Good choice for a Sr. chassis. Excellent setup guide and documentation on their website. Arrow is very well supported by Terrence at BTK in Alabama. Parts are always available. Arrow parts are also available online from Comet Kart Sales (Mark Dinsmore's company/shop) and Kartorama.

 

Another 'advantage' of karting is learning to drive in the rain.
(if my son had a choice, he'd run every race in the rain; loves it).

Very low risk/cost of equipment damage when compared to learning to drive in the rain in a car/on track.

The downside is cleaning/drying the kart afterwards...nothing some WD40 and rags can't handle,

 

I'm sure you've already found the website
www.ekartingnews.com
Lots of knowledgeable folks in the forum sections.

 

No racing career in his future I'm afraid. He's actually planning a career in training service/assistance dogs for people with disabilities and perhaps training work dogs (State Police, military, etc).

Karting was fun, lots of memories. It got him a chance to test drive a Formula BMW car at Miller Motorsports Park (one of 10 kids chosen from the Stars of Karting program).....never imagined when the 2 of us started out as a clueless father/son team (I'm still clueless, he's not) I'd ever see that......still smile when I see the pictures.

When he's 18 and if he wants to, he can always take the Cup car out with PCA and do some DE's.....or whatever he wants to do.

 

Thanks for the links. I knew about ekarting and BTK but not Kart-O-Rama, very nice that they actually have an online catalog with pictures and prices (seems rare in the karting world but common everywhere else). I can't wait to get this thing on track!

 

I bought a TAG last year, one year old kart $5000, trailer $1500, not bad. Problem I have is the intensive maintance. They are in constraint need of something. Forget chilling with the boys between heats, your wrench'n on something. They nickel and dime you; with a street based DE car I feel the expense is higher in the end but in bigger chunks. Bottom line I'm now selling the TAG. Safety: IMO similar to maintance, karts lots of bumps and bruises, cars potential for the big one.

 

Dinsmore at New Castle Motorsports Park (and Comet Kart Sales) really likes the Arrow chassis and IIRC, he is the #1 seller in the country this year.
An Arrow chassis also won the RoboPong 200 this year......along with the Rock Island Grand Prix, one of the most popular (and hard to qualify for) karting evnts.
http://www.newcastleraceway.com/enduro.shtml


Arrow parts online:
http://cometkartsales.com/store/chas...arrowparts.htm

http://estore.websitepros.com/768505...ry=Arrow+Parts

If you thought DE was a slippery slope, welcome to karting.

 

That's what I'm afraid of! My good friend races an AX9 ICC shifter in the Pro Kart Challenge. He has 2 chassis: the race kart and the back-up, he has 3 engines in rotation: race, practice, rebuild. The stock Honda in mine should require less maintenance than his ICC engines... His race weekend (entry fees, new tires, fuel, oil) are still less than the entry fees alone to race my Porsche, and most of the tracks are about 2 hours closer. The local club races about twice a month down at the stadium too. I'm looking forward to getting some practice in and eventually club racing. The stock Honda class is really popular down here so there will plenty of tough competition.

 

I think anything in motorsports can be a slippery slope, especially if one gets to competitive racing.

Having the track nearby is very important to me, as I don't have a lot of time to spend on the sport. So, I'll be keeping an eye out on what is going on at NJMP. BTW, I have driven the "arrive and drive" karts there twice including the full course, it's a great track.

Thanks for the links. I know about e-karting, but have yet to check out kart-o-rama.

It's fun driving in DE in the rain, if it is not too heavy. With my street tires, I am relatively faster than other people who in cup or DOT legal racing tires.

As far as goal, I "wanna" be a better car driver. Yours truly here is a slow driver on the track. Maybe I should be attending Skip Barber instead or some of the other schools. Those schools cost a lot thought, somewhere around $1000-$1500 per day.

 

Good points here. While I have done only two track events, I get the feeling that some groups are more competitive than others despite no winners/losers in DE. I guess it all depends on who you get in your group run.

 

If you get into karting and are looking for something to do when it's snowing, check out Bondurant Superkart School out in Phoenix.....they use the PKRA raceway/track.

1 or 2 day school, just you and your instructor, arrive and drive Rotax FR125 TaG kart, with the whole track to yourself.
Took my son twice (November 2 years in a row IIRC). Wife stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the spa and pool. Nice time, good experience.

 

Hummmm...Phoenix. I might be going to a conference there in October. That would be perfect. Looks like they got some introductory ones too during the night.

Have you or your son tried the Jim Hall Karting School out in LA area? Looks like they got their own track and seems to specialize in karting.

 

No, we just did Bondurant Superkarts in Phoenix (PKRA with Bondurant supplied CRG/Rotax karts). Met a few of the instructors at a Stars of Karting race. PKRA is a nice track and running all day by yourself is a nice relaxed day. My son's instructors got out in a kart and worked with him on 'contact' which was also a nice advantage.

OT, right across the road from PKRA is a radio controlled airplane club/strip....something I did when I was a young boy back in the 70's. Took my son over to watch during our lunch break, brought back memories.

 

I haven't done the Jim Hall school but it has a very good reputation. They own the track too so there won't be anybody practicing while you are doing the school. They are located in Oxnard, north of LA and near the beach so the climate should be nice too.

 

It's decent, but similar to other schools in that they frequently cater to the lowest common denominator. It's great for beginners, but private instruction would be preferrable for those with a little experience.

______
Jason