Anyone into Karting?

[unclebilly]

I got my 5 year old son into karting last year at our brand new local track.

I have since bought myself a Rotax Max kart and a 4 stroke kart and plan to make the jump from car racing to karts this year.

My motivation is that karting is a family activity and most of the tracks I race at now don't let kids (families) into the pits anymore. This rules out bringing the family to races. My son and eventually my daughter will be able to be on track with me on practise nights doing lead follow training and we can work on the karts together at the track and at home.

Anyone else done this? How does karting compare to racing 911's? I have been racing for over 10 years, am a PCA instructor and have done quite a lot of endurance racing the past few years at tracks such as Laguna Seca, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Brainerd, The Ridge, Race City, Spokane, and Stratotech.

[dan79brooklyn]

Bought my 8 year old a junior size kart last year. He practices once a month. Hopefully he will get a chance to race this year. He's already faster than me and has learned good car control. His teacher's son is in Japan F3 series and knows a lot of people in the industry. It will be interesting to see if this hobby develops into something more serious. For now it's a lot of fun to hang out at the track together.

[TheMentat]

I was into karting about 12 years ago (Rotax as well). I'm looking forward to my kids getting old enough to get into it, however, I fear that the kart racing scene here has become too fragmented to make it worthwhile.

I haven't raced 911s, however, one of my buddies I raced karts with tells me that cars just don't approach the feeling of frenetic action that you get in a kart. Braking zones are shorter, dicing with other racers is much more fast paced etc. Cars just seem slow in comparison until you get into an F1 car (which he has done before).

Enjoy! I'm jealous!

[ckelly78z]

Before I had kids, several buddies and I bought/built our own Alcohol Briggs Raptor stock carts. I had a track in my back field that we would drag with my tractor pulling a harrow/drag, and then water it down with my field sprayer. We would generally hit about 35 mph and race wheel to wheel going almost flat out all the way around my tri-oval track. The real fun came after dark when we started up the portable generator/ light stand, and the track (sans sun) became super sticky.

Our motors were fairly mild Briggs Raptor 5 HP with a good clutch, advanced timing, header, and a bored out alcohol carb, that turned about 5500 RPM......cheap fun.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I tried to get my 11 year old son interested but it just didn't click with him, cars just aren't a passion. My 5 year old seems like he will be my little car guy, so I'm considering finding him a used kart to try. My local SCCA and PCA autoX lets kids run the track on karts, so I thought it would be a fun way for me to autoX and spend time with my son as well. Any formal racing series requires travel, which is a problem with our otherwise busy schedule.

[unclebilly]

Here are a couple photos of Clay last summer...






His kart now has martini livery.

[Scott Douglas]

Have fun!
Be sure to protect his hearing, this coming from someone who played with karts in the '60's and didn't.
Oh yeah, and you can flip a kart believe it or not. My brother proved that up at the Oxnard track and ended up with a broken shoulder. Be safe!

[unclebilly]

My son chose the racing livery himself by looking at race car pictures and my friend custom designed the vinyl. We still need the 'grill' piece and the kart will be on display at the auto show and the World of Wheels show next month.

[djmcmath]

I've done an enormous amount of kart racing, loads of fun. The way the track rules are set up at the places I run at, it's never made sense to buy my own, but it's definitely a more social and family-friendly sport than actual car racing. When I lived in DC, I'd do company "team building" events at the local kart track -- 50-70 people doing a 3-5 race competition followed by grilling and hanging out in the parking lot. I was typically out at the kart track with a group of friends at least once a month, typically followed by burgers 'n' beer back at my place.

Compare that to racing my car, where I go and do the thing, hang out with the other racers, but only see them once every few months, so it doesn't really become a social thing so much as just a thing that I enjoy doing. None of my "normal" friends can afford to get into racing, so I don't take my friends to track days. The groups I run with don't generally approve of passengers, so I can't take a date to the track in my actual car. Or, I guess I could, but she'd be stuck in the pits all day, so that's really not much fun at all.

