The opening two rounds of the 2026 Cup Karts North America North Division were held on the May 2-3 weekend at the famous G&J Kartway. The Camden, Ohio facility welcomed drivers competing in eight Briggs & Stratton 206 categories to begin the new year for the flagship divisional program. Nearly each division saw a driver double up in the win column, with all but one category featuring a two-victory performance.
It was a near weekend sweep in the Senior Medium category for Jack Sutton. In qualifying for Round One, Sutton edged out last year’s champion Nick Ksobiech by 66 thousandths with a lap time of 43.613 seconds. Sutton won the opening heat by three tenths of a second but Ksobiech beat him to the checkered flag in Heat Two by 84 thousandths. The 12-lap feature came down to a photo finish with Sutton getting to the line first by 79 thousandths, marking his first win since the opening day at last year’s series finale. Ksobiech settled for second with Jayden Kraus in third. Sunday was a sweep by Sutton, setting fast time in qualifying, winning the heat race, and taking a second straight victory in the Final. Sutton beat out Ksobiech in another photo finish, separated by just 0.069 seconds. Ashton Wheeler joined them on the podium in third.
Wheeler was able to sweep the action in Senior Light. Ashton was able to beat out Ben Vosovic by over four seconds in the main event on Saturday after sweeping the day’s sessions and repeated the performance on Sunday, this time by only two tenths at the line over Vosovic.
The battle in Senior Heavy was won both days by Ksobiech. Sutton set fast time in qualifying before Ksobiech won the two heat races. In the Final, Ksobiech edged out Sutton by 57 thousandths at the line for his first victory since Round Four last year. Sutton returned as the driver to beat on Sunday, setting fast time in qualifying and winning the heat race. Ksobiech responded in the Final, taking the victory by just over a tenth.
The opening weekend for the Cup Karts North Division was the debut for last year’s Sportsman champion Daniel Draganov into the Junior category. Draganov began his Junior career with a sweep of the action at G&J. Daniel was able to set fast time in qualifying, win both heat races and take the feature win by over three seconds. Matthew Hollen was second with Travis VanHorn in third. Sunday was the same performance for Draganov with fast time in qualifying and winning the heat race. The 14-lap Final was a near repeat from Saturday with Draganov taking the victory by over three seconds ahead of Hollen and VanHorn.
Sportsman was the only category to feature two different winners on the weekend. Saturday began with Brayden Clossey setting fast time of 44.145 seconds with the top three separated by only 16 thousandths. Clossey won the opening heat race before Logan McCloskey edged out for the win in Heat Two. In the 12-lap Final, Clossey was able to break away for his first victory in his class debut. Ario Barr was able to finish second with McCloskey in third. Sunday was McCloskey at the top of the order as he set fast lap in qualifying and won the heat race. Clossey crossed the line as the provisional winner, but was penalized for jumping the start. This promoted McCloskey to the top of the podium for his first series win. Barr was classified second with Clossey dropped back to third.
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It was a near weekend sweep in Cadet for Kaiper Nelson. Weston Kolar opened the weekend with fast time in Saturday qualifying, but Nelson bounced back to win both heat races solidly before taking the victory in the Final by over two seconds. Kolar was second ahead of Aaron Merkle in third. On Sunday, Nelson edged the field in qualifying before running away to nearly three second win in the heat race. The gap was closer in the Final as Nelson took the victory by only eight tenths over Kolar with Kaden Toruno on the podium in third.
The Kid Kart division featured eight drivers taking part on the weekend, and the class welcomed a first-time winner. Charlie Meurer set fast time in qualifying and earned the win in the opening heat race. Will Holzner was able to grab the Heat Two win, but Meurer responded in the Final, driving away to his first victory. Holzner was second at the line but was penalized for contact. This promoted Cole Piccioni to second and Reid Yates to third. Holzner rebounded to set fast time in qualifying for Sunday’s action only to come up short in the heat race to Meurer. The Final was the same result, this time with Meurer getting away by four seconds to claim a second victory on the weekend. Holzner held off Yates for the second position.
Defending Legends champion Ryan Cassity was able to sweep the weekend to begin the 2026 title chase. Cassity swept the action on Saturday for Round One, earning the main event victory by eight tenths over Robert Cottell. Sunday was another sweep on the day, this time earning the feature win by over five seconds with Cottell in second position.
The second event of the Cup Karts North America North Division is slated for the June 12-14 weekend, traveling to the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex inside the famed Road America facility in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
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