ltc

I would suggest not buying a kart that does not have a well represented class/field at your local tracks.
It's not much fun being alone in a class and having 30 other people in another class of kart!
Same with chassis. Always a good idea to run a chassis with local support/parts...helps with the learning curve.

Arrwin

This may be a stupid question, but as i'm new to karting, i'm assuming you will need to invest in your own kart to join a league? Are there any arrive/drive types?

ltc

They are affiliated with SSCRacing/Rotax, so the Regional events are RMax Qualifying events....3 at the track this year and last 2 years they hosted the East Coast Red Bull Driver search (RIP).

They run a couple of 50cc Bambino, currently no 80cc Cadets, as they have all been replaced by FR125 MiniMax, 6-8 FR125 Jr Rotax, 24-30 Senior Rotax/Masters and maybe half a dozen ICC Shifters.

ltc

A local kart shop, www.prospeedkartsports.com does Rotax FR125 rentals; you simply show up for practice/race and Roger (owner), along with his mechanic Kevin, has your kart ready to go.
Otherwise, you own/maintain/transport your own kart.

BrandonH

From Forrest Hills your track choices within 2 hrs are OVRP and Englishtown. There was a LI track which shut down in '05 sadly. You can set up a rental at either track but there is so much used equipment out there that the economics of racing that way for an entire season wouldn't make sense. My suggestion would be do a drivers' school at either track, where they supply equipment, then rent an arrive-and-drive once or twice on practice days, then buy used equipment.

Unfortunately karting is very very fragmented with respect to equipment preferences, geography, sanctioning bodies etc. So best bet is find the track you like, figure out which classes attract respectable fields, and buy used equipment from someone with a local presence who can help w/support. Like most of racing, buying the kart is just buying a license to purchase an endless string of consumables...

As someone has already mentioned, asking which class is 'best' is asking the wrong question. The right question is 'what classes get the most support at tracks close to where I live...'

Happy to opine further if you'd like to PM

gums

Brandon,
good advice you gave there, I'd have to agree with you. What happened to the track at the Westhampton Drag Strip? I saw racing there a few years ago, is that the one that shut down?

BrandonH

Yes, Westhampton got sold to developers very suddenly at the end of '04 I think. Shades of Bridgehampton. The Long Island Karting club is soldiering on in the parking lot of Nassau Coliseum. http://www.likaonline.com/index2.htm

BrandonH

Check out Julia Landauer in the current Skippy standings for Eastern Region 'Sportsman' series. She is I believe 16 and a karting regular at OVRP. We race against her two younger siblings most weekends. She has been almost comically dominant, winning 9 out of 10 of her first season races so far including her F-Dodge debut at VIR in the rain! http://www.skipbarber.com/race_serie...lass=OVERALL-O

Today's young phenoms from Kimi/Alonso to Marco/Danica trained their inner ears and fingertips in karts at an age when the rest of us were figuring out how to put the chain back on our bikes. They have the same advantage Tiger Woods enjoyed from the time his dad put a putter in his hands at age 3.