[Jim Maier]

You might try 206 cadet.  4 stroke.  Min weight is 265#

[Jim Maier]

Sold

[Jim Maier]

They put up a video of the track.  Go straight for a while….sharp turn….go straight even longer….sharp turn…. repeat 4 times.  Why not just hold the event at New Castle and make it a decent track.

[Jim Maier]

[quote quote=75588] What if you had that large field every week at your club? It can happen and it used to be that way. When there wasn’t 30+ dates a year for national races you just raced at home and tracks nearby with a couple big nationals a year. [/quote]

I know they have this at a few distant tracks we go to.  It will be great if anything within 2 hrs of us returns to this, it would be much better than traveling like have to do now.

[Jim Maier]

[quote quote=75551]Patrick, I think we are all on our soap boxes a little. I would really like to see everyones attitude toward rough driving and racecraft change overnoght but it only takes a couple guys to spoil the whole batch of drivers. I have been around karting since 1994, and racing my entire life. my son has been karting now 3 years. We are moving to regional racing just now. In the lower age classes I can say that kids move up way too soon. They may be really fast but the racecraft, maturity and skills to be fast while being safe and in control are not there yet. That doesn’t stop parents, coaches, tuners etc from saying hey Joey is quick lets do PKC or Pro Tour or USPKS. Then that adds the pressure to the kid and the coaching to be tough and stand up for yourself, pass or be passed. All of that feeds into the poor racecraft. WE NEED TO KEEP DRIVERS AT LEVELS OF PROGRESSION LONGER. All us old guys say well it wasn’t that way when i was a kid or starting out but there wasn’t the choice of all the big show races either. people stayed at club and regional IKF (which was a group of a few clubs working together) longer. Everything is so results oriented now that is drives coaches and tuners to demand more so they don’t lose their clients. So do we demand a restructuring? or do we use video and push back bumpers etc? If I never hear the “rubbing is racing” line at the kart track again it will be too soon. Pat, There is my soapbox moment [/quote]

I agree that people need to be ready before tackling national events. If you are not capable of a top ten then you should probably practice some more.  But regarding your comment that younger kids move up way too fast, I don’t see any way around that. I will use my kid as an example. He raced kid karts. Man Cup had Nat’l kid kart racing from 2013 to 2016 for 5 to 8 yr olds.  How can a kid train for 3 years before entering this?  I think a parent just has to decide if they are ready or not. Now he has moved up to Micro. He’ll only get 2 seasons in micro before moving up to Mini where he’ll get another 2 seasons before moving up to Jr where he’ll get about 2 seasons.  So there never is time to train for 3 years before entering into a nat’l series.  You just need to get on the roller coaster and keep pushing.   Right?   The class structure does not allow for it.

Regarding the bumpers.  I am looking forward to seeing how it works out. Replacing front bumpers has never been part of our maintenance between races so I am not worried about my kid beating on rear bumpers.  I am typically calm around the track, I just am not sure how I’d handle losing an event because his bumper got popped in from some other kind of contact, like getting stuffed from behind at the start.  I still prefer actual officiating to determine what was or wasn’t intentional contact, or at least use video review to overrule incidental contact.

[Jim Maier]

Hi Gary, he hit so hard he got ejected out of the kart.  It was ugly.  I think the chassis is shorter because both sides are bent.  One is just bent more than the other.  What do you think?

[Jim Maier]

Bump, still for sale.  $2300 for this kart as-is.  I’ll sell this and the new backup kart for $4400.  You’ll get the kart he competed on this year as well as a brand new identical backup kart that has just two sessions on it.  Both 25mm and 30mm rear axles and hubs.  All PKT parts etc.  2 National caliber karts and all extras for $4400.

[Jim Maier]

I think Helmet mounted cams should not be allowed.  It is obviously the best vantage point, but not safe.  I think kart mounted cameras should be fine. I also think cameras should be required to be tethered since the mounts are so fragile. When they come off the kart the tether should hold it high enough that it does not drag on the track.  I use a mount like this on our karts. it is next to impossible to break and gives great flexibility for positioning – http://www.boemarine.com/ram-mount-strap-base-w-gopro-camera-mount-map-36-13/

[Jim Maier]

I live in MD and have been racing in this area for 3 seasons.  All the local tracks from NY to MD have been named in this thread.  Nicholson is a fun place, very laid back.  If there is nobody else with the same engine as you they’ll put you in a similar class.  It is cheap, like maybe $40.  And you’ll get on the track 5 times.  Get there around 4pm. Practice starts around 5ish.  Let us know how you liked it!  We will miss it this weekend.

[Jim Maier]

The best series in the east!  Can’t wait until next weekend!

[Jim Maier]

Come out to Nicholson Speedway in Chestertown.  You can get a good taste of all kinds of karting.   TAG, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, classic stuff and new stuff. Schedule is on their site http://www.NicholsonSpeedway.com

[Jim Maier]

Our heats were around 7 mins and others were over ten mins.  Not sure about practice.  Race monitor doesn’t show total time.  Races after ours were not shortened.

