is tough. Many people purchased used karts this year and
last. It is okay for us because we don't live off of the
karting business income. This business is a hobby and
passion for our family. Our Chromoly tubing is good for
several years. People are giving up the advantages of the
new adjustability by using an older Tornado but it seems to
be enough from East to West Coast as Tornado karts won the
key races.
We will unveil new parts
for the karts in June as we roll out the 2012 final version
that will make people say wow once again. The engineering
was done two years ago but we didn't want to roll out too
many new things at once. No need to let people copy all the
good stuff. Folks will be surprised when they see the
results on the mychron and at the track.
So if you are just starting
out a used kart is fine. They Italian mild steel karts are
harder for the driver because they need to guess at where
the apex will be. Chromoly karts turn in with a snap and the
drivers can just aim at the apex and the kart will be there
for them. That is why Tornado drivers end up being top
drivers across the country. It is really fairly hard to
drive the sloppy mild steel karts after the first three
months or so. My sons did, that is what we started with ten
years ago and that is why we switch to making our own karts
and why we stick with Chromoly.
It's not cheap to invest in
one of our karts but if you are serious about giving your
driver a good start in karting a Tornado will build his or
her confidence faster than any other kart on the market.
Ayrton Ori Wins Orlando
Ayrton Ori raced with his
younger brother for the first time this weekend in Orlando.
Younger brother Conan put up a fight but it was Ayrton's day
start to finish. Ayrton is a Tornado Kart Factory Driver,
he's driving a year old kart purchased from a former Factory
driver in Texas. The adjustability of the rear end helped
Ayrton stay unhooked in the hot Florida Sun and win the day
easily. To watch the race check it out on youtube.com by
clicking
here.
Would you mess with this guy at the track?
Congratulations Ayrton, thanks for taking us to victory lane
with you in Tony Kart land down there in Florida. Tony makes
a good kid kart but it looks like our used Tornados still
have more than enough in their Chromoly tubing to win.
Rumors have it that the Tony is great for five races and
then it goes saggy and gets hard to drive as the mild steel
goes away. We invest in the more expensive chromoly tubing
and it holds up for years. We do put a little mild steel in
to soften the kart but not enough to let it sag. Thanks
again for making us look so good in Florida Ayrton. I'm
sending you some new stickers for you car and kart.
2012 Kid Kart
Take a peek at the 2012
model heading to showrooms across the country soon. The
Tornado kid kart has more total big race wins than all other
manufacturers combine in the last five years. Watch the
video.
Luke Howard
Leads The Field At Route 66
Luke Howard is our Tornado
Factory driver in the Midwest and he's off to a great start
in the first regional race. He had a great year last
year, but wants to step his program up a notch. He'll have
his work cut out for him as the Allison's, Drakes and Wests
are not going to settle for second best.
.
A talented group of drivers
took to Springfield's track with high hopes for the season
ahead. Preparation was on the side of the Howards. Endless
fall and winter practices had them ready to go.
Several Tornados were in the field but all things came
together for Luke as he finished 22 seconds ahead of the
field. Talan Drake took second followed by Kyle West and
former Tornado Factory Driver Kaleb Allison's younger
brother Tyler Allison.
The drivers will meet up
again in Norway Illinois in May at the Concept Haulers
Raceway. Luke's goal is clear that he wants a clean shot at
the Kid Kart Nationals this summer. Thanks for taking us to
victory lane with you Luke. A new shirt and hat are on the
way to you this week.
Dezel West Wins R2 of Cal
State Championship Series
One of the competitors from the race sent me a nice note to
tell us that while we were not at the race our products
played a part in the top 6 spots. All of the top 4 finishers
had some Tornado technology as part of their rig, be it
chassis, engine or engine mount. Dezel just had the Tornado
hooked up the best. After dominating the heat race for each
lap he did not get the lead in the final from the pole
position. He dropped back and had to run down to fast
drivers. Dezel was trucking and was a half second faster
than the leaders that were swapping the front spot instead
of training and running away with the race.
