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The WKA Manufacturer's Cup national series opened it's season in a abnormally chilly Daytona, FL inside turn four of the famed Daytona International Speedway. TJ Koyen and the team ran a whopping six classes during the week, playing "Ironman" for team MerlinUSA.

story by ekartingnews.com:

"The first group to hit the track was the Yamaha SuperCan Lite division as they ran their qualifying session. With the temperature of the track still cold, the drivers hit their fast laps near the end of the session. The provisional pole was a revolving position with a number of drivers holding the spot briefly. In the end, it was Tony Jump (Margay) that ended up on top with a 44.787 lap time. Derek Hughes (Arrow) was second in the order with TJ Koyen (Merlin), defending class champion Ryan Stewart (Birel) and Sean Donnelly (Merlin) completing the fast five. Stewart however continues to have bad luck at the scale barn as his time was removed for being underweight, moving Ryan Phillips (Bandit) - a two-time winner in ’09 - to the fifth spot.

A clean start for Jump as he was able to break away from the field with the lead as Hughes, Koyen and Phillips battled for second. Jump had about a three kart lead until lap three when it looked as if he had an issue. Phillips was able to slide by for the lead with Koyen and Hughes also moving through. On lap five, Jump’s left rear tire broke off, sending him spinning around and out of the race. Phillips led the remaining eight laps for the win with Koyen and Hughes in line behind. Mark Dismore Jr. (Arrow) posted the fast laps of the race to finish fourth with former winner Corey Reeves (Arrow) completing the top-five. Coming from the tail of the field, Stewart worked himself up to the sixth position.

The SuperCan division continues to offer great racing and the first main event of the day was no different. Phillips was able to get a great jump on the field and establish a solid lead. Once out front, a group of seven was bunched up behind Hughes and Phillips lead was roughly three-seconds. When Stewart got alongside Hughes for second, the two made contact with neither giving up and the result was Hughes getting bounced in the grass, losing a number of spots. As the race continued on, the battle was for second with Koyen working himself back into the position where he started the race from. Once there, he laid down the fast laps of the race and cut into Phillips lead. With two laps to go, Koyen was on Phillips bumper for the first time. Sizing him up, Koyen made his move on the last lap into turn three. Phillips dropped a wheel on the exit and that was all Koyen needed to earn the checkered flag. Senior rookie Shinya Michimi (Merlin) advanced up to third ahead of Stewart for an impressive debut. Jump certainly showed he had a package to challenge for the win as he overcame the DNF in the Prefinal to score an impressive final podium position over Colton Ramsey (Merlin) and Dismore Jr. Reeves was eighth with Hughes ending in ninth while Donnelly rounded out the top-10."

TJ took part in WKA's premier TaG class as well, posting the 14th fastest lap in qualifying in a very competitive 50-kart field. Bad luck struck early though and in the pre-final Koyen was pushed off in turn one, sending him all the way to the very tail of the field. Although Koyen fought back up to mid-pack and was turning laps comparable to the leaders, he was again caught up in an accident hindering his progress. He'd eventually come across the line in 23rd. Luck turned around for TJ in the final though, as he was able to make a huge move forward in turn one after a large accident caught up several drivers in front of him. Koyen was able to capitalize on this and continue to push, earning him a 14th place finish.

story by ekartingnews.com:
"In his second class on the day, TJ Koyen (Merlin) was the top driver in the Komet Piston Port Heavy qualifying session with a 43.296. Patrick Olsen (Birel), runner-up in the ’09 championship chase, was second in the timed run with the Birel’s of Bill McLaughlin, Ryan Stewart and Blake Deister rounding out the fast-five.

Continuing the fast pace, Koyen went on to lead all eight laps of the KPP Heavy Prefinal. The Wisconsin driver established a half-second advantage over Olsen - who recorded the fast lap. Corey Reeves (Arrow) recovered from a poor qualifying effort (ninth) to end up third. Stewart held his ground in fourth with McLaughlin falling back to fifth.

Putting a cap on the day was great finish to the racing for day one. Koyen was able to pace the field early on with Olsen falling in behind for second. No change for position took place until two to go when Olsen was able to pull the trigger inside of turn one. With a little bit of real estate, Olsen looked to have the race. After receiving the white flag, Koyen got a great run through turns one and two, closing in on Olsen to make a stellar move inside at turn three. Koyen exited the corner as the leader and while Olsen was on his bumper, he was not able to make a move. At the line, Koyen took his second victory by just 0.048-seconds. Reeves ran to third with Stewart and McLaughlin rounding out the podium."

Koyen's day two action kicked off with a 10th place qualifying effort in Yamaha Supercan Heavy. The team struggled with chassis setup in this class, having a hard time balancing the class' high weight with the low-horsepower engine. Koyen continued to struggle in the pre-final, coming home with an 11th place finish. Unable to find any pace, the team had to settle for a disappointing 18th place finish in the final.

The team's second class on the day was Rotax where TJ was held up by slower traffic in qualifying but was still able to post a time that would put him P7 in the qualifying lineup. In the pre-final, Koyen jumped up into the 3rd spot in turn one after a few karts made contact in front of him. In turn three, contact was made between the leader and the second place kart, putting Koyen up another position to P2. From there he held onto the spot, fending off NASCAR's Jamie McMurray to the finish. Starting on the outside proved to be detrimental however, as Koyen was pushed out on the start of the final and fell to 8th position. From there he fought hard with Bill McLaughlin (Birel) but was unable to make a pass stick, settling for P8.

The final class of the weekend for the team was Komet Lite. Looking to repeat his performance from the day before in the other Komet class, TJ was able to post a time good enough for 5th in a very tight qualifying session that saw a tenth of a second separating the top 5 drivers. In the pre-final Koyen was able to jump into the 4th position while turning the fastest laps of the race. However, he was unable to improve on his position in the final. Koyen chased Tony Jump (Margay) for the entire race, turning nearly identical lap times to the Illinois driver. TJ eventually had to settle for a 4th place finish.

The team now is looking forward to repeating this performance at the next WKA race in South Bend, IN.