January Commentary - Discussion

[David Cole]

Hello EKN viewers,

A new program has been introduced to EKN and will be a regular monthly fixture on the site - our EKN Commentary. This month, David Cole looks at road racing and the decline in numbers and racers.

To view the article, click http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=7431

To discuss the issue, please post below and remember to follow the EKN Forum guidelines.
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David Cole
News Desk Manager
eKartingNews.com
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[Chris Hegar]

Well put.. Juniors are the future, I hope we can safely bring them into the mix and keep them there.

[Jeffory Mott]

I agree it would be a shame to lose road racing but I dont think it is time to throw in the towel just yet. We still have a hard core group of racers who support and love this style of racing. The loss of Daytona in December was a kick in the but not a bullet in the head. I also agree we need to be proactive in growing the numbers of road racers. The sprint drivers I know who come to the SKC events at Roebling Road love the higher speeds and strategy of road racing. They will always be welcome. The laydown classes are where I see limited growth. I came back to drive laydowns after a very long absence because I loved doing it when I was younger and driving on the tracks of my hero's was a big plus. I will support this style of racing until I cant do it anymore. I am more than willing to help anyone who wants to get into road racing, as are most of the members of the Souther Kart Club. The question is how do we get our message out?

[Thom Andresen]

Very nice article and I wholeheartedly agree.

I am a karting newbie (56 yrs old) who never owned a kart prior to last year and didn't know much about the various karting classes. I had owned motorcycles for the last 40 some years, mostly raced motocross and enduro off road and am getting too old for that now physically

I went out and purchased a new Rotax RM1 with my limited kart knowledge and have been racing on sprint (RMAX Challenge and local races) and road race tracks (WKC & SKC) and became a licensed member of these fine organizations. My experiences have all been very positive to date, great people, great tracks, great karting adventures and lots of good clean fun.

I absolutely love road racing! To me it is difficult to believe that I can have so much fun without getting arrested and thrown in jail. I had never even seen an Enduro kart before and am completely enthralled with them (took some great video of their races too).

I always try to get my Sprint friends to come out to the RR tracks but not all of them take up the invitation, but those that do have a serious smile in their minds eye on the way home from the RR tracks.

I got a helmet camera and took some excellent videos and have shared same with many karters and nonkarters. This has generated allot of interest and helped get a couple of newbies to come check it all out.

I'm hoping to spend some time compiling my Road Race cockpit videos into a limited DVD movie production to share with more of the people in our Sprint Karting group to try to get them to come out and try Road Racing.

I'd like to thank the WKA and SKC for their hard work in making all this possible!
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I spend my money on hunting, racing, women, and whiskey - the rest I waste.

[Brent Harper]

Great article David!! I agree totally about the juniors. As you know I came back to karting after a 13 year absence through some friends who were Road Racing. I was instantly hooked... Much more laid back than when I used to race the WKA Sprint Nationals and extemely competitive as well. I have talked to many people who are tired of Sprinting but don't really know much about RR. That has been changing on this site and I want to thank you guys for trying to help promote the RR segment of karting. I also think the sprint based classes are going to bring in more entries.... Wether you race laydowns or Sprint in RR we have to look to the future of RR... Not at what I necessarily want but what will help grow this awsome sport..

I have a Cadet on the way for the younger Redhead!!
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SWISS HUTLESS SWISS I/CMC ROTAX

[Talon Craft]

nice article dave!! i totaly agree. this was my first year running the road racing and i loved it. i know i loved being able to run the big tracks that the pros race on and what you see on tv. i was very sad when daytona did not come back this year but hopefully it will soon. i just hope more people look at road racing for a new and interesting oppertunity like i did.
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"football, soccer, and golf only takes one ball. Racing takes two."

Wildkart 125cc

[Sheldon Birmingham]

CLearly the east coast guys are reeling from the loss of two races. I am not sure if this loss signals the impending doom of kart raodracing. However I do hope it serves a rally cry for growth of this sport.

I wonder if the problem is not kart road racing but road racing as a whole. I attended the SCCA runoffs this year. I was impressed by the event. It was the 1st SCCA race that I have attended in a number of years. My impression is that thier 's are down also.

I have stated many times that:
Kart roadracing suffers an identity problem. How many times do we just not bother to explain karts & then what roadracing is?

A lot of AMericans don't know what roadracing is. If I mention racing, they ask me about NASCAR. I was in downtown Indy during an F1 weekend & interviewed by local TV who was trying to explain F1 to Indy. THis was in the 2nd or 3rd year there. If Indy needs an explanation of raodracing & doesn't know what F1 is, the rest of us might suffer an identity problem.