West recorded the fastest lap in lap 7, he was a half
seconds faster than Hudson or Anthony and that is when he
took the lead for good. The Las Vegas hot shoe had a couple
choices for chassis but ended up picking the Tornado and it
was the ticket for the fun Adams track. Tanner Hudspeth
ended up fourth in the final and is younger than the others
but coming on strong. Several teams have invested in
multiple chassis and try to match a chassis to a track.
Las Vegas is a hot bed for top Kid Karters but the Los
Angeles crowd is well healed and never give up.
Los Angeles dealers say that the Tornado has trouble on hot
days and try to talk people into purchasing other karts. The
track was cold and the rumor is that on cold days or in the
rain Tornado Karts are untouchable. The reality is that you
need to understand how to tune a kart for hot day and cold
days. We can unhook our kart and run on 105 degree days.
You just need to understand and test seat position, weight
distribution and tire grip. The basic principle is the same
we simply lift our inside rear earlier and lay it down later
than any other chassis. That keeps the RPM's up and that
gives you the win all other things remaining equal. We have
the best designed chassis and the most flexible. It can win
any race at any track if you know how to set it up and you
test the limits of the kart.
Thanks to everyone that took all or part of a Tornado to
victory lane. Two Tornado karts in the top four is a good
day considering that we have no factory drivers in the race
and are not supporting the series. The Vermillion brothers
of Vegas have an equally good chance of winning a CSC race.
The next weekend in Vegas Kanyon Vermillion bested Dezel by
a second and a half to win the club race. Heather St. George
almost made the podium with a sixth place finish.
Quotes This Week
Almost every week we get calls or letters
from around the world telling us that our hard work and
research is getting them results. What were mid pack running
teams are now winning and challenging for the championships.
Ten years of racing experience and attention to detail goes
into our engines, Tornado Karts and instructional videos. An
investment in your son or daughter's future is always the
right thing unless you are just playing around. If you play
to win then you have come to the right place.
"Your Stealth carburetors got us right to the front row, thank you.
They were much faster than what we had been running" South America
"Your black head engine is a screamer,
its our best engine and we only bring it out when we need
it." England
"Your videos helped us get to the front of the pack of
drivers, thank you so much!" South Africa Kid Kart Racer
"The engine is so much stronger now with the top end
rebuild, you really know how to make these little C50's
work. I don't know why we waited so long" North America
"She has won 7 of the last 9 races and
she only lost to a different type of engine that is really
built for cadet classes that they restrict down for our
class. The Tornado chassis simply handles so much better
than the other Italian karts." East Coast
Easter Egg Hunt - New C50 Arrives
Usually in the summer Comer updates the Comer C50 engine.
This year it came in early. I was surprised when we went the
new engines. I called the importer right away and asked if
they had seen the changes that would dramatically change
tech and performance. They had not seen this new engine yet.
I was asked to take pictures and I sent those tech pictures
to some tech inspectors too so they know this is coming
because they would immediately DQ one of these engines had
they not known it was stock from Comer. The importer is the
one that confirms these changes. Our new engines will ship
out this week and be racing this weekend.
I'm not going to explain how these changes will effect
performance specifically. Two of the changes are good and
one is bad. As with everything in this ever changing engine
world, you have to know how to mix and match to get the
most. Our prediction is that this years summer racing will
definitely be effected by these new engines.
Tornado
Factory
Driver
Announcements
Is your application in?
tornadodriver@gmail.com send a note to us and we'll send
you an application.
Tate
Steinman
of Missouri
The Show Me State
Tate Steinmann age 6 has been into racing or dreaming about
racing since the age of 2. He has been sitting in dragsters
and prostock cars of Erica Enders, watching the dirt cars at
I 55 raceway in Pevely Mo. Tate started racing 5 with
an Italian Wildkart chassis and a slow engine, he didn't win
many races but came in 7th place @ kkn restricted. Then we
purchased a used Tornado chassis and a super stealth engine,
what a difference the combination made we started winning a
lot more races. He won 6 out of 11 club races,3 out of 4 mid
America Track Challenge races, came in 2nd a Central States
Challenge in Pevely, Mo. Tate had two 1st place wins,
two 2nd place, one 4th place and came in 7th in points all
in Quincy Illinois. kkn after losing main engine and many
set backs started 24th in finals and drove half the feild to
12th place so over all not a bad year.
