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There was also a parallel effort to develop a kart that would bear the Paul Tracy name. PTK Racing chose CRG of Italy to build the karts. With the efforts of the factory race team and CRG the Paul Tracy Kart brand became one of the most respected kart lines in North America. In 2004 PTK formed an agreement with multi World Championship winning manufacturer Tony Kart to manufacture the chassis. The partnership includes the Tony Kart developed Vortex engine line. In 2000 the team signed A.J. Allmendinger to drive for the team. While the A.J. and PTK combination was quite successful, it was clear that he was destined for greater things. A.J. went on to win the Skip Barber Scholarship, the Barber Dodge Scholarship, won the 2002 Barber Dodge Championship and in 2003 won the Toyota Atlantic Championship. He was the first PTK Racing driver to make it to the top level of motorsport as he raced head to head with Paul Tracy in Champ Cars in 2004 winning the Rookie of the Year. Other PTK Racing alumni are Colin Fleming who won the 2003 Skip Barber Scholarship and is currently racing in Europe on the Red Bull Drivers Development team and Benny Moon who won the 2004 Skip Barber Scholarship. Chris Festa was a PTK Racing driver from 2000-2002 and raced the Toyota Formula Atlantic series in 2004. Nick Green drove for PTK from 2002 to 2004 and has gone to forge a career driving sprint cars. PTK Racing continues to lead the karting industry in giving young drivers the opportunity to pursue a career as a race car driver. As the sport of kart racing continues to grow, PTK Racing looks forward to developing drivers for other racing formulas, but will also shift its focus to develop and keep drivers in the sport of kart racing. |
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