A few words about karting. (Updated 8-2008)
If you are a wheeled speed freak and you have not tried karting yet ,or maybe you've tried your hand at indoor karting, you need to get to an outdoor track and find out why well know Kart, Rally, IMSA, IRL, and Nascar drivers started in kart's and continue to run them to sharpen their driving skills. Karting is the closest you will ever get to driving a Formula One car.
Today kart manufacturers have taken the original idea (where I started around 1965 or 66) and turned it into everything you could ever dream a kart would or could do.
The power to weight ratio is akin to the formula 1 car that Michael Schumaker drives. In fact both Schumaker and Aryton Senna used karting as practice while they were in Formula 1. Schumaker continues to run karts on a regular basis just for fun.
Way back when I was a kid my Grandfather who was a total gear head instilled this speed thing in me. His imprint on my brain as well my father who followed in his footsteps led me to karting at a very young age.
I'm trying to recall the year but I'm thinking around 1965 or 1966 my dad acquired a hand built (frame) that had two MAC 9 (Lawnmower engines) mounted and we used to go to a closed track on 16 mile and Van Dyke (Now a huge shopping center complex) in what was then Macomb Township I believe. We'd run around in this insanely fast, primitive, ill handling kart while he chased us in a VW Bug. Back then the tires skinny rock hard lumps of rubber and it was a real chore keeping the thing going in a straight line.
Keeping both engines running at the same time was another issue all together. It was insanely fast, almost out of control really with the skinny tires but it was a blast!
Karts in those days were so different and although blazingly fast, they simply did not have the grip or traction that today's kart's do. They were evil and somewhat unpredictable, somewhat like a Bultaco Pursang. Flash forward to the last 15 or so years and that's where I will pick up the story.
Kart's today have adjustability that their predecessors could only hope for. Companies like CRG and Birel (out of Italy) have come along and developed very adjustable chassis. Rotax along with a slew of engine manufactures have joined the fray with monster engines that produce manageable and useable power. Today getting a balance that works at speed is achievable. In the past that kind of adjustment was made through driver input via the gas/brakes and steering, something you still have to do, however with the correct setup those input's are much easier to deal with.
Kart's in those days were so different and so I flash forward to the last 10 years and that's where I will pick up the story.
Although I love motorcycles and I have had a long term relationship on two wheels in both the dirt and on the street. My absolute first love is four wheels. Karts in particular.
For all of the two wheel nay sayers who think it is easy to make the transistion, I have only met a handful of motorcycle racers who are quick in both disiplines.
I only bring that up so that you understand that both disciplines require a skill set to achieve a high quality of speed and the ability to win at either sport. Both are great mental and physical challenges.
Through the years I have stayed in and around karting and just tried to use it for the fun that it was. I have always enjoyed 4 wheel speed and it just keeps getting better.
Around 1997 or so I began doing some indoor karting with my father and although the kart's were not that fast, setups that were horrible and rock hard tires that have very little grip it was a mixed thrill. Running on indoor tracks is vastly different than running an outdoor kart in that indoor tracks. Because they are so tight and confined it made for some fun and exciting racing.
For me indoor karting was just a way to get some speed during the winter months.
When we started Trackoholics Karoline decided that we would not only run motorcycle trackday events, we would also run an indoor kart series for our members during the winter.
This went extremely well for us and our customers had a blast. This got me hooked, I wanted more room and more speed and I set my mind to getting to an outdoor track.
Around 2002 Jim Boltz (SSC Racing and Cycle Barn owner) began pushing me to get back into outdoor karting.
I was so busy that I kind of resisted and held off until the Fall of 2005. During a motorcycle trackday trip to Las Vegas to work with Ti2TT Jim invited me sample the latest karting product from CRG and Rotax at his wonderful facility in Las Vegas called the X PLEX.
These tuned chassis's have incredible brakes that featured full floating ventilated rotors with Brembo master cylinders. Simply awesome, sticky slick tires have years of race development by Bridgestone. Seats molded to your body that actually hold you in place ala a true race car.
To say that I was awe struck by the out right speed of the new kart's is an understatement. That was all it took and I was hooked on another speed related sport!
If you have not tried karting here's my thoughts on why it is so awesome.
(1). Cost. Used kart's go for 1,500 to 4,500. New turn key packages around 6,000 to 8,000
(2). Tires. 200.00 a set.
(3). Track Time is CHEAP! 35.00 to 55.00 per day at just about any kart track (and there are hundreds of them across America).
(4). Driving gear. Compared to bikes, really cheap. Suit, gloves, boots, rib and neck protector and helmet for under a grand.
So, there is more to life than two wheels. Give it try. I think you might just get hooked.
What I find most interesting about karting is the number of tracks that run across America. Hundreds of them. If you own a kart a trackday is cheap! Like 45.00 for the entire day. A set of tires run around 200.00, roughly 1/2 of a set for a bike. And kart's are so much cheaper to run than bikes and are as much if not more fun.
To top that off there are many tracks that rent kart's. (If you are in the Midwest try MRP Raceway, West coast try Xplex Seattle or Moran Raceway, East coast try SSC East) Real race kart's that will thrill some and scare others. When you are inches off the ground 70 MPH is fast and things happen very quickly. Once you drive one you begin to understand why the worlds best drivers started their careers in them and continue to use them to hone their driving skills.
I have also spent some time at Moran Raceway in Beaumont, Ca. They rent a fairly straight forward spec 100cc HPV race kart and although their HPV kart fall short of the CRG/Rotax package XPlex rented and the Briel/Yamaha package that MRP rents, the Moran track is bar non the best kart track I have ever ran on in terms of smoothness which equates to speed.
The down side at Moran and I felt that this was dumb on their part is that you pay to rent by the hour and that means you pay whether you are in or out of the kart. Topping that off is a mandatory stop at 15 minutes for them to lube the chain and check the kart. Another words you are paying them whether or not you are running the kart. MRP's Rolling Green Raceway track is an awesome, challenging layout that offers multiple configurations. You never know which track you'll run and that makes for a great change of pace. They offer a multitude of ways to try out karting from Honda 4 strokes to full on Rotax Max kart's.
Again, some of the greats drivers like Aryton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Michel Schumaker, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart owe their skill to their beginnings in kart's.
Give karting a try. You won't be sorry you did.
Thanks again to Marshall Matin (LSR Motorsports) and Jim Boltz (SSC West) for making this happen for me.
If you love speed, I highly recommend karting as a reasonable motorsport to participate in (as compared to other motorsports). I suggest that you check out LSR Motorsports (CRG chassis) or MRP (Birel chassis dealer)if you are looking to get into karting. They offer a rental/test program as well as schooling. They also run a full race series every year.
A full and complete set of photos of the whole crew who came out for the day can be found on my MySpace page. CLICK HERE to head over there to view them.
