This article appeared in the first ever issue of American Muscle Kart, Volume 1 Number 1. It attempts to briefly explain what the UAS is.

The Unlimited All-Stars...Dare to Think Differently
Comments about the Unlimited All-Stars
by Mark Bergfelt, Founder of the UAS

The Unlimited All-Stars has provided a new paradigm for organizing kart racing activity. It does not conform itself to the structure of the typical motor sports sanctioning body. It exists to represent the interests of the drivers and race teams. That is what makes it so different and that is part of the reasoning behind how the rules were written. The Unlimited All-Stars does not promote events on it's own. It works with promoters and other sanctioning bodies who do that. The events are insured through the coverage provided by the promoter of the events. The UAS is there to negotiate the terms under which the unlimited drivers will compete. The Unlimited All-Stars recognizes the drivers and race teams. It does not exploit them. The UAS has set standards for driver behavior and skill level for its membership much like some professional organizations require testing and living up to a code of ethics to achieve and maintain membership status. It has provided a ranking system that allows drivers from all parts of the country to see just where they stack up compared to other drivers in distant parts of the country. The UAS is not for every kart driver and does not try to be, but there are more and more racers every day who find themselves attracted to the UAS.

The most important person needed for building and maintaining a successful UAS region is the regional administrator. Until such a person steps forward and identifies his intentions to the national office of the UAS that part of the country can not be part of the UAS ranking system and the events held there, even if they are conducted according to UAS rules will not be included in the national ranking system. The UAS considers it to be a conflict of interest if a promoter simply adds the class without there being a representative for the racers. Please do not misunderstand this policy. The UAS encourages every track to use the UAS rules for their open class, but there must be a regional administrator there to represent the interests of the drivers for a UAS region to be recognized for national ranking purposes.

Perhaps one of the reasons that the UAS concept is growing in popularity is that the program can be duplicated relatively easily. All that is needed for a region to start is for an enthusiastic individual (or individuals) to take it upon himself to negotiate a schedule with the tracks in his area and then get that schedule into the hands of the racers in that area. There are a variety of models of how the leadership of a region can be structured. Some regions are operated by benevolent dictators and some by elected committees with different variations of leadership in between. All administrators come to the table with unique skill sets and personalities. The style of operation is dependant on those factors.

The UAS is structured to be able to function under the sanction of existing sanctioning bodies or the programs of track promoters. The UAS really only represents two classes of karts; the Senior UAS division and the Sportsman All-Stars for younger drivers. It is not, at the present time, intended to be a completely stand alone entity. The UAS relies on the insurance coverage provided by those entities and its rules and policies have been written with that in mind. (Note, Since that time the UAS has dropped the developmental Sportsman division due to lack of interest.)

The UAS is presently undergoing relatively rapid growth. Many experienced racers have a renewed interest in kart racing because of the new challenges that the UAS presents. They enjoy the friendships that they have developed and the strong emphasis that is placed on clean driving makes the racing more fun for everyone.