March 3, 2010 - Anderson Racepark in Palmetto, FL was the site of round one of the 2010 Florida Kart Championship Series, presented by Ocala Gran Prix and Easykart Florida. The track proved to be a well suited for the Easykart chassis with its tight and slow speed infield section followed by a single long straight.

Twenty-three drivers took the track in TAG on Sunday with highs near 60, sunshine and a constant breeze, in contrast to rain and overcast skies for Saturday’s racing. Things weren’t working as planned for Monticello Karting/Easykart driver Nick Rickert of Dayton, TN as right off the bat things went wrong. Within only a couple of turns of start-finish Rickert found himself with a bent sprocket, broken sprocket carrier and had the chain come off after dropping a wheel. Rickert was eventually able to put the chain back on and make one flying lap, good enough to capture a 2nd place qualifying position with a 46.345 lap (0.002 back) after the tech barn. Not bad for an off the shelf spec kart running against more powerful and more expensive karts. The top five drivers were covered by a narrow 0.308 gap.

The pre-final start was clean but only after one missed start and saw a few bumps as pole sitter Gleisner got off to turn three untouched and outside pole sitter Rickert dropped back to fifth having gotten stuck on the outside line thru the three right hand turns. Rickert would gain one position before the stripe and lap one was lead by Leopard of Greg Gleisner, followed by James Perkins running a Leopard, the Andersen/Birel/Leopard of Austin Miles, Rickert and the Tony Kart/Leopard of Brandon Salyer. Rickert would get by Miles on lap three and set his sites on Perkins. Unable or unwilling to make a move on Perkins, Rickert settled for 3rd as the finishing order settled with Gleisner taking the win followed by Perkins, Rickert, Miles and Salyer your top five. Charging from the rear of the field after his qualifying DQ was Jacksonville, FL driver Jacob Duvall, whom finished and impressive 8th after starting shotgun on the field.

The start of the TAG final was impressive for such a big class, as Glen Biggs, FKCS Race Director had spoken with the first four rows, driving home the point that he wanted a clean, uniform start the first time by. It was a textbook start with no jumping or drivers coming out of line. Gleisner held onto the lead and Rickert was able to move into 2nd after a push at the start from Salyer. Rickert hooked up with Gleisner and pushed him down the straight-away for six laps pulling out a 2 second lead over Perkins running in 3rd place. Salyer would make a move on Miles for 4th on lap five until fast charging Duvall would take 4th on lap nine. Rickert had attempted a pass going into turn one on lap five but thought better of the move. Gleisner had the power to pull a kart length away from Rickert on the short infield straight between turn four and seven, but Rickert had top end and was quicker thru the infield twisty stuff. At the beginning of lap six Rickert drafted past Gleisner going into turn one after the long front stretch. Rickert would hold on to the lead, set quick race lap on lap 11 of 46.116 and capture the win by 0.651 at the line, followed by Gleisner, Perkins, Duvall and Salyer.

The win is not the first for the Monticello Karting/Easykart driver Rickert and the Easykart brand in FKCS TAG competition. The 2008 season saw Rickert and Easykart pilot Dane Irena battle for poles and wins all year with Irena walking away with the TAG title in his Easykart. Rickert would also set a track record in 2008 at the Monticello track in his Easykart/TAG kart.

Rickert will contend the full year in TAG in the Easykart as well as in Easykart Heavy, having moved up from the Easykart Lite weight class, due to a regular workout schedule for school sports. Rickert also took home the win in Easykart Heavy on Saturday running times that would have had him battling for the win in the Lite class and only .020 off the Lite quick time.

March 3, 2010 - The Easykart 125 Heavy class saw 2009 FKCS Easykart 125 Lite runner-up and Monticello Karting’s Nick Rickert make his Heavy debut after a wintering of regular gym workouts, the 17yr old, Dayton, TN driver now tops the 180 lbs min. weight requirement. Rotax Senior drivers would also be included in the combined race group providing for some exciting laps. Qualifying for Heavy would also be wet, but in the worst conditions of the morning as puddles became small lakes. Rickert would set a quick lap on lap one good enough for pole, but would continue to drop time to settle on a 53.225, some 2.835 seconds quicker than the Lite class and 3.006 quicker than closest Rotax Senior driver. Claudio Rodriguez would take 2nd with a 57.591 followed up by Peter Pestano in 3rd and a 1:00.356. Rickert would drop to 2nd at the start of the pre-final behind Rotax driver Emily Lander and then back to 3rd when passed by Rotax driver Kyle Connery. At halfway it was Rickert, Rodriguez, Pestano and Todd Kovi, with each set of Easykart drivers being separated by a Rotax driver. Rickert would finish the pre-final 12.271 seconds ahead of Rodriguez with Pestano behind him and Kovi having mechanical issues. With daylight running short the final would be shortened to five laps. Lap one saw Rickert punted off the track by Rotax driver Lander after making it thru the first 8 corners. Pestano and Kovi also had difficulties but would end their races on the side of the track. Rodriquez would capture the Easykart lead at lap one, running third overall until two Rotax kart got by on lap three put him back in the clutches of Rickert who was setting a blistering pace coming thru the field some 1.5 seconds a lap quicker than Rodriguez. Rickert would catch and pass him on the last lap going into turn one for the win. Rickert would also set his fast lap on lap five, just 0.020 slower than the Lite quick time.