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Thanks. Honestly, the EKN site confuses me even more with how many series there are. I'd want to do something more regional and less pricey just for the fun of it. If I was going to pay thousands a weekend I'd just get back into SCCA or something. CMP is nearish to me, which I know has a kart track.
We are Mount Juliet....started with the 20' trailer and now are at the 53' semi level racing with RPG and Comet Kart Sales.
Shoot me a PM, I can help you out with some info. Unfortunately here in Nashville karting has imploded on itself. We used to have SEKA/AmpedUp and then there was a rift and a group called Tennessee Karting Association was formed. TKA raced at NCM Motorports park for a couple of years, but they raised their rates this year and now TKA has moved out to Dickson to a super small track. AmpedUp still races at Twin Fountains in Shelbyville, but its far from its days of having 100+ entries for a day.
Last year I made the trip from Mt. Juliet to New Castle a gazillion times... New Castle Motorsports Park is a great track and they race on Sunday, so you can go up friday night, practice all day saturday and race sunday whereas Go Pro does their club races on Saturdays. Regardless, I'd be happy to help with whatever info I can.
At the local club level you aren't going to spend thousands of dollars a weekend, Most club racers use a set of tires for 3 to 4 weekends before replacing and only rebuild their motor once a year or longer depending on the class. national level stuff is a way different game, at one point I had both sons running two different classes a weekend, and we raced 20 weekends that year, plus test weekends, plus travel, blah blah....
My poor 964 has been collecting dust since 2014 (ok, the cover has...) I bought a Cayman from Autometrics last December and I still haven't had a track day with it, it's crazy how much time we put into karting, but it's a hell of a lot of fun and we spend a heck of a lot of time together.
We are Mount Juliet....started with the 20' trailer and now are at the 53' semi level racing with RPG and Comet Kart Sales.
Shoot me a PM, I can help you out with some info. Unfortunately here in Nashville karting has imploded on itself. We used to have SEKA/AmpedUp and then there was a rift and a group called Tennessee Karting Association was formed. TKA raced at NCM Motorports park for a couple of years, but they raised their rates this year and now TKA has moved out to Dickson to a super small track. AmpedUp still races at Twin Fountains in Shelbyville, but its far from its days of having 100+ entries for a day.
Last year I made the trip from Mt. Juliet to New Castle a gazillion times... New Castle Motorsports Park is a great track and they race on Sunday, so you can go up friday night, practice all day saturday and race sunday whereas Go Pro does their club races on Saturdays. Regardless, I'd be happy to help with whatever info I can.
At the local club level you aren't going to spend thousands of dollars a weekend, Most club racers use a set of tires for 3 to 4 weekends before replacing and only rebuild their motor once a year or longer depending on the class. national level stuff is a way different game, at one point I had both sons running two different classes a weekend, and we raced 20 weekends that year, plus test weekends, plus travel, blah blah....
My poor 964 has been collecting dust since 2014 (ok, the cover has...) I bought a Cayman from Autometrics last December and I still haven't had a track day with it, it's crazy how much time we put into karting, but it's a hell of a lot of fun and we spend a heck of a lot of time together.
Jason
the 2018 Tony I'm running this year came from Colin Neal who's racing under the same tent as your boys. RPG is THE program to be with right now.
I agree on encouraging anyone who wants to go club racing to run with KRA at New Castle. They probably have the best run program out there. That said we only run with them about 20% of the time because I think the club we do run with does a little better job with their kid kart program and my nephew will remain in that program the remainder of this year. Next year we will likely run exclusively run with KRA at New Castle.
The biggest decision factor for anyone that wants to go club racing is decide what engine you want to race. For instance if you race in the Midwest with KRA, OVKA, etc and you want to run 2 strokes you're still going to run the tried and true Yamaha KT, if you go to GoPro and want to run 2 stroke you're going to run IAME KA. trying to run 2-cycle at both means you need 2 separate engine packages which starts to add up pretty quick. TAG fields aren't great at all in club racing...esp for older drivers. Brigs 206 has really added new energy and life to club racing in the US and is the easiest point of entry. You can go anywhere and find a field of 20-40 karts to jump into on any given weekend. It's the spec miata of the karting world and a lot of people like that. Personally the low power 4-cycle just doesn't do it for me though.
My nephew got his first victory. We still need to work on passing but he was down on motor compared to the other karts in class but drove great, consistent lines and was able to capitalize on a mistake by the leader to get out in front and get his first victory. We brought a family friend with us who is also a racer and he worked with my nephew on starts and really helped continue his progress as a driver.
My success continued with a sweep of the day...Put it on pole, won the pre-final and took victory in the final as well. My brother qualifed P2 right next to me for an all family front row.
My nephew got his first victory. We still need to work on passing but he was down on motor compared to the other karts in class but drove great, consistent lines and was able to capitalize on a mistake by the leader to get out in front and get his first victory. We brought a family friend with us who is also a racer and he worked with my nephew on starts and really helped continue his progress as a driver.
