How much does karting cost you?

[Robert Joe]

Given, you have your kart, tools etc purchased, I am curious how much everyone spends on karting per year. Do you race or just recreational? How much per mile does it cost you to run your kart?

[Oscar Aguilera]

It depends on the series you are running and how far you need to travel.

For a one day event in Houston it is $75 entry that includes one hot meal for the driver. $10 pit pass per person one set of tires in the least expensive category is $105. Gas and oil, 4 gallons with yama lube the lest expensive is $20. a new plug $5 and don't bend anything. Total is $225 with one buddy to help you and you buy his pit pass. Plus gas to the event.

The extreme is an away race with the highest level of competition at a 3 day event.
New tires to practice on $175
Entry fee includes race tires and gas $600
Food for three days if you rough it $60
Food and gas for a one day travel time trip say 500 miles $120 = 4 tanks at $20/250miles and food for the way up and back.
A hotel for two nights (motel6) $100.
New top end in place before you get there. $100
New ring for sat and new top end for sunday $150 including gaskets if replaced one time.
And don't bend anything. Take all the hub variations, axles, extra set of wheels, assuming you own these items. And god forbid you do all that and show up without an extra motor or at least cylinder and head. Then figure what maintenance you will have to do to the kart to prepare for the nest race in the way of replacing things.

Total $1305. I have never broken it down like this and my standard answer is $1500 to $2000 per race that is for an away race.

Even if you figure doing a SWRA race the entry is less but it is two days of racing and you need 2 sets of tires and at least some fairly good practice tires to start on. The difference is 3 sets at $175 = $525 gas at $30 and maybe only a ring for sunday if you are lucky $50 add in the entry at $160 pre entry with $15 pitpass the numbers are very close but travel time and hotel go down.

This is for an 80 or 125

[Tim Doll]

WARNING!
Everyone I've known who kept exacting records of how much they spent on karting has quit .

Ignorance can be bliss

Tim

[Charlie Tackett]

Amen, Tim! Not only that, but posting it here in the open where Stephanie might happen to see it...aaaauuuggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!

[Oscar Aguilera]

I have been doin it for 16 years and that is the first time I ever did a total that close other than to get $$ from my wife. The local scenario is easier to swallow.

[scott berkheiser]

I Road Race so most events are a three days and include travel/hotel. When I was paying the bills It was averaging out around $750 per race weekend.

Scott

[Pat Calhoun]

New tires to practice on $175
Entry fee $125
Food for three days $60
Food and gas $120
Hotel for two nights $200.
New top end $100
New ring for and new top $150

Holding a $15 trophy PRICELESS......

Lets see some return....

[Mike Goebel]

El cheppo weekend.

$50 annual club fee 10 races
$5 per race annual fee
$40 entry fee
$20 gas transportation
$20 gas and oil for kart
$80 1/2 set of tires. 2 races per set

$165/weekend no broken stuff.

10 races per year
$1650

How come my exact tally for the year is:
$4000? Oh ya broken stuff and maintenance.

Mike G

[Kevin Edens]

I asked a friend how much to get my son started oval racing with a Briggs kart. He said $2000.00 dollars would make us competitive on the local level. Five years later he and I were discussing that answer and I told him he forgot to tell me that was $2000.00 dollars a month!!!!!

[Kim Zobbe-Hogdal]

