Skip Barber Increases Awards to Florida Winter Tour

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (Nov. 12) – Formula Kart Productions, Inc., owner and promoter of the Formula Kart Racing Florida Winter Tour presented by Tony Kart Florida, announces an extension of its awards partnership with Skip Barber Racing, but with a new addition: those prizes will now include the entry fee into the annual Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out.

Two to-be-determined Florida Winter Tour (FWT) class points-champions, plus one FWT competitor chosen "at-large", will each be awarded a Skip Barber Three Day Racing School and a paid, guaranteed entry into the Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out. Each of the three Skip Barber prizes* is valued at $5,998 (school + shoot-out entry), for a total SBRS award package value of $17,994.00.

''As always, I’m excited to announce the continuation of the Skip Barber Three Day racing School awards,'' says Formula Kart’s Bill Wright, adding that the partnership has been in place since 2004. ‘‘Now, with the addition of paid entries into the Shoot-out, the Florida Winter Tour's competitors have an even more significant prize to aim for.

''This long-standing partnership has brought both our organizations some great racers – most recently epitomized by 2007 FWT / Skip Barber award winner Joel Miller, who went on to capture the 2007 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda series and was championship runner-up in this year's Star Mazda series,'' Wright said. ''The Skip Barber awards help bring top-level drivers to the FWT as they look to make their mark in karts and cars, while at the same time, the Florida Winter Tour exposes many future auto racing drivers to Skip Barber and the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development ladder system. That’s a winning combination.''

''Each year, the Florida Winter Tour gets bigger, more geographically diverse, and more prestigious,” says George Ayres, COO and president of Skip Barber. ''The best karters in the world are gravitating to this championship and we obviously want to point FWT's most successful racers to Skip Barber and the MAZDASPEED ladder. Our Scholarship Shoot-out is the biggest and most significant North American event for karters moving up to auto racing. We want to help draw those kids to the Florida Winter Tour and expose them to the MAZDASPEED ladder – Skip Barber Race Series to Star Mazda to the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.''

The Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shoot-out awards more than $130,000 in scholarship seat time, including the grand prize of nearly $50,000 to compete in the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda, courtesy of MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development.

The Formula Kart Racing Florida Winter Tour is one of the longest running and largest sprint kart racing series in the world. For the 10th consecutive year the 2008 FWT set records for entries and awards, averaging 630 entries per month, including drivers from 23 different countries, 24 U.S. States and 6 Canadian Provinces, with total value of cash purses and awards exceeding $100,000.

For more information about the details and requirements* for participation in the FWT/Skip Barber awards program see the official FWT web site at www.floridawintertour.com or contact Bill Wright at info@formulakart.com.

For more information about Skip Barber Racing see www.skipbarber.com/karting/why_karter.aspx

*To be eligible for the FWT/Skip Barber awards program, participants must pre-register for and compete in all 6 Rotax or all 6 Formula Kart race-days, and must display Skip Barber decals prominently on the front and both sides of their racing karts. Each must also display the Skip Barber patch on the breast of their driving suit during podium presentations, and must meet the specific eligibility requirements for the 2009 Skip Barber Karting Scholarship Shootout.

Bill Wright
Formula Kart Productions, Inc
Panama City, FL U.S.A.
850-258-0846
info@formulakart.com
www.floridawintertour.com