My success continued with a sweep of the day...Put it on pole, won the pre-final and took victory in the final as well. My brother qualifed P2 right next to me for an all family front row.
A buddy of mine races shifter karts. First video a guy spins in front of him on the main straight at Big Willow, he rolls up over the guys kart and gets ejected at 90+. (At the end of the first vid on the far left you'll see his kart go up in the air.) 2nd video was at Laguna this feb. Another driver pulls back over to the draft and doesn't see him tailing which sends him into the right side wall before the bridge going into 5. He got seriously f'ed up both times as well as 2 karts, 2 suits and 2 helmets destroyed.
Good news is I took 1st place in our amateur race of 17, got to test drive my newly acquired Briggs 206 (Margay Ignite chassis), and had a blast.
Bad news - I keep hurting my ribs! Most of the pain comes from my body just hitting the hard seat edges and from the vibrations of the kart over bumps in the track, and from just hanging on for dear life through some of the tightest turns (how many G’s do these rental karts pull anyway? Seems like 1G is possible). I even felt a crack and pain when my rib hit the seat on one of the race heats.
Anyway, what are you all doing to prevent rib pain? Rib vest? Working out your core? Driving slower, lol?
Good news is I took 1st place in our amateur race of 17, got to test drive my newly acquired Briggs 206 (Margay Ignite chassis), and had a blast.
Bad news - I keep hurting my ribs! Most of the pain comes from my body just hitting the hard seat edges and from the vibrations of the kart over bumps in the track, and from just hanging on for dear life through some of the tightest turns (how many G’s do these rental karts pull anyway? Seems like 1G is possible). I even felt a crack and pain when my rib hit the seat on one of the race heats.
Anyway, what are you all doing to prevent rib pain? Rib vest? Working out your core? Driving slower, lol?
I really wanted to get into karting but my ribs cannot tolerate it.
I have a history of multiple rib fracture and bruising over my years of windsurfing... I tried the best rib protector available. It made a huge difference but still probably 50% of the time on the track I would seriously hurt my ribs on a kerb and would be out of commission for 6-8 weeks, not able to kart and even having a hard time biking, sleeping etc. I stopped
Good news is I took 1st place in our amateur race of 17, got to test drive my newly acquired Briggs 206 (Margay Ignite chassis), and had a blast.
Bad news - I keep hurting my ribs! Most of the pain comes from my body just hitting the hard seat edges and from the vibrations of the kart over bumps in the track, and from just hanging on for dear life through some of the tightest turns (how many G’s do these rental karts pull anyway? Seems like 1G is possible). I even felt a crack and pain when my rib hit the seat on one of the race heats.
Anyway, what are you all doing to prevent rib pain? Rib vest? Working out your core? Driving slower, lol?
Please don't try to drive a kart without a vest...you are just asking for injuries if you choose not to use one.
With a rib vest driver comfort goes through the roof and the driving experience is SOO much more enjoyable. I've got a rather inexpensive alpine star vest that does a great job, https://www.alpinestars.com/bionic-rib-support
Starting core training helps too but the vest is a must
Timely update to this thread. We wrapped up our season this past weekend. I really got my act together mid season on and won 5 of the last 7 races to bring home a championship. My brother and I worked together as a team and after some struggles in the beginning of the season he brought home 3rd in the championship.
Timely update to this thread. We wrapped up our season this past weekend. I really got my act together mid season on and won 5 of the last 7 races to bring home a championship. My brother and I worked together as a team and after some struggles in the beginning of the season he brought home 3rd in the championship.
I’ll admit, it probably takes a lot more coordination to drive and win while hitting targets, unless of course, the targets are the other drivers. In which case, I’ll be the sissy and opt out.
Please don't try to drive a kart without a vest...you are just asking for injuries if you choose not to use one.
With a rib vest driver comfort goes through the roof and the driving experience is SOO much more enjoyable. I've got a rather inexpensive alpine star vest that does a great job, https://www.alpinestars.com/bionic-rib-support
Starting core training helps too but the vest is a must
So after having my doctor and sports medicine (chiro) have a look at me, they all believe it’s almost entirely muscle-related. Which makes sense because the single rib pain issue evolved into front, back, and side-to-side pain across the board around my whole mid section. I do remember trying to hold myself in the seat trying to not let my sides hit the seat in the turns. So maybe I caused this
So after having my doctor and sports medicine (chiro) have a look at me, they all believe it’s almost entirely muscle-related. Which makes sense because the single rib pain issue evolved into front, back, and side-to-side pain across the board around my whole mid section. I do remember trying to hold myself in the seat trying to not let my sides hit the seat in the turns. So maybe I caused this
I still stand by the statement that you should have a vest no matter what. Driving with one is eye opening to how the forces are distributed vs targeted. What's really brutal more than just regular driving is when you either hit a curb or when the track really grips up and the kart decides to hop. Those events are sudden and sharp and can hurt even with a vest on.
I'm curious how tight your seat is. Generally if you're hurting yourself that badly you have too big of a seat. They should be almost uncomfortably snug.
05-30-2019, 06:31 PM