Plans for 2011 upgrading the chassis, more tracks, more
experience and more wins. Welcome to the Tornado Factory
Team for 2011 Tate and thank you for taking us to victory
lane so many times in 2010!
Ayrton
Ori
of Florida
Young Ayrton started his driving with an Italian kart then
his Father did some research and ended up purchasing a 2010
Tornado from one of our Factory Drivers in Texas that won
the Southwest Regional Championship. He could tell the
difference right away and they are setting off to run a big
season.
Ayrton ran at the WKA Daytona race just last month. You can
watch his video on youtube.com by clicking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvckW2W0dpI.
Ayrton we appreciate you filling out the application to be a
Tornado Factory Driver in Florida and hope you have a great
season and success at the KKN race this summer. We know we
will be seeing you in victory lane soon.
Luke
Howard
Luke is part of
the Thunder and Lightning race team in the Show Me State of
Missouri. He's got the same long blond hair as I had at his
age when I grew up just a few miles from where the Howard's
live. They practiced on the same track my sons did in
Liberty Mo. Luke started the season as a five year old and
did what is required at that age to be a champion. He
practiced, practiced and then when he was tire and Dad was
tired, they practiced some more even in the freezing
weather. Luke put in over 2500 laps of practice.
After upgrading
to a used F5 Tornado from a Birel they started to gain
ground and build confidence. They had prepared well as you
can see from their season summary below:
SKUSA
Central States Champion
Heartland Sprint Series Champion
Club
Champion
Rookie
Spectacular Lasoski Speedway Champion-Dirt Track
Luke had a tremendous season with 17 wins, 4 seconds and a
third where the crew chief made an error with a rag. It's OK
Dad you get one or two mulligans. Luke also ran second at
the KKN in the restricted class but did not get the win or
podium. He's got a goal to win the big unrestricted class
and you can bet he'll be one of the favorites with his
sterling record as a five year old this season. We are proud
to have him back as a Tornado Factory Driver for 2011. He's
lightning fast for sure and the thunder may not be far
behind.
Here is a summary from the team on their season:
"Luke won all but 15 points of the SKUSA championship total
points. Including the prefinals Luke won 12/15 races
of the SKUSA races
He was undefeated at the HSS series on five different track
layouts
Most common racing quote is: "Dad don't change
anything it is fast" and "Did you put the fast jet in"
Luke put in the practice time at the end of 2009 and had
about 2500 laps in. As Luke's racing age in 2010 was 5
years old we believe he needed the extra practice to make up
for the maturity difference of the field. The first
day out in the Tornado F5 Chassis there was an instant
improvement. It was evident, when Luke would get loose
in the 37 degree weather with a slick track the Tornado
showed us immediately what all the hype was all about.
The kart was very forgiving compared to his Birel. He could
just plain drive it under control. This quickly allowed Luke
to build confidence and speed.
When we entered the racing season this year we were working
on his speed. His best feature to date was that he was
a very smooth driver. The next thing that we worked on
was his ability to not hesitate in traffic. This took
us awhile. Again the Tornado kart gave him the confidence to
follow and wait for the opportunity of the other kart and
driver to get loose. Then by the end of the season
Luke had all the pieces except the ability to set up a
strategic pass and in the last three races he was able to
complete this. The Tornado equipment allowed him the
opportunity to learn quickly, gave him the confidence to
build speed and he was just plain able to stick the kart
where he needed and wanted it to go. When the chassis
was combined with the awesome Tornado power it was a winning
combination. And the piece of mind to know that you
are legal when going through tech is priceless.
Like other team members we have names for our Tornado motors
like Maverick and Coal Valley to name a few but Luke's
favorite is "Trixie". He always asks for that one when there
is a big race on the line. We are now at a point where
we are chasing tenths and the Tornado equipment allows us to
continue to find them. When you are on the best
chassis and engines it allows you to focus more on your
driver and racing than on the could've and should'ves of
racing. In addition, the resale values hold up and
give you the confidence that your racing equipment will have
value when your kid karter moves up. There is no
better equipment compliment in this class than when a
competitor team wants to buy your equipment after the final
race. You are just borrowing it anyway right?
