Connor Iseli

Recent News: 

August 29, 2010:  It's well past time for an update on Connor's summer racing.   It has been a very busy couple of months.    In July at the SKUSA Summernationals, Shawano, Wisconsin, Connor drove well but unfortunately had DNFs in the Saturday and Sunday main events.   On Saturday Connor had a great start in the final, was running 4th and challenging hard for 3rd, when he dropped a wheel off the edge of the track in the high speed corner at the bottom of the hill and slid off hard into the barriers.   Fortunately he was fine and the kart was patched up and ready for Sunday which started with a raining qualifying session.   Connor had a great result in the rain qualifying, putting his SRS powered Arrow in 3rd position on the grid.  In the dry final Connor once again had a DNF, this time the result of a mechanical black flag.   

Next up was the SWRC regional race in Denton, TX.  Connor was challenging hard for 2nd in the Friday night final when he slid off track in turn 4 under braking.  Saturday night was better with a solid 4th place finish.   

Back to road racing the next weekend at Texas World Speedway, College Station, TX in very close competition Connor finished 4th on Saturday and 2nd overall on Sunday including a win in the 2nd heat on Sunday.   The Sunday Heat 2 finish was very spectacular, Connor took the win by only 0.006 seconds and the top four were separated by 0.051 seconds!  

Finally Connor raced the MJ Drive Superprix at NTK in Denton, TX.  This exciting night race had 20 shifter karts take the grid.   Instead of qualifying the group decided to draw for starting position in the first heat, then invert the grid for the second heat and start based on combined finishes for the final.   Connor was 2nd in the first heat, 8th in the second heat (after starting dead last), and 4th in the final.   His overall result for the three heats put him in 3rd place for the event.  

Next up is the Rock Island Grand Prix - King of the Streets Race.   www.rockislandgrandprix.com

June 20, 2010:   Connor had a great weekend at the 5th and 6th round of the SWRA road racing series at Eagles Canyon racetrack in Decatur, TX.  Connor was fast all weekend around the high speed 3.1 mile circuit.   Saturday saw Connor take the win in both heat races to claim the overall victory for the day.   On Sunday Connor finished 2nd and 3rd in the two heats to end up 2nd overall for the day.   The racing all weekend was very close, with the lead pack of 5 to 7 drivers swapping positions the entire race, leading up to finishes separated by thousandths of a second.   Connor topped off the weekend with fast time of the day on Sunday.  Next on the schedule is the SKUSA Pro Tour Summernationals in Shawano, Wisconsin July 16th-18th.    

June 6, 2010:  In rounds 3 and 4 of SWRC at Norman, Oklahoma Connor ran fast but unfortunately didn't have the finishing results to correspond with his speed.    Both days on track incidents hurt his result.   On Saturday in the final Connor was challenging for 3rd in the closing laps when he got tangled with another kart in turn 1 and broke his front suspension, ending his race.   On Sunday after qualifying 2nd, and running in 2nd on the white flag of the PreFinal he once again was caught up in an incident and did not finish.   Connor recovered to a 5th place finish in the final.

May 23, 2010:  Connor raced the Kali's Cure Charity event at North Texas Karters this weekend.  Competing against a very strong field Connor finished 4th on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday.   On Saturday Connor ended up behind Jordan Musser, Nick Lucido, and Clint Korte.  Sunday brought a little better luck for Connor, where in the money race he finished on the podium behind winner Nick Lucido and runner-up Jordan Musser.   Sunday was a very hard fought race for Connor with Clint Korte on his tail for most all of the final feature race.   Fortunately he was able hold him off to take the bottom step on the podium.   Next up is SWRC Rounds 3 and 4 in Norman, Oklahoma, June 5th and 6th.  

