A challenging 2020 for all still produced success for Coyote Motorsports as our company closes out the year with a fresh outlook and renewed enthusiasm for the upcoming 2021 season.
When the global pandemic for COVID-19 slowed racing in early spring, no one was sure what the remainder of the 2020 karting season had in store. Luckily, with CDC guidelines in place, most kart tracks and series were able to resume racing later in the spring, and all of us at Coyote did our best to adapt to the changes and continue to service our customers from our Spencerport, N.Y., facility and at the race track.
“Obviously, 2020 is a year we’ll never forget,” Coyote owner Jim Lipari said. “But like most everyone, we made the best of it and actually ended up having a really good year. We had fun traveling to some Cup Karts events in the Midwest, and we had Coyote racers and families in competition throughout the country. We’re really eager for 2021 to get started.”
Resources expanding with acquisition of Troyer Dirt Cars
Coyote Motorsports is now not the only racing company operating at our facility at 7 Turner Dr. in Spencerport, N.Y. Earlier this year, Coyote co-owner Mark Lipari partnered with Tony Chiruck to purchase Troyer Dirt Cars, the main supplier and exclusive distributor of Troyer Race Cars’ Dirt Modified chassis and components.
The news made headlines throughout the motorsports industry. With the addition of Troyer Dirt Cars comes a host of new resources for Coyote’s line of championship-winning kart chassis and components, including the hiring of new employees and new equipment that boasts the latest capabilities and technology.
“To say we’re all excited would be an understatement,” Mark Lipari stated. “Maynard Troyer was a true hero of all of ours, and to help carry on the name and brand is very special. We feel the research, development and expert engineering behind Troyer Dirt Cars, along with the addition of talented staff members, will carry over to our efforts with Coyote karts and components, and strengthen and solidify our brand and performance levels well into the future.”
Troyer Dirt Cars is now in full operation at 7 Turner Dr. with Coyote Motorsports and staff expansion and equipment upgrades are already in place.
Free Roller vintage chassis introduced in April
An incredibly exciting time for Coyote Motorsports kicked off in April with the debut of a long-awaited vintage kart chassis. Tagged the “Free Roller” and offered in a stock version powder-coated red with chrome nerf bars and bumpers or a black powder-coated “Midnight Edition,” orders started immediately upon release.
The Free Roller, which is built to the exact specifications of the 1980s Coyote Bullet chassis, can now be seen dotting the vintage fields at tracks and series around the country.
“The Free Roller is a great go-kart at a great price,” noted Jim Lipari. “The level of interest and excitement for vintage karting is astounding. The phone started ringing immediately when we announced the Free Roller, and it really hasn’t stopped since. We had to buckle down to keep up with the demand. Our customers have provided excellent feedback and everyone’s been really happy with the result of the kart.”
Success with the Zenith chassis
In 2020 the Zenith solidified itself as one of Coyote’s premier CIK-style kart chassis with race wins and top finishes on the national, regional and club levels. After several years of research and development, we’re proud to say the Zenith has now joined the Wide Track, Combat and XP as a national and club winning Coyote kart in junior and senior divisions at tracks around the US.
This was evident at one of our favorite tracks in late July, Michiana Raceway Park near South Bend, Ind., where Chris Carroll, Hunter Fox, Jim Lipari and John Seglem all raced Coyote Zenith chassis and all had strong showings.
Coyotes filled most of the top-five positions in CIK Senior Light. Hunter Fox won the 12-lap final on his new Zenith with veteran Coyote racer Scott Kleman on his Combat only 0.297 seconds back in second. Ryan Cassity also entered his famous #53 Coyote Combat and would finish in the fifth position.
Carroll would finish P2 in every round of competition in CIK Senior Medium, the event’s largest division. Lipari won the Senior Heavy final as well as the Pole Award, and several other Coyote drivers raced to good finishes and strong showings at MRP, including Seglem in Masters, Kolin Kiefer in Sportsman, Blake and Jay Boon in Junior and Kid Kart, and the brother/sister team of Joey and Jordan Cline in Junior.
Coyote wins at Maxxis Grand Nationals
A number of Coyote racers followed the Maxxis 4-Cycle Sprint Series in 2020, an East Coast series that includes LO206 and Vintage classes. The series rounded out their 2020 campaign November 21-22 at 103rd Street Sports Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.
Coyote racers found victory and podium finishes at the event in both the 206 and Vintage classes.
Tyler Swann raced his #75 Free Roller to victory in Vintage Stock Medium. Chris Carroll finished a close second in CIK LO206 Masters; his teammate John Seglem ran seventh. James Inscoe and Brad Farmer competed in Masters on their Coyotes, as well. Iscoe would finish 10th in the final while Farmer ran into some problems and did not finish.
Jacksonville native Sean Meier raced his #30 Coyote to a close fifth-place finish in CIK LO206 Heavy, which showed the top five only separated by less than 2 seconds in the final rundown.
CoyoteKarts.com becomes an online store
Another milestone for Coyote Motorsports launched in February with our official website at CoyoteKarts.com becoming an eCommerce shopping cart online store.
Now going on a full year as a fully functioning shopping cart site, CoyoteKarts.com has given our customers a convenient, easy-to-navigate resource to purchase their parts from the comfort of their own home or office.
The store has been very successful with a large number of customers taking advantage.
“We get multiple orders from the website every week and sometimes each day, especially when racing is in full swing,” Mark Lipari said. “An incredible amount of time and hard work went into this project, and it’s paid off. Nearly every part in our inventory is available for purchase on the site, and we’ve seen a great number of our customers take advantage of this new way to order Coyote parts.”
KC21 Kid Kart chassis set for release
New for 2021 will be a value-priced Coyote Kid Kart which will be tagged the “KC21.” We’ve spent the past year developing this new Kid Kart chassis as the class for 5- to 8-year-olds continues to gain popularity throughout North America karting.
We anticipate the KC21 to be available in February and we’re confident it will prove to be a race-winning kart at a very affordable price.
With 2021 now upon us and the new racing season just about ready to kick off in the warmer climates, everyone at Coyote Motorsports thanks you for the support, especially during these difficult times, and we’re hopeful 2021 is a bright and prosperous year for everyone.
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