For our team we chose to travel out of town so we could get
additional racing situation exposure, different track
experience and to race regional competition. This was
huge in Luke's development and racing maturity. He
raced 14 different track layouts out of 22 races this year.
In addition, Luke races a Briggs alcohol dirt kart and we
firmly believe that gives him a huge boost in his ability to
feel the kart at such a young age.
We are happy to be part of the Tornado team and look forward
to 2011."
Congratulations Dec Drivers of the Month
Go to the Team page to see who was named December driver of
the month. What team is in the garage right now with a plan
to win the first races of the 2011 season.
Tornado Factory Team
Open Enrollment
Several 2011 Tornado
Factory Team agreements went out today. Existing drivers if
you didn't get them please e-mail us and we'll send one to
you. If you would like to nominate a driver please send a
bio of the driver and a short description of why you think
they should be on the team.
Factory drivers run our
chassis and engines exclusively and help test new setups.
They often are on the leading edge of research and sometimes
get additional assistance in getting to the front.
Applications are taking year round, the team is usually
announced in December as we approach the holidays.
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The 2010 Tornado Factory Drivers were very successful. We'll
update stories on them over the next weeks. If you haven't
already sent us a summary and pictures please do that soon.
Most year end banquets are finishing up. We love pictures!
Alanmykael Polley Wins Clone Rookie
Championship
On the
Start the other kart got a good jump off the line.
Alanmykael right on his heals, a sight we have seen many
times this year. With just 5 Laps in Alanmykael got a HUGE
run off the monza turn and rocketed passed the leader and
never looked back. This was a 50 lap race and Alanmykael
managed to lap his main competitor. Alanmykael would go
onto Win the Last race of the season, and in doing so
Clintched the Season Championship for Clone Rookie!!! Way to
go #14 !!!!. When I asked him how was the kart was it slick
at all after so many laps he said nope dad it handled
flawlessly. So we want to give a Special Shout out to
Tornado Kart For getting us the chassis that win races as
well as Championships!!!!
Thanks for the race
day description guys. The Polleys are hard core racers and
they come ready to battle in any class. We are proud to have
them as part of the Tornado Factory Team! Thanks for taking
us to Victory Lane with you so many times this season. 50
laps, wow, what a race that must have been to watch.
Hudspeth Wins IKF R7
Tanner Hudspeth comes from racing roots and it showed on
Sunday when he came from the back to win the final R7 race
of the season. He was running a Tornado at Calspeed, a
particularly slippery track that Tornado's have always had a
slight advantage. Coming in second was Hudson Morrow running
another set up with a Velociraptor mount. Sounds like it is
up in the air as to whom won the series but Hudson did his
part.
There are many great drivers in R7 but the series has left
many shops and racers with a bad taste in their mouth. Maybe
the news that Gatorz will join forces this season will allow
a few of us to return. I'm even thinking of taking four
drivers to the series, once we see how tech will be handled.
We have ignored the series for two years for differences on
how to tech.
Thanks for the pictures sent to me of Hudson Morrow on his
Velociraptor 2011 Tornado. I believe 2011 will be the year
of the chassis as more teams figure out all the options we
have and how to best configure them. We have more
adjustability than any other kart and it helps when you run
a regional race program. You just can't afford to drop a
race. New for 2012 will be even more fine tuning options and
enhanced Velociraptor technology that we developed late this
summer. The testers will be working hard the next three
months and the new crop of Tornado Factory drivers will be
the lead testers. Sign ups start this week.
Championship Series Wins
Several factory drivers
have reported in with success on wrapping up their club or
regional series. I've been too busy to update the site
lately but will get to it hopefully this weekend. My Mom's
had a couple operations and my youngest son broke both his
arms in an accident.
I can tell you that each
detailed e-mail I get telling me about the season really
helps, because it is almost like we were there. I share it
with my sons that were the inspiration for Tornado Karts and
the early drivers and test drivers. Thanks again so much for
taking us to victory lane with you this season. We do the
design work and research but you put the rubber to the road
and make our products world famous! We'll get your pictures
and stories up soon. Please send any extra shots you have
and any extra details!
