[Troy Berry]

Holy smokes, three to six hundred for blowdown? You should be able to get that much cheaper when you come to the great state of Nevada for the Supernats! (sorry, couldn’t help myself, too easy. Lol)

[Troy Berry]

Drew,

welcome to your new obsession! lol Check out the Blue Max Kart Club.

http://www.bluemaxkartclub.com/

They run a great program in Davis. Anything from  shifter classes and  tag, yamaha and KPV and Clones. Great bunch of folks.  Nothing helps more than to go to a race and talk everyone’s ear off and see what looks good to you. Banging gears on a dirt bike  is not much different than a shifter so try to get a couple of different rides before you decide. Have a blast and come to Reno sometime. We have one of the wildest and fun tracks in the west!

[Troy Berry]

I was not trying to beat up on Skusa for their ambition. I think most of my observations have been backed up with the other comments. I give Tom  and his team full credit for making the effort and doing what they do for us in Karting. As far as my hale bales comment and plastic karting barriers and RIPG,  I was being a little biased by my limited knowledge on the subject. Upon review I see they are no longer using hay bales  at RIGP.  We use the Scribner style barriers at our track in Reno in conjunction with hay bales. I thought this was how most outdoor tracks used them.  The plastic takes the 1st hit and then the bales absorb and disperse  the energy as the plastic collapses into them.   More give to the whole system. But at out track if your into the barriers, you are likely way off  line and off the pavement, so karts grazing or bouncing off them and back on line isn’t necessarily  the objective. I too would not want karts plowing directly into hay bales if it can be avoided.

[Troy Berry]

I think Tom needs to add one more race to the national schedule to complete the national series. Start the year with the Winter Nationals in Florida. An obvious choice, most big teams are already running the FWT. Or Mooresville. There is your East coast race in February or March. Then on to the Spring Nationals in the Middle part of the country. Texas or Colorado seemed to work. Then the Summers on the west coast. Ariz, Cali, or Utah. Then off to the one and only USA Party town for the finals. Just a thought!

[Troy Berry]

I am going to throw in a few observations. We came from Reno on Sunday afternoon to watch the finals and support our local drivers from the Northern Nevada Kart Club who were racing. I am the track announcer at our local club. I grew up racing Macs on Bugs, a few years ago I raced Tag Masters  at our club, and now my 11 year old races a Cadet Clone in our local  club.  I went to the Supernat’s last year for the 1st time to watch and we had a Skusa race in Reno a few years ago as part of the NorCal series.  These are the only Skusa races I have attended, so I really don’t  have much experience or background with this series. These are just my thoughts from a semi informed spectators perspective.

I made a point of watching and talking to the locals to gauge their reaction to the whole thing.  The whole event had a cool vibe to it for sure. The drivers were screaming down the city streets  and it was loud, fast and exciting.  It was obviously a “pro” level race for Karting. Which for the casual observer or even an interested kid and parent was also the 1st problem. If you are trying to bring karting to the masses, then this was a hard sell way to do it. Sure it brought out more spectators, but how many of them would think they could jump in and do it at this level.  If you had never seen karting before , this race might really intimidate a family from wanting to join in. Didn’t they at least have some concession karts in Lancaster for local dignitaries to play on. How would an average family feel that they could get into this sport based upon this experience?

Which brings me to my second point. What was up with charging so much extra  for a pit pass and having the pits and grid so far removed from  public view.  This did not give the average person a chance to talk to teams or even see what goes on behind the scenes. Maybe a national event is not the place for this, but they make it easier at the Supernats.

As far as the racing, it looked (and proved to be)very dangerous to me as an experienced racer, let alone to the casual observer. Not really  the image or condition for the masses to think, “hey, I want to race or get my kid involved.  Other motor sports enthusiast  for sure, but a newbie family would be very intimidated if they didn’t know how we race and work with the kids out at the clubs.  The track was exciting but it looked way too narrow to me, with the barriers right up against each other and the curbs on most corner exits. No room for any give, no margin for error.  If you overcooked it, you were done.  Also, the orange water barriers that were used had a bad profile for the size of kart tires. It was clear  karts were climbing up on them if they made any contact at speeds. Just really unfortunate geometry there.  Didn’t see any hay bales except behind barriers, up against poles.  I see a lot of  bales at RIGP.  The other thing I noticed, I’m guessing due to some of the fairly narrow streets, was the problem of crowning. As the karts were transitioning across the obvious crowning as they changed direction in the corners, it would upset the karts.. Although the surface was pretty smooth, this would un weight a lot of karts as they went through the corners. You could really see the heads bobbing around a lot. It was clear on corner exit that many lost their grip and bounced into the barriers.

I really hope this kind of event can continue to happen on the West coast, but with a few tweeks for sure. Better bleachers and viewing areas,  lower  and more crossover bridges would help from a spectators perspective.

 

[Troy Berry]

I would like to say best of luck to the drivers from Reno this weekend.  Aiden Hawkins and Beck Marshal in Tag Cadet, Keven Marshall in Tag Masters and Skusa 2013 Supernats podium finisher Jess Peterson in Tag Senior. One of the small side stories worth mention is the return of the American made Invader kart to the “big stage” in US Karting.  Cole Nelson, son of legendary Invader founder Jeff Nelson has revived the brand at the new Nevada Kartsport shop in Reno Nevada. The Nevada Kartsport team will be there and Aiden Hawkins will run the only American made chassis in Tag Cadet. Look for Aiden to be fast right out of the trailer, this kid can get up on the wheel.  Look for the other Reno drivers to be fast as well. Safe racing to all our drivers from the Northern Nevada Kart Club and all the drivers this weekend.

 

[Troy Berry]

I’m going to add Northern California/Nevada. We have the Lake Tahoe ski resorts, several tracks within 2 hours in Reno, Sacramento, and the Bay Area.

[Troy Berry]

Mac 91. It  was 1972, Don’s raceway in Wichita Ks.  I was 10.

 

 

[Troy Berry]

When I was racing a Tag a few years back, I found the Ribtech Carbon Deep seat was the way to go for me. A little harder to get in and out of, and I even added some Tillet style 1/2 padding to snug it up a little more. I am tall and skinny, so I was always sliding around and coming down on the edge of the traditional style seats and tearing up ribs. (we have a blind 90 deg drop off corner on our track)Once I got the Ribtech I was good to go, the seat would hold me firm in the corners with no slipping around. I found my arms and legs were able to relax once I got a seat that held me in place.  It completely revolutionized my ability to drive and be comfortable in the kart.

I never had heel bars on my Arrow, but I made a set for my son’s cadet Topkart. As we were talking about them yesterday, he told be he likes them because he can brace his heels on them in the corners, transfering the leverage up his leg against the butt of the seat. Keen observation from a 10 year old! Must be why they are standard on all the newest chassis.

[Troy Berry]

I bought one for my 10 year old son. He really likes it, and I really like it.  Superior protection compared to a foam collar for keeping the head from straining the neck in case of roll over or a hard hit. My son actually had a flip last year. It was all caught on Go pro from a trailing kart, and although his head or neck position was never compromised, The brace kept everything nice and in line. I won’t let him go on the track with out it, period.

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