Karting 101

scottIN

Let's see...

I just race here locally. I'm fortunate to have one of the top tracks in the country about 5 minutes from my house. It's New Castle Motorsports Park, owned by former Indy Car driver (and Daytona 24 Hour winner) Mark Dismore. We run a 15 race club season so it's close to every weekend, plus there are a few special races I might enter throughout the year. Being one of the top tracks, it hosts a number of national and international events as well.

Time commitment is whatever you want to make it really. Some guys just show up on Saturday & race, some practice 3 or 4 times a week, some guys don't race-just enjoy driving them. I know one karting dad (he's also an announcer for ABC) that is there pretty much every day working on his son's karts. But he's looking to go pro - it's more than a hobby for him. Race day usually starts early, and is pretty much a full day. Crazy thing is, you've got two 7 minute practice sessions, a 7 minute qualifier and then the race, which takes about 12 minutes. That's really about all the driving most people can take. It's extremely physical. You gain a new respect for race car drivers after driving a kart.

Everyone always asks: How fast do you go? Well, top speed down the straight is about 75 mph in my class. But that's not what gets you. It's a 1.1 mile, 16 turn track (most common layout) and average speed is 62 mph. So your average turn speed is somewhere around 50 mph. The two hairpins, you go thorugh at 35. Here's a little video (i'm in the silver kart / helmet) from a couple years ago. Watch about 1:20 in. That's about a 68 mph turn, and I never got on the brakes - I really thought I was going to clear him. I don't even remember the wreck-it was that hard of a hit. They brought my kart back to my garage and I was like 'WTF happened to it?'

KRA #14 Spec TAG Masters wreck - YouTube

The guy running with the flag? That's Mark Dismore.