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The WKA Manufacturer's Cup national series wrapped up it's season on the kart track inside turn four of Lowe's Motorspeedway in Charlotte, NC. Having visited this track a few times previously, the team had high aspirations for strong finishes. Charlotte was one of T.J.'s favorite venues on the calendar.

T.J. took part in three classes on the weekend; TaG (Finals 1 and 2), HPV Lite, and HPV Heavy. The team ended their Yamaha program after the last event at New Castle and made a return to the premier TaG class.

Aboard his Rotax-powered Merlin LM30, Koyen was able to grab the 10th position in TaG qualifying. In the pre-final T.J. was able to stay out of trouble and make up some ground, climbing to P4 and staying hot the heels of championship leader Marco Di Leo (Intrepid/Rotax). In the final T.J. lost a position as a product of his outside line starting spot into turn one and held onto the 5th position for most of the race. However, a hard-charging Chris Wehrheim (Top Kart/Leopard) was able to come from the back and bump Koyen from the final podium spot. T.J. was able to hang onto the 6th place position for a personal best finish in the TaG class.

Saturday also saw Koyen participating in the HPV Lite class. After being the class of the field in Friday practice, Koyen looked to be the kart to beat in qualifying. However, he caught traffic on every one of his hot laps, costing him valuable time and placing him down in P7. Disappointed, but definitely not defeated, T.J. buckled down in the pre-final but was only able to managed a 6th place finish. His times were competitive though and with some kart adjustments a strong finish in the final was still up for grabs. Due to waning daylight, WKA officials postponed the HPV Lite final until the following morning at 8 am. On a cold track that was vastly different from the one raced on the day before, Koyen sought to prove himself in the final. Within the first two laps, T.J. worked his way into the 4th position and was posting the fastest laps of the race. He made the move to P3 on lap four and stalked the two leaders of Ryan Stewart (Birel) and Patrick Olsen (Birel). Olsen made a mistake and went off track, giving Koyen the 2nd position. He then jumped into the lead past Stewart on lap 15. T.J. battled with Taylor Miinch (Top Kart) for the final three laps, trading the lead off and on. The two pulled out a gap from the rest of the field and into the final lap Koyen was 2nd with Miinch P1. Going into turn 8, Koyen dropped a wheel giving up much-needed momentum into a crucial passing zone. T.J. tried to make a last-ditch effort on Miinch in the final corner but only had enough to get up alongside the Top Kart driver and make contact. Miinch beat Koyen to the line for the win, giving T.J. a hard-fought P2 finish.

As usual, the TaG class saw action again on Sunday. Koyen just missed the top 10 in qualifying, coming in at P11. Bad luck struck the team in the pre-final when T.J.'s exhaust clamp fell off causing an early retirement. He'd start from dead last in the final. Koyen fought hard but was only able to climb up to the 11th position in the 18-lap final.

Finally, the team had the HPV Heavy class to compete in. Koyen was a few tenths off the pace in qualifying, grabbing the 3rd position. The pre-final was a nail-biter as Koyen fought hard to keep fellow Merlin driver Jason Foley and Corey Reeves (Arrow) behind him. He held on for a P3 finish and lined up inside row two for the final. However, bad luck struck for the second time that weekend when T.J.'s rear bumper broke loose and started dragging while running P3 several laps in, giving him a black flag and a DNF.

With the season over, the team is looking forward to the beginning of the next WKA Manufacturer's Cup season as it kicks off the first event in Daytona, FL at the end of December.