Polley Wraps Up
MATC Series
Alanmykael Polley wrapped up the Mid American Track
Challenge championship. Congratulations to all of Team
Polley on the effort to put and keep Alanmykael up front in
the clone class. This family has been racing for years and
really has a great time at the track. We are proud to have
them as part of the Tornado family of drivers.
Alanmykael’s was fast when we were there in April we ran a
48.4. This time when we went back to finish out the series
we ran a 47.1 so much much more faster. The kart handled
great we made no adjustments other then gearing and tire
pressures. In a few of the pictures you can see the right
front pick up off the ground as this is how the kart was to
handle and handle it did coming out of the corners like a
rocket. We not only won our featured event The Clone Rookie
Class but we also won the Series for that Class and he was
Crowned Class Champion of Clone Rookies.
Alanmykael is a Tornado Factory driver and driver of the
month for September. Thanks for taking us to victory lane
with you. Videos of team Polley racing can be seen at
www.teampolleyracing.com
How To
Win
Big
Over the years we have been
blessed to win over 50% of the national races and 60% of the
regional titles in the starter class. It wasn't always our
engine and our Tornado chassis but many times we had a part
in the win with one or both. Sometimes people switched from
our engines because they were given free ones by someone
else trying to buy a name for themselves, but our training
and input helped put the team on a course for success.
We are working on a special
video for the teams that want to win big. Of course the
majority of kids would say they want to win big trophies. My
four did. When the boys all sat at a table with me and I
asked what are our goals for this coming race season they
said "we want to win"! The next questions was meant to help
define that better. I asked, win a club race, win a club
championship, a regional championship, a national
championship? Of course they picked the hardest one for me
and them in choice E, all of the above.
When I told them how hard
that would be on me, their family and them... they told me
not to worry, they would do their part and drive. When I
explained such a goal would be much more work than soccer
practice or baseball practice. "It's ok, we are ready!" A
great proud Dad answer but also a very big time and monetary
commitment. So we wrote down together what we thought it
would take in the amount of test days, practice days,
practice races and long distance travel. They quickly agreed
to the tasks and for the most part did the work. We were
fortunate in that the track in Davis was only 2 miles from
our house. On a cool clear day you could hear the shifters
practicing.
In our upcoming video, How
To Win Big Races, we will cover some of the secrets of
winning teams of the past and what we feel your goals list
should include. After having created an Inc 500 company with
a few hundred software programmers you get accustomed to
making a plan because software people, bless their hearts,
can be like herding cats. Here are some basic steps to think
about.
 Set
a goal and work backwards from that date. Great teams that
have the best shot have been in planning for over a year.
Good teams have a 7 month plan and happy go lucky teams say
I think we can get to that track at the end of the month and
have a chance to win.... Little do they know that will
require all the top great teams to crash or have mechanical
difficulty.
Engine locating, engine
testing, engine aging and engine rotation takes a great deal
of time, especially in the stock C50 and other classes where
the engines can vary greatly from the manufacturer. Add to
that driver training, chassis testing as well as crew chief
training and this gets very difficult fast. A high end bond
trader once said to me, I thought my world was really tough
until we decided to go kid kart racing. The pressure is so
much greater in racing. So much to learn and so little time.
One of the benefits that we offer is that we have done this
so many times that it's not new to us. Few single car NASCAR
teams ever do well because they don't have the data sharing
to bracket settings and get to the final answer fast enough
to let the driver learn the track.
 So
another tip is to get with a team, a club team, a local kart
shop team, a national team like ours or some group that you
can work together with all season long. That's why so many
people sign up to be selected for our Tornado Factory Driver
teams. September is when we start taking applications. Not
everyone gets in but we work hard to get Dads, Moms, Uncles
and Grandfathers trained early. Then we work on the chassis
and engine programs. When the time comes for the big one
you've got to be ready for adversity. Weeks before key races
engines have a tendency to blow or break because we are
putting them on the edge to get them ready to sing. Ring
strategy... that could be three chapters in itself. Let's
save that for another day.