My daughters race mostly locally. Cost breakdowns are:
Annual Dues: $50
($25 per kid)
Entry fee: $900
($25 per class per day--18 days, 2 kids)
Pit pass: $600
$10 per person per weekend
Hotel: $2700
($75 per night per room, since there are 6 of us, we get 2 rooms and stay Friday night even though we could make the 2.5 hour drive Saturday morning to save $$ if we had to)
Hotel/track food: $675
(probably $75 over what we would spend to eat at home per weekend)
Tires: $1200
(3 sets per year, per kid to last 9 weekends and Rock Island)
Parts: $300
(those darn kids always break something)
Rock Island Expenses: $1000
(Our one "big" race, icludes all expenses)
Total about $7425 for both girls
I know my husband "hides" some expenses from me--but this is the best I can come up with. To put it all in perspective I have one daughter who quit karting and is a competitive gymnast. Her expenses are about $5500 per year for one kid--karting is a better bargain--teehee.
Seriously though, I've been around racing since I was 6 years old (my dad raced SCCA, I married a SCCA/IMSA driver, who gave it up to crew for the girls, and now the girls are racing) and I have never had so much fun as we have had with the karting. What a fun thing to do as a family.
Kim www.BeatTheBoys.com

[Rich Eisgruber]

I just race at the local level, 1 day events
its just a rough estimate but I probably spend $2500-3000 for about 16 races not including bent parts. this year was cheap only about $500 so far I still have 2 races left this year

[Bob Chiras]

Karting is a bargain.

A F2000 team budget to just be in the series was $250,000.

For a NASCAR Modified the budget was $350,000

If you spend $8,000 karting on a regional basis or $30,000 on a national basis you have just received the biggest bargain in racing.

Karting provides more seat time than any other form and it achievable by a family. Most other forms of racing are no really warm to the whole family being around.

[Dave Ridenour]

My husband and I only race local club stuff, although we did add going to Rock Island this year. So far we have spent just over $4000 - this includes all the babysiter fees (we have 2 young ones that are too small to bring since both of us race and would be unable to watch them), food that we bought because we were too tired or it was too late to make something, entry fees, gas, broken part replacements, oil, tires, lodging for Rock Island, 2 motor rebuilds, one new motor ($250) since we tried a new class this year, and there were a few race days that one of us ran 2 classes. The only thing we didn't include is the gate fee $3 /person /race and the pit pass fee $7 /person /race, which is waved since we do pre-tech. So for 11 club races and 1 street race for 2 people we spent less than many people spend doing national and / or regional stuff for 1 person. We do still have 1 club race to go to add to our total, but that will be less than $100. We also can cut out about $1000 from that total since both of us work at our local track during the national and regional events throughout the year.
April Ridenour

[John Burgess]

Robert, Sometimes the money outlay depends where you are in the points chase. It is I fact that it costs more to run up front. I would break the cost down two ways:

1)Actual out of pocket monies

$35 entry
$ 7 extra pit pass
$ 8 Race gas/oil
$30 Food/sodas/water
$20 Hauler gas & tolls
$10 Misc nuts, bolts, chemicals

$ 110 out of pocket

2) Actual plus deferred monies

$35 entry
$ 7 extra pit pass
$ 8 Race gas/oil
$30 Food/sodas/water
$80 ¼ engine rebuild
$ 7 ½ carb kit
$45 dry clutch disk
$20 Hauler gas & tolls
$10 Misc nuts, bolts

$ 322 true cost

As for price for lap, I don’t worry about that, just measure the fun you are having. Even after the most frustrating day, when you are towing home you can’t help thinking about the next race, and how you are going to go faster.
I keep all my receipts in folders, but have never added them up. Plus like a lot of other people my side business covers some of the costs as advertising, rerair/maint, etc write offs. My wife does not know the cost and has never asked, she sees the fun I am having. (When adding up the dollars I realized my wife smokes and just rough numbers that can be $ 1,800 a year, but I will keep that fact to myself, as you know how smokers are about their right to smoke!) She still can’t figure out why being up the night before a race prepping karts, building engines, and stressing out is fun.
The next point is scaling up your operation, I run three karts on a weekend so in theory I am getting better value for my race dollar. (Divide the actual by the number of karts)Not really , just sounds nice, but it is cheaper to add a second kart after you have bought your first one.

Happy Karting
JohnB

[Robert Brooks]

Was that really in 1978?? wow, in today's dollars that would be close to 100k? I think for 100K, I would be racing something different than a 100cc Kart.