Waukesha racers qualify for K1 Speed national championship

WAUKESHA, Wis. - If speed fuels your tank, look no further than K1 Speed Milwaukee. 

Local perspective:

"Well, this ain’t your grandparent’s go-karts in the backyard," said Justin Potrykus. "If you want to have a fun family experience, you can come to K1 and enjoy the speed."

This indoor go-kart racing destination is the place to be. You can have family fun, or, if you like to rev up your adrenaline with some healthy competition, you can be like these racers. 

"The speed will hit you in a second," said Potrykus.

Meet 10-year-old Asher Thao, 16-year-old Justin Potrykus and 22-year-old William Squires. They all got their start at K1 Speed Milwaukee. 

"Some people spend hundreds of dollars on kart equipment, helmets, race suits, gloves," said Potrykus. "At K1, all you need is to come in in some nice house clothes, and you got the helmet, and you’re ready to go."

The trio showed off their talents at the K1 Speed State Championships held here in Waukesha. They each won their respective leagues at the 2026 Wisconsin State Championship. 

What they're saying:

"It was fun," said William Squires. "It was amazing. It felt like a really big accomplishment."

"Unbelievable," said Potrykus. "All the hard work paid off. You know, you have to make sure you keep a good mentality."

"It felt like a lot of pride in me because, last year, I was dead last, and now that I came up, I was like, yay, I got champion," said Asher Thao. 

Thao, Potrykus, Squires and four other drivers who also podiumed, will now race toward the K1 Speed U.S. National Championship in California as Wisconsin's representatives.

Their end goal is the same, but they each got here by driving in a different lane. 

"I wanted to do it because I saw the cars and how fast they were and how competitive they were," said Thao. "I just thought it would be really fun to try it."

Thao won the junior league, and he's just two years into go-kart racing.

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He took after his father, Phong Thao, and his uncle. They both race. Even better, his quick progress surprised himself. 

"The first time I did it, I spun out," said Thao. "That was the first time and now, I don’t really spin out as much and now, I’m a champion."

Squires was also a quick study. He won the adult league and began racing last March.

"I really want to try this and so, I saw K1 Speed, and it was like, super accessible," Squires said.

Squires started out with the help of a simulator, but nothing can beat the real thing.

"The simulators you’re racing these really nice cars, and these go-karts, the main thing is that you don’t calculate the weight shift," said Squires. "When you first get in a car, it’s completely different."

He's also documenting his racing journey on his YouTube channel, "Squires Racing." 

"The whole point of the goal of doing this was to just show that I know this is my first year of racing," said Squires. "It’s never too late to start your dream."

That was also the case for Potrykus, who won the teen league. 

"I found out that we both have YouTube channels, so I can see that we both have that same mentality where we absolutely love doing this," said Potrykus. "We want to make this a career ahead of our lives."

Potrykus has been racing the last four years, and he's the only driver in this trio who has qualified for the National Championship before.

"Now that was the greatest feeling that you can get when you come from racing indoors all these months," said Potrykus. "Racing nationally, it is an outdoor 1.1-mile track in Winchester, California, so you’re going to be hitting speeds up to 60 miles per hour."

While Thao and his family are still hoping to go to Nationals, Potrykus and Squires are ready to put on a show.

"It is an absolute dream of mine to be able to show everyone that people can just come from indoor go-karting tracks and can make it up into the big names of motor sports," said Potrykus.

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 "I’m going to be racing the best of the best from every single state," said Squires. "People didn’t think I could even make it to Nationals in my first year, so might as well just keep on surprising people."

What's next:

The K1 Speed U.S. National Championship is in Winchester, California from May 2–3, 2026. The racers will get to compete against K1 competitors from across 29 states.

If they podium, they'll advance to the E-World Championship that same night. There, they'll face the best go-karters from K1 Speeds from all around the world, and they'll all battle for a $79,000 combined prize pool.

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