 That
should be a start for some of you hard researching teams. I
can tell you that with the economy there were only a few,
less than you can count on one hand, well prepared great
teams last year. I can also tell you that more than five
teams are already well on their way for next year. They
don't have Cadetitis (that almost incurable mania to move up
to a much more powerful and competitive class) and they had
their plan to win a national before this years races were
run. Anyone can win. You all have a chance. It isn't about
whom has the most money. This year's winner is a Refer
mechanic, two years ago, a policeman, the year before that a
Indy 500 Champ (nice motor home, better than average budget)
the year before that restaurant owner. One little girl that
won more regionals than any boy had the smallest budget I've
seen in racing but one very hard working and educated
Father. So it's all up to you, start planning. Build your
own kart from scratch and do it all yourself or hook up with
a top team and get proven equipment that passes tech and get
seat time for your driver. Good luck, see you at the races.
Jerry
and Zach Preiser on the walk back
after tech
Many Try But Only A Few
Get This Feeling When Its Over
P.S. What happened to our
goals? One national title (third for the little one), one
regional title and second/third in the club. You just can't
always win them all... But it is so much fun trying.
Over Inflated?
Some people really have a
hard time being second or third. For those that have worked
in the tech shed, we know that it is often second and third
that are cheating, not first. First place often goes to the
team that did the homework, tested, researched, practiced
and then tested again to be sure. They make it look like it
is illegal. Some people think it is okay to modify port
timing, cut cases and such to catch up with those running up
front. They think splitting hairs in tech isn't fair.
What the top engine
builders know is that often it is just a hair difference to
get an engine from third to first. In the stock engine world
like the C50 or Gazelle it often comes down to sorting
through factory parts to find the one that fits just right,
has the right blow down, has the right wall clearance. We
have to hit the basics right on the money. At many races we
stay safe a thou or two because some tech directors may not
have good equipment but at big races with national level
tech guys we can reset to be right on the line.
Some people that build
engines gamble on cc's or timing hoping the tech guy will
give it to them but we like to keep it legal and know for
sure the win is ours, legally. So when we quote our win
record on the right we quote the name of the driver and when
as well as where the win happened. One thing is for sure we
didn't over inflate the win, we didn't cheat to win and we
did do our research. Our wins are not inflated, they
were pumped up by hard working honest teams along with our
own team of engineers, onsite and contracted expertise. When
you work with us we may be slow but we put out great
equipment that you too can win with.
Luke Howard Wins SKUSA
Regional Independence
Luke has been on a tear this year finishing on the podium in
a large percentage of the races locally and regionally. He
had a great chance at second at KKN restricted but didn't
take the right steps in the tech shed. There are many
learning experiences in karting and they'll be back next
year, more ready to take another shot at KKN. Luke races
dirt and asphalt and has become a force to be reckoned with
at each race he goes to.
Congratulations Luke, thanks for taking us to Victory Lane
with you. The Red Bull bullet looks fast. Thanks for the
pictures.
What Do We Think
Of KKN?
That Trophy Is Taller Than Zach!
Way to go Zach and Jerry
Preiser, Sam and Kevin Paley for giving the Tornado brand a
1,2 finish. We were very happy to regain the title with Zach
driving and Jerry tuning. Sam Paley (pictured below) gave a
great run and his Tornado engine was screaming but in the
end Zach edged him out for the win. Zach is a Tornado
Factory driver and had the Tornado Kart and engine working
well to get to the front. He gambled in the week prior and
it paid off.
We had a very tight engine
because it was apart only days before the race. Zach had put
in 9 of 10 days of practice and break in for us in the days
prior to the race. But as with some other champions of the
past in Leatherberry and Lazier their engines were apart
only days before the race too. There is a technique in
getting to the front in big races that few know and few will
share.
Tech played a significant
part in the race again this year. It seems as if after last
years failure of those that over ruled tech, they were
determined to tech heavier and better. Engines that were
modified heavily by machinist were caught and sent back
early in the race weekend. The leader of the final race took
a DQ for 5 thou off on port timing handing the win to Zach.
