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New TAG News- Martin Casey

After the first year of TAG USA & TAG SKUSA, we have made great progress with the TAG concept. Communication lines have been opened up with manufacturers, importers and dealers so that updates and new information that is available can be delivered to you, our customer, in a quick and efficient manner. This brings positive change and development for all the engines in the TAG system. One of my primary goals over the course of the next few years is to work with the engine manufacturers to get the engines produced in a tighter spec. This would mean closer weights, easier parity, and better racing, which is what we're all about.

There is a new engine on the market, which will be available soon from Grand Products. The engine is to be called the Fireball, and will be produced by PRD. It is currently going through our testing program so that we can get it placed in our line up, and this information will be available soon.

Moto Kart is the new importer for the BM Jag line of engine. Moto Kart is based in California, and can be reached at 408-543-8686.

Super TAG. I've been receiving e-mails from a number of folks that are interested in keeping TAG a tightly-controlled formula, and creating a level above this that would allow engine modifications. It's an interesting concept and I'd like to hear what your thoughts are. Send comments to marty@superkartsusa.com.

One item that I would like to include in this monthly TAG update are articles from outside of our company regarding TAG. If you're interested, the articles should be positive in nature, and contribute something positive to the TAG movement. The topics are wide and varied; so feel free to use your creative license. Send 'em to marty@superkartsusa.com.

SuperNationals VIII TAG Tech:
Las Vegas...great race and lots of great racing. Unfortunately, we had to disqualify engines in both TAG Sr. and TAG Master. This has been a heated debate on the forums, and I felt it was appropriate to deal with the subject here in our inaugural TAG newsletter.

First I would like to say that Mr. Henderson and Mr. Miller did an excellent job of driving and should be commended on their effort that was put into the SuperNats. The fact of the case boiled down to this; The engine manufacture supplied engines to drivers at the SuperNats that were not approved per their rules supplied to the TAG program. This seems to be an unfortunate case of miscommunication with the drivers paying the price. With the assistance of the importer for Biland, we are currently handling all of the updates, and will do everything in our power to not have this situation in the future.

TAG Weights:
Weights are still a big concern. Keeping a vast number of engines that are built differently performing the same on the racetrack via weight penalties is not an exact science. As noted above, we are working on a long-term solution to this problem. In the short term, we will be doing independent testing, research from race finishes, and asking you what you thing about the weights. Feedback is always important, and we want you to supply us with as much as you feel as you can.

2005 Rule Book:
The new rulebook is just about done and should be in a store near you soon. Well, not really, but it is about done and will be available through Superkarts! USA and TAG USA. Please make a note to yourself to obtain a copy, and read through it. We suggest that not only should our customers and all TAG racers do this, but dealers as well.

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for...the Article of the Month!

What is TAG?

Article by Doug Welch
For years, karters, and kart shops alike have been asking for a simple package that is easy to sell, easy to own, easy to race, low maintenance and fairly equal. One of the early goals of the North American Karting Alliance (NAKA, remember them?), was to create a race ready package, one that could be on the dealers floor and with minimal work be in the racers truck on the way home. It is something that the big 4 motorcycle companies from Japan learned a long time ago, build a race ready package that needs little maintenance between outings and you will sell more than you can make.

So now we have TAG, touch and go race karts. But the bigger questions are:
How close are we to that ideal and can we screw it up?
The answer to the first part is, very close.
The answer to the second part is, very close.

We have been racing for years, shifters mostly. We started the year with ICC packages but the costs of running one of them quickly consumed the racing budget. We had to seek an alternative. In early June, we held a family meeting to discuss where we were going with our racing and what was it that we REALLY wanted out of our racing. The first thing on our list was to have fun. We know that higher forms of racing are not in our future, we don't have the budget for it, we are kart racers. I asked the boys; at which race did they have the most fun so far this year. After a bit, they both told me it was the after hours race at the rental track where the younger boy works. Several of the employees and the older boy took the rentals out and held their own race. They went nose to tail for dozens of laps, just racing. Bingo, it hit them and me, it was the RACE that was important, not how big or how bad the karts were, it was the race that they wanted.

After looking at the options, we picked up two Rotax engines. We don't have a problem with weight and Rotax runs on the lightest weight. Our first race was a TAG race in the Colorado Sprint Championships (CSC).

With a large field of seasoned TaG racers, the boys paced the field by a full second in qualifying and completely dominated the racing. The engines were new, out of the box motors from Rotax. We broke them in Saturday, raced them on Sunday. We become instant TaG converts. In no form of kart racing had we ever been able to do this sort of thing. I know from first hand experience, you can take a box stock engine, and with a good driver and well set up kart, run in the front and win in the TaG class.

Now comes the hard part, self-discipline. We all know that Americans have never been well known for self-discipline and racers in particular are not well known for it. We get something and we want to fool with it. Racers are by nature hot rodders and hot rodders just can't leave it alone. But for the sake of TaG, we must fight one of our most basic instincts and leave it alone. Motor builders and karter, just drop the Dremel tool and back away from that cylinder. You may be creating more horsepower but your killing TaG. And besides, in tech we're going to toss you anyway.

Importers, I know you want your engine to win, but if you win too much, you will get more weight added and your "advantage' will slip away. Your best advantage will be to remember who your customer is and serve him/her/it. Your customer is looking for a user friendly, low maintenance racing package. Build them that and you will have customers.

If your motor package lasts longer, is lower cost to run and maintain, you will sell more engines. If you sell more engines, your engine will win more. But if you're tweaking out ever last bit of power, it just blows up more and you won't sell diddlysquat. Do you see how this thing works? Go ahead; make the crank a little bit bigger, make the head volume a little larger, so what if it delivers 1 or 2 less horses. They will take some weight off your karts for racing purposes. Your motor will last longer and you will have happier customers, isn't that what you want?

We really need the help of the various sanctioning bodies and their tech people. United we stand; divided we fall was never more true than in the case for TaG. I've heard all the arguments about how hard it is to tech for stock parts. I agree, it is hard. But that doesn't mean that can't or shouldn't do it. We have got to keep these engines stock and we have got to do what ever it takes to keep engine builders, racers and importers in line on this. I am encouraged to see that at least for TaG, somehow the big organizations have been able to work together. Let's keep it up. Maybe this new found spirit of cooperation could lead to other areas. That maybe asking for too much, I'll settle for just working together on TaG.

But in the end, it really comes down to the individual racer. TaG could be what you're looking for but we will loss the whole thing if you don't have a little self-discipline. You need to fight that urge to rub on your motor, to find a builder who can screw it together just a little bit better and to fight that urge that this one little change won't hurt much. You need to insist that your builder uphold the principles of TaG, keep it stock. You can gain far more with seat time and chassis adjustments than anything you can do in the motor. For those of you who just can't leave well enough alone, maybe we should have a stock appearing TaG class. For you guys who just can't leave well enough alone, you can have a class of stock appearing motors, no tech, run what ya brung. Just do the rest of us a favor, stay away from TaG. Note: The opinions expressed above are those of the writer, and not necessarily those of Superkarts! USA or TAG USA.

I hope you've enjoyed the first installment of the TAG newsletter. Keep tuned to www.tagracing.net and www.superkartsusa.com for other updates on TAG as they come about, and be looking for the next round of the TAG newsletter.
Marty Casey

Questions and comments may be directed to Dave Larson at gempro001@aol.com.