January 31, 2024 – The month of January produced podium results for Team Benik as they carried the momentum from a monstrous end to the 2023 season. After earning a victory at the Superkarts! USA (SKUSA) SuperNationals to close out last season, Team Benik started 2024 in similar fashion.
“The first race of a new season provided a pair of top-five results including a podium,” explained Team Benik’s Nick Mitchell. “We were able to continue that into the second event, adding another podium finish before closing out the month of January with speed on the third weekend, but with no luck.”
Progressing through the SKUSA Winter Series weekend, Sunday at the AMR Homestead Miami Motorplex saw Royce Vega and Troy Ferguson near the front in Mini Swift. Ending the day on the podium, Vega earned the team’s best finish of the weekend in third, with Ferguson right on his rear bumper in fourth.
Royce Vega continued his podium performances the very next weekend at the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour where he was once again in contention for the win. With back-to-back weekends at the Homestead, Florida facility, Vega was able to climb to the second step on the podium in Mini ROK. In the Micro ROK category, Wynn Godschalk has grown by leaps and bounds in the past six months and continues to do so in 2024. With top-20 results in SKUSA SuperNationals heat races to finish 2023, Godschalk has made huge progress in a short amount of time finishing third in the Micro ROK prefinal. While the main event result was not what he desired, Wynn is showing that he has the natural speed and abilities to compete for victories as he gains valuable experience at national-level events.
Junior driver Marco Romero closed his ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour weekend with a P4 result in ROK Junior. As the first driver in the new venture between Benik / DPK / Driven / MIS Bio Performance, Romero was able to compete with some of the nation’s top junior competitors, despite being a rookie in the category having moved up from the Mini ROK ranks recently.
Closing the weekend at the Orlando Kart Center for the opening round of the Rotax RMC Winter Trophy, Team Benik drivers flexed their muscles in practice and heat races, but bad luck in the main events took them out of contention for a strong result.
Mitchell added, “The racing in Florida is no joke as drivers from around the world are here to race. It is good training for the future and the competition will make all Team Benik drivers better as they roll through 2024.”
Next up for Team Benik is a return trip to the Orlando Kart Center for the final rounds in the RMC Winter Trophy this coming weekend before returning to Homestead, Florida for rounds three and four of the SKUSA Winter Series and round two of the Florida Winter Tour.
Stay tuned to the Team Benik social media page for news, information, photos, and results from all events in 2024.
For more information on Team Benik, please visit them online by searching Team Benik on social media or their website at www.Benik-Kart.com.