Quote:
Originally Posted by wdfifteen
Good on you OP. Your kid is lucky you are so supportive.
I tried karting when I was a kid, but got no support from my parents. I had to buy the kart and maintain it myself and rely on a friend’s dad to haul me to the track. When I turned 16 I sold the kart to help finance a car, and that was that.
|
Identical story here. That was in 1960 and 61, maybe '62 before it got sold. However, I found one in '74 that was somewhat set up for road racing, or enduro. So I was off to Riverside for my first ever enduro. I managed to race Ontario and somewhere else before I realized if was junk. Not fast and out of class.
I found a dual McCullough sit up kart that a buddy and I played with in a parking lot in '80. That led me to buying a kart for my new to me stepson. Next thing I know we both have new Margays and are racing 2wice a month at Adams in Riverside and Oxnard at the Jim Hall Jr. track. Plus some street races.
Then I bought an enduro, another Margay and shared it with the stepson as we were in different classes with the same motor. He did the same thing I did at 16, sold his sprint and got into cars and girls.
but I was hooked. I kept my Margay sprint and the enduro and raced all over. Riverside was still open and I might have frace the last kart race there. Finally the enduro was doing my neck in so I switched back to the sprint which they called 'sit up' at the long tracks. Half the time for races too, 30 mi instead of an hour. I liked that since controlled practice lasted all morning. I got plenty of fun laps.
Finally I had a construction accident having a beam dropped on my head and shoulder. I had a terrible whip lash injury and couldn't hold my head up in the corners.
The Margay hangs in the garage today. It's ready to go with some new tires. Somehow with a replacement shoulder I know to not be tempted to even do a parking lot. Karts are as rough as it gets. Very comparable to motocross sitting down and w/o jumps. But super strenuous. You don't see anything clearly at speed, but you know where you are and should know where you are going, half by feel and the other half by the images you are able to process.
That's what I mentioned earlier. One thing that sticks out is if there is a kart in front of you. That makes a pretty big image and is easy to follow. But don't be tempted. He makes a mistake and you're caught up in it. If you're driving your line, he will disappear in a flash. If you're following him into trouble, you're going airborne. I've driven completely over another driver leaving tire marks on his helmet and landed upright. In that case I wasn't following him. He dive bombed the corner and parked it right in front of me a 80 MPH. Half a second later I was playing leap frog.
They all have these big bumpers now along with side pods. Now that they can, they beat on each other something awful. I think that's where all the beating and banging comes from in car racing now. We didn't race like that for fear of flipping. Saw the ambulance once every race.