Craig Stanton Nets Great Result in SuperKarting Debut, Readies For 25 Hour Event

Craig Stanton Nets Great Result in SuperKarting Debut, Readies For 25
Hour Event

LONG BEACH, Calif., November 25, 2003 - Californian sports car ace Craig
Stanton made his debut in professional karting in Las Vegas on November
13th - 16th. The Long Beach-native raced in the 7th Annual SKUSA
SuperNationals at the Rio Hotel and Casino backed by Italkart and
OCKART. The event was held on a specially-built course through the
parking lot of the casino. Stanton, assisted by friend and expert racing
mechanic Mike Fox of Big Bear, Calif., ran his race kart against a field
of 89 other drivers in his class. The 2003 Road America, American Le
Mans Series GT class winner started 40th in his first heat race due to
an accident in qualifying. In usual Stanton style he blew through the
field to 10th position, the final transfer spot to the main event. In
the feature, Stanton started 24th and, against a roster of world-class
karters, ran to 12th in the 20 lap feature. The crowd of karting fans,
who didn't expect the sports car driver with a stock kart and engine to
threaten the regulars, were stunned by Stanton's performance. 

"I loved it," said Stanton about his first serious foray into
professional karting. "The competition was intense. I don't want to say
I underestimated the competition because I knew how tough this would be.
But after being there one day I had to call Mike in to help me out and
it is a good thing I did. We worked from 7 (am) to 7 (pm) everyday to
just play catch-up. The track was very fast with long sweepers. It was a
challenge in the dry and then we had rain, which you're not thinking
about in Vegas. We didn't know what to expect when it rained but I was
really impressed at how good the Italkart was in the wet. The whole
weekend was a lot of fun and I learned a ton. I'm looking forward to
running some more SKUSA events in the future."

Stanton will join sports car regular Hugh Plumb and two other drivers in
a NASA-sanctioned 25 Hour endurance sports car event at Thunder Hill
Raceway in California December 6-7. He will be driving in Glen Yee
Motorsports' Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The ALMS and Grand-Am regular has
earned multiple endurance event wins in California and in professional
sports car racing since starting his driving career.

Since moving from moto-cross/super-cross to automobiles in 1986, Stanton
has positioned himself as one of the premier drivers in sports car
racing. A desire to win in all kinds of machines has led Stanton to
drive closed and open cockpit sports cars, sedans, NASCAR stock cars,
open wheel formula cars and midgets and in off-road competition. He has
won three championships and a Driver of the Year award in Sports Renault
and is the 1997 Speedvision Cup Rising Star Award winner. Stanton began
competing in the top echelon of sports car racing in 1999. Stanton takes
his fitness training very seriously with the goal of being the fittest
race driver in the world. When time outside racing permits he enjoys
mountain bike racing, triathlons, multi-sport adventure team racing,
surfing and rock climbing. 

For more on Craig Stanton please visit www.craigstanton.com. To check
out Italkart, please visit www.italkart.com. 

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Digital images and bio available upon request.
Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web
sites.  Thank you.

Contact: Tom Moore, Craig Stanton Motor Racing: 770-466-5442,
tom@darkhorsecom.com