With a successful 2014 season completed (and a celebration of our champions yet to come at the awards banquet on January 24th), it is time to look forward to what is shaping up to be a very exciting 2015 season of kart racing at Gulf Coast Karters in Katy, Tx. We had record participation in the 2014 race season and the club stands at all-time record membership. These statistics combined with the support of long-time as well as new members of the club will make 2015 the best year yet in the long history of GCKI.

2015 GCKI General Membership Meeting
On Wednesday evening January 7th GCKI held its annual all-members meeting at the Memorial West Community Club. The facility, arranged and hosted by Becky and Bill Choice, continues to serve as an excellent venue for this important event. We had an excellent turnout of members representing all of the classes raced at GCKI. The topics were discussed positively and decisions were reached that will shape the club and form the basis of our operations for the next year.

Finances for 2014 were reviewed in detail. With record racing participation in 2014 as well as the club setting new records for membership, the financial picture of the club is very strong. As a result the club will be reinvesting those funds into strategic facility improvements that will greatly enhance everyone's enjoyment at the track.

Sponsorship
Resulting from the re-adoption of MG-SK (white) tires for shifter & TaG classes, the Texas ProKart Challenge will once again serve as GCKI's 2015 overall Season Sponsor. We were pleased to announce the continued year-over-year support of RPM Motorsports as a major 2015 sponsor and the introduction of Motorsports Development Group (MDG) as major sponsors. Also, we are grateful for the support of many longtime GCKI sponsors who have already committed to 2015 namely, Joe Bauh's Motorsports (JBM), Acceleration Kart Racing, Awesome Shots, and Gaddy Web Design. Please endeavor to patronize these great supporters of GCKI whenever your purchasing decisions allow. GCKI is always looking to add businesses that are interested in furthering their exposure through a beneficial affiliation with GCKI. Please contact members of our Sponsorship Committee for details.

2015 GCKI Race Schedule
The membership reviewed the proposal for race dates in the 2015 season. In a best-effort to avoid conflicts with holidays, major karting events, and motorsports events in the Houston, TX area the following schedule was adopted:

Changes to 2015 Rules
There were a number of presentations, discussions, clarifications and resolutions on competition and class rules for 2015. All changes will be detailed in the final publication of the official rules which are in progress and will be released in advance of the season opening race. Some not-all-inclusive highlights of the rules changes are as follows:

4-Stroke Class
The Briggs & Stratton LO206 engine will become a formally recognized racing class at GCKI for 2015. Karts running this engine will share the track – but compete in a separate trophy and points class from the ever-popular clone "CHONDA" class. There will be provisions for a cadet variant.

Ladies 4-Stroke Class
All-new for 2015 will be the formal introduction of a Ladies 4-Stroke class. Female participants may run either the LO206 or the CHONDA engines and there will be no weight or restrictor enforcements. The spirit-and-intent is for this to be a "fun class" for the enjoyment of the mothers, wives, and girlfriends who come out every week and previously had not been able to join in on the racing action.

All 4-stroke karts will compete on MG Reds

Rotax Classes
There are some very significant changes in store for all Rotax classes for 2015. Most prominent will be the adoption of an all new Rotax powerplant. There is also a very dramatic change to the requirement for a longer wheelbase chassis for the Rotax MiniMax class. GCKI will be closely following the Rotax national rules as they are published and will follow the adoption and schedules accordingly.

TaG Classes
Similarly, GCKI will closely adhere to SKUSA rules for all TaG-categorized classes.

Class Consolidation
In an effort to streamline weekly racing enrollment, we will be consolidating our racing classes. GCKI's overall spirit of "inclusiveness" will remain with the addition of four "open" classes to enable those with older or uncommon equipment to still join in the fun. Classes and designations for 2015 will be:

Worker Points
The opportunity to obtain 110 worker points in each season will remain. However, a change to the rule will make the points substitutive only (i.e. – you can drop your worst race and substitute the 110 worker points.) You cannot add worker points to your total (i.e. – the former allowance of racing 5 races and working a race for a total of 6 races credited will be discontinued.)

2015 GCKI Officers, Elected Board of Trustee, Compensated and Position Volunteers
We continue to see more and more membership involvement in the leadership of the club. For 2015, we'll see a healthy mix of continued service by experienced club veterans along with the introduction of fresh talent into our key positions.

Voluntary Officer Roles
President – Paul Jones
Vice President – Patrick Roth
Treasurer – Bill & Becky Choice
Membership Director – Scott Boone

Compensated Race-Day Roles
Race Director – Gary Kincade (back-up Joel Yelton)
Tech Inspector – Frank D'Angelo
Race Secretary – Joaquin Reyna, Ryan Britton
Assistant Race Secretary – Alicia and Krischen Rodriguez
Starter – Austin Johnson
Timing and Scoring – Michael Hopkins
Concessions – Elise Yelton and Alicia Rodriguez

Volunteer Positions
Track Director – Joe Bauhs
Assistant Track Director – David McKee, Brian Joplin, Harry Ramirez, John Kittleson
Trophies and Awards – Michelle Watts
Championship Points – Pier Alvarado
Sponsorship Committee – Rick Gero*, Brian Warwas, Gerald Dasbach, John Hose
*team coordinator

Elected Board of Trustees
Bill Choice - Elected to a 2-year Term
Brian Warwas - Elected to a 2-year Term
John Bartos - Serving Year 2 of 2
Brad Johnson - Serving Year 2 of 2

Here is wishing everyone a safe, competitive and FUN 2015 season at GCKI!