Add to that the fact that karting allows actual wheel-to-wheel racing without the risk of wrecking my actual car, and you've got a recipe for a lot of fun for not a lot of money. I do think that actual car racing is a better experience -- it's more challenging, more nuanced, and generally more fun. But it's also a much less social experience for me.

For kids? Karting is AWESOME. Get 'em started young. Even if they don't turn out to be race car drivers when they grow up, they'll learn a lot about how cars handle and how to manage complex situations on the pavement. I absolutely plan on taking my kids racing, when I eventually have kids.

[rrental]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

I got my 5 year old son into karting last year at our brand new local track.

I have since bought myself a Rotax Max kart and a 4 stroke kart and plan to make the jump from car racing to karts this year.

My motivation is that karting is a family activity and most of the tracks I race at now don't let kids (families) into the pits anymore. This rules out bringing the family to races. My son and eventually my daughter will be able to be on track with me on practise nights doing lead follow training and we can work on the karts together at the track and at home.

Anyone else done this? How does karting compare to racing 911's? I have been racing for over 10 years, am a PCA instructor and have done quite a lot of endurance racing the past few years at tracks such as Laguna Seca, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Brainerd, The Ridge, Race City, Spokane, and Stratotech.

You're going to have a great time! I did some karting 20 odd years ago and got back into it again about 4 years ago when my kid was 11. I wish I started sooner...It's an awesome time together with your kids and family. We started with just some club races, and before we knew he was driving the US Open in Las Vegas last year. I drive 4 stroke myself, (too old for Rotax) and out of town I am the wrench for Sam. The kid drives 4 stroke (lo206) and Rotax. 4 stroke LO206 is an awesome class to learn, and highly competitive for a relative small budget.

Another great benefit is the technical skills your child will learn when wrenching on his kart later on. From what I have seen kids who kart grow up to be good citizens. The learn so many life lessons when driving kart competitively. They will see the rewards if you work hard and your stuff is in good shape,maintained and ready to go or pay the price if you slack.

PM if you want more info. I am also the Vice-Pres. of the West Coast Kart Club/Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack.

I will be out your way a few time as racing in the states (Can-am, US-open) is getting expensive with the current dollar.



Me in the LO206 club race


Sam at the Canadian Nationals Ontario


Cleaning the kart


Our Team in Vegas

[unclebilly]

Awesome - I've met you and Sam on the Can-Am 3 years ago. Clay and I drove my silver 76 930.

Let me know when you are in town this summer, our farm is not far from the track in Strathmore.

[rrental]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Awesome - I've met you and Sam on the Can-Am 3 years ago. Clay and I drove my silver 76 930.

Let me know when you are in town this summer, our farm is not far from the track in Strathmore.

Sure do remember! Will let you know when we are there. For sure the Shoot Out and and a double header early in the season. Can't wait to try out your new track!

[dewolf]

My sons are both state champions. If you need any advice pm me. We raced all over Australia every weekend. On the level we were racing it gets very expensive very quickly. We chewed through about $80K+ for a full year of racing. This includes all traveling and hotels etc. Our engines were rebuilt every five races and we had 6 of them. New tyers every second meet (we had four classes and four karts so $600 a fortnight on tyres).
It will give your son a great start for his motoring years. Neither of my lads has crashed his car or been busted speeding. Their friends, not so lucky.

[dan79brooklyn]

My 8 year old son Motoki has his own Kart, unfortunately I am not so lucky. But occasionally I get to borrow a kart for a few laps and chase him around. He's gotten very fast and knows the course really well.


The track is definitely a good place for families to spend time. We've made friends with another family (they have 5 kids!) and they all come and hang out.


Their oldest boy is the same age as my son, so it makes the experience a lot more fun for both of them to have someone their own age and level to practice with.


We decided that having a teacher is the best way for him to learn the fine details of kart racing, this includes maintenance as well.


Our two year old is getting in on the action now too!