I don't own a track. I wish that I did. If I win a big lottery, My life's work will be building & running my own roadcourse. But I am unsure of what it takes to keep the doors open to a track. Costs are certainly going up. I don't know if a track is seeing the revenue form a bigger, pro-type event w/ TV & spectators and charging the rest of us, or costs are going up to brreak even. I thnk that they need to understand that karts don't do much damage to a track & that a booked date is better promotion for the track than if it is sitting empty.

I don't roadrace to race karts. I race karts to raodrace. My 125 shifter & open laydown should presernt respectable performane for any type of racing. I have room in my garage & I can almost afford it. I cruised the pits @ the Runoffs & saw something I'd like to race everywhere I looked. I just wasn't sure how I could afford to race it.

The SCCA survives not because it is a national club w/ one set of rules, but because of the legions of people who are fanatical about the cars & roadracing who are dedicated to running & promoting the events & the sport as a whole.

Karts don't hve that passion beyond the racers. I think it is because there isn't loyalty to an Emmick, Coyote, DAP of CRG like there is to a Mustang, Formula Ford, Jaguar or Corvette.

I don't know about the motorcycles, but I suspect that they'd like more #'s also.

I can't see where a drifting car or street tuner is any cheaper, more fun or offers a better driving experience than a roadrace kart.

Karts do still offer quite a viable motorsports option. IKF, WKA & KART all need to work to keep classes that will be raced, as much concsistency as possible & racing as inexpensive as possible. The various facets of raodracing all need to work together to promote this type of racing. And the organizations, the shops, the race promotors, the tracks & especially the racers themselves need to take charge of something they can do to promote the sport.

There are many positive aspects to roadracing karts. Let's keep an eye on what is working & enhance it. No matter where you are in this country, there is a place to race them. Maybe there's an airport or air base or natural road course somewhere jsut waiting to happen. Road racing seemed to thrive in the 60's. It seemed that there were a lot of enterprising people making it happen, it sounded fun & people showed up to participate. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box to make it happen now.

It might not seem ideal that there isn't a Daytone or VIR this year. Don't prescribe to the Tony George mentality of racing that the trackmakes the sport. THere are too many people & entities involved w/ racing, let's all work so that the sport makes the track, go find soem options & make what works happen for all of us.

[Bernie Adamson]

David,
excellent article and hopefully one where people will start to take notice.

I really was and still am torn wether i should put a reply up here but like you i truly love Road Racing so here goes :

I found your "Cadet" section amusing...I really liked your “They are too young to be on a track over a mile long.”quote....I really cannot put it any simpler than by saying this :

Road Racing as we all know it in AMERICA will NOT survive without these kids..PERIOD !!!

So Ladies and Gents you have two choices, adapt and embrace the changes or RR is going to die...your choice !!!

At VIR in December 2006 we had Cadets run RR on the full course all 3.27 miles of it...Incidents ZERO...seeing this picture PRICELESS...




Again im going to say it : Road Racing as we all know it in AMERICA will NOT survive without these kids..PERIOD !!!


Lastly,
There is going to be a VIR this year...its December 14-16...its over the Grand East Course...No its not a WKA National but it is going to be fun.
Why not come and try it ?????
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Bernie Adamson
WWW.USKGP.com

An excellent man; he has no enemies; and none of his friends like him.
Oscar Wilde

[Debbie Kuntze]

Great article.

One thing here on the west coast that contributed is lack of support from kart shops. (NW still has some but basically none in SoCal) They found the money in sprint, road racing doesn't send them a motor or clutch rebuild every month or so.

And most definitely not having juniors. Need to get them in at least at 10 years of age would be much more beneficial than having to wait until 13. Dad an junior can't play together right now in road racing so they are lost to sprint or speedway.

Laguna Seca and California Speedway's Autocourse will not see karts this year either! Those are two more you can add to the list of being lost
(Although there is some behind scenes work to get kart on at Fontana with a car group-keep fingers crossed)
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Debbie Kuntze
kart9899@aol.com
www.uskgp.com

[Larry Dobbs]

Debbie are you saying there will be no superkarts at Laguna in 2007?

[Debbie Kuntze]

Unfortunately true.
All the races have no time left on schedule. Track called last week to inform us. They will call if any of them get space. All the groups running now have so many of their own support races, tehre is no place to squeeze in.
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Debbie Kuntze
kart9899@aol.com
www.uskgp.com

[David Williams]

David, you've hit the nail on the head on so many topics here I just don't even know where to start... one thing pops up in particular: death of clubs through attrition and no new members.