May 2, 2010:   Connor opened his season of regional sprint racing in Katy, Texas at the first two rounds of the Southwest Regional Cup Event.   Up against the top competition in the area Connor did very well, consistently posting times and racing in the top 5.   He was one of only 5 drivers to break into the 39 second range for the weekend.   On Saturday Connor qualified 5th and finished 5th in the Prefinal.   In the 1st turn of the final race Connor was hit from behind, damaging his kart too bad to continue.   Post-race inspection found major engine damage from the impact however due to the graciousness of The Perkins Family, loaning us a spare engine, Connor was able to return and race on Sunday.    Due to some internal gearbox issues Connor found out quickly on Sunday morning warm up that he would have to race the day without the use of 1st gear!   Unaffected by the gear problem in qualifying Connor turned in a 4th place time, only 0.07 seconds behind 3rd.   The start of the prefinal saw Connor drop to 8th but he moved up to finish 4th by the end.   The start of the final also put Connor back to 8th and an excursion through the marbles in turn 1 on the 3rd lap put him all the way back to 11th.   Fortunately the final was 15 laps long and Connor put his head down and began working his way back up through the field to end up 5th at the end, only 0.05 seconds behind 4th at the line.     With timely engine repairs Connor's next race will be the   Kali's Cure Charity Race at North Texas Karters.   

April 18, 2010:  Connor raced the second SWRA road race of the year at Texas World Speedway in College Station this weekend.   On Saturday he finished 3rd in the 1st heat and 4th in the 2nd heat for an overall 3rd place finish.   The 1st heat was extremely close, with the top 3 separated by only 0.038 seconds at the line!   The 2nd heat was a repeat of the first except there were four or five karts in the lead pack instead of only three.  They had a very tight battle with continuous passing around the 2.9 mile TWS track, unfortunately lapped traffic 2 corners from the finish spread them out at the line.   Sunday brought heavy rain, the races were delayed until afternoon and shortened to only one heat.   Connor had a great start from 3rd place and quickly moved up to the lead position before the finish of the first lap.   Unfortunately leading that first lap was not to be as Connor spun off track in deep water while in 1st place, quickly ending his day.    Next on Connor's schedule is the first Southwest Regional Cup  (SWRC) sprint race of the year in Katy, TX, April 30th - May 2nd. 

April 10, 2010:  Connor participated in the Epic Shifter Kart race at North Texas Karters.   We had more fun at this race than any sprint race in a long time!   The format was 3 Heats with a pea-pick for Heat 1, invert the grid for Heat 2, and starting order of Heat 3 based on your combined finish in the first 2 Heats.   Connor started on the pole in Heat 1, led the entire race except the last lap when a hard charging Nick Lucido passed him.  Both Connor and Nick lowered the existing NTK track record in the first heat of the night!    In Heat 2 (View Heat 2 on You Tube) Connor started at the rear of the inverted grid and had a nice strong drive, moving up to 6th.   For the 3rd and final heat  (View the final on You Tube) Connor started 5th, quickly moved up to 4th and had a great back and forth battle with Michael Johnson in his new Arrow X-1 for 3rd.  At the end Michael took 3rd with Connor in 4th.  The winner was Nick Lucido with his new track record, followed by Clint Korte.   Thanks to Taylor Stawicki for the awesome photos of the event - NTK Epic Shifter Kart Race and most of all a big thank you to Michael Johnson of  MJ Drive  for organizing the event!  Next up for Connor is the SWRA road race at Texas World Speedway in College Station, April 17th and 18th.  

March 28, 2010:  Connor opened his 2010 road racing season with SWRA at Motorsport Ranch in Cresson, TX.  In his first road race in the 125 shifter he finished 4th on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday.   Both days he was very competitive, racing closely with the top 3 or 4 drivers rarely being separated by more than a few tenths of a second on this high speed 1.7 mile course.  Connor led portions of the race on both days.    At the finish of the second heat on Sunday Connor was 3rd, only 0.123 seconds behind 1st and finished with the fast lap of the day in his class.  

February 2010:  After having the 3rd NTK Winter race postponed due to snow and anxious for warmer weather and bigger fields Connor entered the Gulf Coast Karters (GCKI) Spring 2 race.    Connor did very well in the 10 kart field in his first visit to the new Katy, Texas track.  After falling to near the rear on both starts - Connor recovered quickly moving up through the field to set fast lap in the pre-final, finishing 3rd and 4th in the prefinal and final, respectively.   

January 2010:   Connor launched his 2010 racing season debuting his new Arrow AX-9 Shifter kart, powered by an SRS Engines Honda 125, at the NTK Winter series.