You can miss by a thou but no one will give you 5 thousands
that's just too big of an advantage and has to be
intentional on a professional builders part.
Zach had taken the pole,
won his heat race, won the preheat and in essence won the
final but didn't get to put his hands up with a victory
celebration because he thought he was second. We took a
gamble on new technology that we had invented in the months
prior that came in late. It was installed only a week before
the race and Jerry had to be creative in conditioning the
loaner engine for race day.
If you only knew everything
we went through in the days prior to the race to get the
very latest stuff ready to go. Let's just say that included
some creative engineer and a persistent Dad with the guts to
take the rides of his life.
Someone at the race said that almost 30% of the field was on
a Tornado Kart or had a Tornado engine. We don't really know
who has our old equipment but we think we had at least 3 of
the top 5 racers in Unrestricted. We are sorry we couldn't
be part of the race this year. It's good to see a three year
old chassis win the race and it goes to show you that our
Tornado's Chromoly lasts. Jerry will be the rare owner that
probably makes money on his engine and chassis purchase as
many people are vying for his equipment.
I do predict next years race will be won by a 2010 or 2011
or newer Tornado chassis. The technology advantage is just
too good with up and down as well as length adjustability.
Our new mount and clutch safety cover were not run in this
race yet we still achieved almost 370 head temps all inside
the rules. While the system and process is not known to the
public it does work and we appreciate Zach and Jerry putting
their trust in us as Factory Drivers do. Thanks for taking
us to Victory Lane with you in the Show Me state. Thanks to
everyone that worked so hard to put the race together for
the kids.
Man That's A Good Feeling After Clearing Tech
Ethan
Arndt Takes Lead in SWRC Series
Ethan has been steadily
progressing and with a solid performance at the last SWRC
race he's taken the points lead in the series.
Hudson's Happy
Happy - Two IKF R7
Titles
Hudson Morrow wrapped up
the IKF R7 Saturday and Sunday Titles this weekend at
Calspeed running the 2011 Tornado Velociraptor Edition and
set fast time on the track. The Saturday and Sunday series
were combined for the last race as the series fell on hard
times. Hudson set fast time in the final by .7 seconds and
did what he had to do to win the title. Just like Braden did
a few years back, he didn't need to win the race to win the
title he just had to place close enough to a few of the
competitors. He placed second comfortably after leading the
race.
Preston Andersen was second
in the qualifying but had troubles in the heat race as
an accident put him back and finished a lap down even though
he was running as fast as the winner of the heat. In the
final he made it from the back row to the podium finishing
in fifth. Dezel West also had a great weekend finishing up
third on the day. These Vegas boys do a great job with as
little track testing time as they have. If Vegas could get
it's own track where they could practice everyday they'd
really by tough to beat. The cement makes them really light
on the wheel and is a wonderful training ground. The World
Championships will be there in August. www.jrkartingwc.com
Ethan Arndt Breaks
Record At SWRC
Ethan's crew chief committed
one of the biggest violations of the winning kid kart
parents rulebook, taking the head off on race weekend. He
wanted to be safe and easily legal on cc's so he checked the
engine over and set it up to be safe. We'd set it up very
tight on the last rebuild and it was too close for comfort.
The head removal held Ethan back on Saturday but the engine
came back in on Sunday and Ethan broke the track record by
half a second.
He didn't win but he was in
position to as he sat on the front row for the final. A
wreck took out half the field on the start but the race
director kept them running. Out here in California that
would have most likely been a restart of the entire field.
Ethan's getting the kart and engine dialed in and he'll be a
force to be reckoned with in coming races. We are confident
he'll be taking us to Victory lane with him soon. Ethan,
don't beat up good old Dad too much, he is really learning
this stuff fast and soon he won't be making those rookie
mistakes.
Crew chief training often
proceeds at the same rate as driver training but most of the
time drivers actually get ahead of their crew chiefs.
Drivers drive for a few hours while good crew chiefs are
often up late nights for days trying to figure out things to
go faster. Keeping these engines in the sweet spot isn't
easy.
