eKartingNews.com Happy Hour with Howden Presented by Bridgestone

Stars of Karting East #4 Date: August 5, 2006 Venue: USA International Raceway - Shawano, WI Guests: Brett Smrz (FirstKart.com), Mike Vincec (Cameron Motorsports), Paul Zalud (Stars of Karting), Jamie Sieracki (Franklin Motorsports), Steve Welk (Linear Sport/GBR Racing) A busy month is ahead for the EKN staff as the begin the month in Wisconsin for the Stars of Karting Eastern Division finale at USA International Raceway in Shawano during the Friday night party by the pool with music, beer, and free food. A busy guest list kept the show going with recent Formula BMW Licensing Course Scholarship winners Brett Smrz and Mike Vincec. We then discuss the recent announcement of Stars of Karting to be part of the PRI Show in Orlando in December with Stars President Paul Zalud. After a great Hot Seat with Zalud, the Round Table Discussion cracked the brain of Jamie Sieracki and Steve Welk about what karting is, a feeder series or a sport of its own.

Desert MINI Grand Prix Date: June 3, 2006 Venue: Buffalo Bills Hotel & Casino - Primm, NV Guests: Randy Neal (PCH Motorsports), Joe Ramos (SSC Racing), Paul Zalud (Stars of Karting) and Don St. Ours (IKF Region 7) After nearly two months away from the podcast mics, the EKN staff of Rob Howden and David Cole sat down after a hot day at the Stars of Karting Desert MINI Grand Prix for another edition of the Happy Hour program. The team set up shop under the PCH Motorsports tent and discussed the latest news and Saturday’s events for the third round of the Stars of Karting Western division. Howden sat down with Randy Neal and Joe Ramos to discuss the cooperation between the two companies for the Hot Seat portion of the podcast. Later in show, the Round Table Discussion with Paul Zalud and Don St. Ours had the topic of cooperation between the National, Regional, and Club divisions in the sport of karting.

Stars of Karting East #3 Date: July 8, 2006 Venue: Wingate Inn - Concord, NC Guests: Mike Wilson (Birel spa), Chris Lobaugh (MRP Motorsport), Mike Giessen (MRP Motorsport), Matt Jaskol (Team OVRP.com), Chris Wehrheim (Team OVRP.com) Just a little over a month ago since the last Happy Hour addition in Primm, the HHH guys return for the eight show of the season at the Stars of Karting Eastern Division event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. The two talk about the latest news from the past month, including talking with multi-time World Champion Mike Wilson and Chris Lobaugh about Wilson’s move to work with Birel. Along with them was MRP-Birel AMERICA driver Mike Giessen to talk about his return to karting for a one-off event under the great legends such as Wilson, Haddock, and Lobaugh. For the new Round Table Discussion, Team OVRP.com’s Matt Jaskol and Chris Wehrheim sit down to discuss the question of “Can there be a national series with just Senior drivers,” using the announcement of the SKUSA SuperNationals to be running only drivers 14 years of age or older.

HMG World Headquarters Date: April 19, 2006 Venue: Howden Media Group - Cambridge, Ontario Guest: Tony Ventresca - First Kart North America The Stars of Karting Western division kicks off this weekend in Tucson, but the EKN crew gets a jump start in this addition of the Happy Hour program. With News Desk Manager David Cole taking the weekend off, the Happy Hour duo sat down at the HMG World Headquarters to discuss the past few weeks in the world of karting and the upcoming Stars race in Tucson, AZ, as well as the ladder system in place in karting.

Stars of Karting Race of the Americas Date: March 18, 2006 Venue: La Quinta Inn - Norman, OK Guests: Nick Tonkin and Kevin Williams The 2006 national schedule finally got underway at the Stars of Karting MINI Cooper Race of the Americas at the Oklahoma Motorsports Complex in Norman, Okla. Unfortunately, bad weather plagued the entire weekend, forcing the Happy Hour show to be moved to the La Quinta Inn lobby as a make-shift home after a long Saturday at the track. The Happy Hour duo sat down with the Nick Tonkin - ICA pole-sitter for the Sunday final, along with Stars of Karting Race Director Kevin Williams to discuss the upcoming year.

SKI Excellence Awards Special Date: February 25, 2006 Venue: Sodi Kart Expo International – St. Charles, IL Guests: Paul Zalud, Darrell Sitarz The EKN crew is back on the road again, this time hitting the “Windy City” for the 2006 Sodi Kart Expo International at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL. Along with the regular segments, the show included the announcement of the winners of the SKI Excellence Awards. Winners in six categories were named, including the prestigious Driver of the Year and Team of the Year awards. Also included is quick interviews with Darrell Sitarz, organizer of the Kart Expo, and Paul Zalud on the Stars of Karting involvement with the Winter Cup in Italy.

Sodi Kart Expo International Date: February 26, 2006 Venue: Pheasant Run Resort – St. Charles, IL Guests: Cliff Kujala, Johnny Mislijevic, David Fore, Tony Ventresca, Jim Smith, Roger Ruthart, Randy Kugler, Jamie Sieracki, Marc Miller, Adam and Johnny Johnson For the first time since the beginning of the ‘Happy Hour’ program, the EKN duo of Rob Howden and David Cole bring you a second show in the same weekend. The show highlights just some of the attendees at the Sodi Kart Expo International. The hour long show sees eight guests taking their turn in the “Hot Seat,” talking about what’s new for 2006.

SKI Awards Nomination Special Date: February 8, 2006 Venue: HMG Headquarters - Cambridge, Ontario, Canada Guest: None The fifth installment of the new karting podcast craze, ‘Happy Hour with Howden’, was recorded last night at the Howden Media Group headquarters in Cambridge, Ontario after a week-long process to calculate the nominees for the 2005 SKI Awards. The eKartingnews.com and Super Kart Illustrated staff worked overtime to go through all the lists posted in the EKN Forums and the hundreds of e-mails submitted to the site's administrators to narrow the nominees in the six categories to just five each. In the end, the karting community chose their most deserving five candidates for the following six categories: Driver of the Year, Team of the Year, Road Racer of the Year, Mechanic of the Year, Rising Star, and Young Driver of the Year. This show also included a few re-named or entirely new segments, including the EKN Newswire, the SKI Paddock Pass, the FirstKart.com Performers of the Week, the SKI New Issue Preview and the SKI Racing Calendar.

SKUSA SuperNationals IX Date: November 13, 2005 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium - Las Vegas, NV Guest: Colin Fleming Our first One on One included the next American Formula One driver Scott Speed from the SKUSA SuperNationals. Another Red Bull driver who was in attendance and is looking to join Speed in the F1 category is Colin Fleming. Fleming comes from a strong karting family, as his father continues to run Fleming Motor Sports. Former Super Kart Illustrated Editor Tim Blaney subbed in the host seat for Howden to sit down with Fleming during the busy SuperSunday in Vegas to chat with him about his karting past, racing in Europe, and his future in motorsports.

SKUSA SuperNationals IX Date: November 13, 2005 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium - Las Vegas, NV Guest: Scott Speed At the SKUSA SuperNationals in November, the paddock greeted former event winner and 2001 Super Kart Illustrated Driver of the Year Scott Speed, the newest American Formula 1 pilot. Speed was in town to visit with his old friends and to watch a little top-level karting action as well. EKN Publisher Rob Howden had a chance to sit down with Speed during the busy SuperSunday in Vegas to chat with him about his karting past, his past year in GP2, and his upcoming future in Formula One.