My own experience is through putting my foot in my mouth about forming a club (Southern Kart Club) and having to follow through on making it happen properly. We were running under the Southern Road Racing Series banner - I've been a regular for around 14 years, can't get enough of it. Sad to say, the series was falling apart where it just couldn't sustain itself anymore. Worse yet, our "core group" was starting to get burnt out, and we could read the handwriting on the wall about the end.

We face the same issue you mention re: TaG mentality. SRRS was successful in attracting the occasional new member, but very few of those (there are some notable exceptions) were willing to put forth an effort to help out the Race Promotor. I got a few comments about my tasks (I ran SRRS's scoring system) - "Man, that sucks that you have to sit up there. Why don't you just let someone else do it and come party/race/shoot the **** with us?" I did not know, and still do not know, how to respond to that question. I did it BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WOULD!

I am happy to report that the "core group" expanded greatly when we changed the structure. Instead of a kart shop promoting the event, we got together and formed a club. Yep, that's when I put my foot deeply in my mouth and got myself elected president. Now I'm not only responsible for the T&S system, but I have to ride herd on a batch of BOD members to make decisions. Thankfully, they are all pulling in the same direction, and we've had some small measure of success with SKC's SRRS events over the last year and a bit. Enough, I hope, that the club is not going to wither and die on the vine. The racing is good, the track is excellent since the new paving job, the people are the salt of the earth - genuine great racers with passion about what they do.

Let me put it to everyone in cold hard facts. I'd rather sit quietly (or not so quietly, as the case may be) in my pit and work on the kart. However, the situation demands more of that from me. If you're wondering why your local club or series may be suffering, it may be that you're needed to help out. Try offering your help at ANY portion of your local club's events. I can just about guarantee, if your club is like SKC, that you will be thanked with open arms and put to work. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE DO THIS, YOU MIGHT ONLY HAVE TO WORK FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS, TOPS.

For an amazing demonstration on how that can work, go attend a SCCA Auto-cross event. The drivers from those events man the course to look for knocked over cones, line up the starts, check the timers, etc. It's pretty amazing.

I'll get off my soapbox now. There's an opinion from a racer like you, who is stuck on the other side of the fence.

-Dave

[Nick Weil]

I agree with Dave wholeheartedly. SCCA and most small independent Autocross Clubs know how to run an event so that no one leaves the event overworked.

It's a system that would go a LONG way in karting both Sprint and Road Racing.
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Nick Weil
Authorized Rotax Service Center and Dealer since 2002
2004 Team USA Rotax Worlds Finals DD-2 Driver

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[Kris Zimmerman]

This one is very tough to respond to. Through my karting career I have done both RR and sprint and beleive that both are important. Some of my greatest racing memories are from RR back in the late 80's. I started RR in sprint karts, it was fun. When we bought a laydown, that was it, no going back to a sprint kart on the long tracks.

Why do I sprint race now? Dad and I couldn't see spending the money on a laydown kart when it is a dying breed here in the NW. Sorry guys but my pockets aren't deep enough to build something that may end up hanging on the wall. I may end up showing up at the RR's in my stock 125 someday...........Chris have you built that sprague hub for the 50mm axle yet? I would prefer to laydown, it's the only way to fly!! I'm sorry for those that have not experienced the long freight train drafting of a RR. You really can feel and hear the air change around you.

The club thing.......................Not going there, we all have reasons for doing what we do. That gets too personal and opens the door for bashing.


Kris

[Todd Bellew]

I haven't posted in a while. So I'm jonesing.


Two quick points. SCCA has held some very important races and still does. This attracts people in a way karting never will. SCCA track workes are volunteer and love it. So there is a little difference in standing in a corner of a famous road racing track watching real sport cars professionals race and being on the back forty of a track already in the back forty watching endless classes of 6 karts.

Also, with Juniors being our future. Everyone sit down. I'm not so sure. Here's why, if this were Motocross I might agree. I've seen kids race for many years( longer than three, see where I'm going) and when they are done racing are still active riding motorcycle.

Unitl karting gets over it in ability to retain racers I see no logic in saying Juniors are the future. Johnny starts at seven and is done forever on an avergage of three years. This is no different than a 30 year old starting and quitting three years later.


As far as road racing. It seems pretty evendent(probably why it's not discussed). Shifter and TAg sit ups. Quit going for three days, reduce classes and go for two days(the weekend). With reduced classes track time is the same.
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Thank You,
Todd Bellew