Luke Howard Wins
One of our Tornado Factory
drivers has been on an early spring tear like a Kansas
twister. He's been tearing up the tracks in the Midwest. His
team is called Thunder and Lightning Racing, Luke is
Lightning and his younger brother Blake is Thunder. They won
the second race in a row at the PDC in Independence
Missouri.
"It's Soooo
Expensive"
Or Is It?
We hear
this from time to time. Your equipment is so expensive but
is it really? When we got into karting we had to purchase
three karts all at once for our four boys. The wifester said
that's $5400! Yes, that's true. Upfront it was but let's not
forget about the back end of the transaction, because unless
all three tangled down the straight and ruined every part of
those karts we were still going to sell them and get money
back. Remember to calculate the resale value, and also be
confident about the fact that Tornado karts have the very
best resale value in the business.
Why you
ask...? Because they are made of quality Chromoly tubing
that is super fast, light weight and last longer than all
the Frenchman chasing Lance Armstrong up the hills in
France. When people go to sell our karts they get back 50%
to 80% of the original investment. That's right our karts
are an investment. The limp noodles from Italia don't have a
good resale because the mild steel is spent after a year or
less and the kart's can't perform because they sag.
So let's do
the math together karting Mom's and Dads, kids you follow
along too... you can correct their mistakes and help them
justify the fast one for you! Say we get an Italian kart and
it's $500 cheaper. Yeah, you saved money on that first
exciting day you fell in love with karting...Then we add a
hollow axle, smaller brakes and all the other things the
Tornado comes with as standard, cha ching, the prices is
going up now. We are now about the same price. It's true,
you have a spare 9 pound solid axle from Italy but hey
unless your clubbing a huge catfish you caught what are you
ever going to do with it... you can't race it.. Now when you
finish up and move up a class you will be lucky to get $750
for that pasta special from overseas because it has sagged
and it never really did well all season or at the end of the
season. The Tornado on the other hand was winning the club
championship and the new crop of parents that did do their
research are clamoring to purchase the kart that won. The
Tornado goes for $1500 or more.
Let's do
the math together now. What looked like a better deal with
the $500 less initial purchase really doesn't look so good
now. So if we invested $2500 and we got back only $750 we
have a loss of $1750 if we can even sell that kart locally,
chances are you'll need to ship it off to some unsuspecting
parent in a rural area without internet access. If you
invested a few dollars more in the Tornado, your mantle is
full of trophies, your memory of races won and contested
heavily is full and your DVD player will show a great couple
years. When you sell it for $1500 your total investment is
$1000. Over two years that's $41 a month for the Tornado but
$73 a month for the Top Italian mild steel kart.
There
wasn't room on the fireplace mantle for all of Cruz's
hardware.
Kids lets
review in case they haven't moused over to the purchase
button yet. $41 a month for the Tornado is LESS than $73 a
month. So it's really expensive to buy the cheaper kart
isn't it? Did they mouse over yet? It's the buy it now
button on the chassis page. Ok, now help them understand 1st
or 2nd place is better than 7th or 10th place even though
those numbers are bigger. Being on the podium is much more
exciting than watching your friends climb on the podium
every weekend... Invest in the best and only cry once. Pick
up a new Tornado or used one today, you'll be glad you made
the correct investment for the future financially and for
your young driver.
Video Testimonials
We have had several good
notes about our new set of instructional videos for the kid
kart engine and chassis.
"We
really learned a bunch in a short amount time, this helped
us to understand all the things we didn't know and wouldn't
have thought about. You guys have seen a lot and tested many
small things that all add up to a fast engine and kart."
Over the last seven years
we have had over a hundred nice notes from crew chiefs that
invested in our video series. It's several hours of tips,
tricks and things not to do that encompass thousands of
hours at the track.
In talking with someone
that had purchased the videos we learned that he'd been
running too lean. He'd been winning but was looking for a
little bit more. Now that he knows he's been running too
lean and ruined his ring he'll be much faster once he gets
the top end rebuilt.
Look at the
How To Videos Section in the upper
right of this page to see the videos.
Click
Here!
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Thermodynamics, Metallurgy,
Chemistry and then application of a testing process on the
dynamometer.
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