2011 Great Lakes Pro Series Racer's Dan and Harry Alden
- 12 Jul 2011
The brothers also raced at Spartan Speedway Flatrock Speedway, Portland Ind., Camden Raceway, Batavia Raceway, Adkins Raceway, Dousman Raceway, as well as many others around the Midwest. Results were good for the team with a few wins and many top-5 finishes. After taking a 5-year hiatus from racing, Dan designed and built a new 100cc & 125cc non-shifter chassis in 1988 and started racing again in 1990 WKA Manufacturer Cup Series in the 100cc stock & 125cc Unlimited class. Dan Finished 2nd in the 1990 125cc Unlimited WKA class championship. He enjoyed success with many top finishes between 1990-1994. In 1993 Alden designed and built his first new style kart called a "Shifter Kart" to compete in the 1994 Superkarts USA (SKUSA) Pro Series tour with his brother Harry. The machines used a 125cc liquid cooled, 6 speed gearbox, Honda CR125 dirt bike engine mounted to the chassis. It also featured 4 wheel hydraulic disc brakes, and bodywork, and could reach speeds near 120 mph on the larger road race tracks. The team raced in the midwest at tracks including Gratton Raceway, Mid Ohio Raceway, Gingerman Raceway, Circleville Raceway, South Bend Raceway, as well as street races at Commercial Point G.P, Union City G.P , Muncie G.P Portage G.P , Richmond G.P.
The team's first championship came in 1998 with Harry's win in the SKUSA 80cc Pro Division driving an Alden Enterprise built chassis. The team consistently ran in the top 10 for the first few years, before Harry's first 125cc race win in 1999 at Gratton Raceway. Harry won the 2002 SKUSA Great Lakes Pro Tour 125cc championship in the G1 Division, with top ten results from 2003-2010. He won another SKUSA Great Lakes Pro Tour championship in the 125cc G1 Division in 2006. Other team results include top 5 championship finishes in the years to follow. The team raced about 20 event weekends each year till the mid 00's in the 125cc S1 Pro Division and the 80cc Pro Division. They also raced a 250cc Shifter kart for 2 years. Shifter kart racing was just starting to get popular in the late 90's, with many races having between 30-40 karts in each class, and larger tracks like Mid- Ohio having over 100 karts in the 125cc class. The Alden Brothers have continued to upgrade through the years running machines from Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. They do all of their own work in house including a dyno testing and complete machine shop. Currently the team is racing in the 2011 Great Lakes Pro Series. The racing schedule has been cut back to 8 races for the championship. The racing season started off at New Castle Raceway in Indiana. The team is racing the 125cc Masters Division again this year. The team had mixed results finishing Saturdays 20 lap main event with a 2nd place finish. Sunday's 20 lap main event was also good for the team with a 3rd place finish. The Mayors Cup Grand Prix in Anderson Indiana was the next race for team. Rain was in the forecast for race day so the team had the rain setup on the machines. With limited practice the team had strong finishes in the 20 lap main event with a 3rd & 4th overall in the 125cc Masters Division. The next event for the team will be the CES Championship at Gratton Raceway on July 16-17, followed by the Great Lakes Pro Tour double race weekend New Castle event on July 23-24. The team currently represents many fine companies, promoting and using their products including Maxima Racing Oils, K&N Filters, NGK Spark Plugs, Alden Enterprise Racing Components. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