[Jim Maier]

11 minute final for kid karts.  24 minute final for other classes. I am talking track time.

[Jim Maier]

We race Kid Karts and have actually built the class up to be one of the biggest at the WKA events by encouraging other families to come. But now people are grumbling about track time.  WKA actually made the kid karts laps shorter , and reduced the number of laps.  So the Kid Karts got something like 40% of the track time (less than half) of the other classes yet we had the same overhead to get there and race.  Hoping they increase our track time so people don’t lose interest. WKA is the only game in town for nat’l kid kart racing.

[Jim Maier]

Is there a kart show on tv tonight?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lol j/k.    Anybody within 5 degrees of a person in karting must know about it via facebook.  I found it interesting that none of the racing series have done anything to promote the show or bring attention to it.

[Jim Maier]

Gold cup entry fees are a third of what us 2 smokes pay.  Why is that?

[Jim Maier]

I just downloaded the TruTV app on my ipad and the show was available to me to watch. I have heard lots of people since then having trouble. I would suspect it got pulled because it is not supposed to debut until 1/28.

 

From my PC I can go to TruTV’s site too, find the show and click on it.  It asks me to log into my Directv account to continue.  I don’t know my password so I have not been able to go any further, but it does let me get that far which would imply I can watch it that way too.

[Jim Maier]

I think the thing about “a million dollars” and “$225,000” is part of the editing process.  The guy could have really been saying “We just live in a $225,000 house so we can afford karting”.  And the editors just showed him saying “$225,000”.   There is absolutely no way I would have even found this show if I wasn’t paying attention to the karting scene, so I doubt it will have any affect on the popularity of karting.   I didn’t even know we got TruTV!

[Jim Maier]

Stewart, your summary is what I saw too.  I am looking forward to the next episode.  These reality shows must walk a fine line between keeping it accurate for the enthusiasts, but adding enough drama for the general viewer. I think it is accurate enough to keep our interest, but not sure if it has enough drama for the general viewer. Without general viewership the show won’t survive.

[Jim Maier]

It just seems sprint karting in particular is the most expensive thing going.  I just pulled up all kinds of entry forms online – ama road racing, late models, quarter midgets, legends cars, etc and all are considerably less.  Most have no spectators.  All require the use of a track and professional staff.  Most pay back.  Heck, even the dirt oval kart race at Daytona cost less than half of what the sprint race was, and paid back.  Likely had more overhead too because it ran for longer hours and required track prep.

If I go to a regional race it is the same track rental over 3 days, I park over the same chunk of grass, just as many paid officials (usually staff from the track), same ambulance, same everything really, but fewer entries.  And it is usually about a third the cost of a national race.  Of course nobody is being flown in and put up in hotels for 4 or 5 days.

Assuming staff gets paid the same whether at a regional race or national race, then the only major difference I can see between regional and national is having to bring in and house staff.  What does it take, about 6 people?  So figure about $10k to get them to the race and back, feed them well, and put them in a $150/night hotel.  So if a race has 200 entries then it means $50 of extra overhead per entry. So this realistically explains $50 of it.

I am only teying to talk this out so perhaps we can figure out why our little corner of motorsports is so expensive vs others.  Obviously as prices go up, entrys go down.  As series divide, entrys go down, so prices must go up which means entrys will decline even further.  Can we tell series we want to give up different things to bring the cost down?

[Jim Maier]

Hi David, I have searched through headlines, features, and columns and can’t find anything new.  Where do you post your column?

[Jim Maier]

`I am not sure what you have in GA.  But just north of you at GoPro or at Kershaw you have a bunch of competitive Kid Karters. The turnout at Daytona should be good too as was mentioned.  I know of about 12 of us that will be there.  There will likely be a bunch of new faces too.  Hopefully we’ll have a field of 20.

[Jim Maier]

I keep hearing about “money” and “sponsors” like Bridgestone making us use new tires.   Is there really any money in this sport?  Do events need outside sponsorship?  For what we pay at National events vs what we get, do they really need more money to rent a track for the event?

I don’t see any engine builders really profiting.  Most seem to be a guy that does it part time, or very small mom and pop operations. The small numbers of participants and engines that need working on don’t allow for it to be a big profitable venture.

There is so much unnecessary fat that could be trimmed off a race weekend and ultimately make it more competitive, more profitable, and have much bigger classes.

Bridgestone is a good example.  Why do we need them to be a sponsor? They are going to make tires regardless.  If they won’t somebody else will.  So tires will be avail.  If they are not required then many classes can save $200 a weekend right off the bat.  A sponsor should be injecting money into an event in exchange for displaying their banners and being part of the promotional package.  Not giving a kickback on tires that comes as a major expense to the participants.  I would much rather pay the $20 kickback right to the promoter in higher fees than have to buy tires I don’t need.  So what does a company like Bridgestone really bring to the table?  How are they making an event less expensive for us by being a sponsor?  Nothing against Bridgestone, just using them as an obvious example.

When I look around the sport, I see a lot of people spending money, but nobody really making money.  I think the focus needs to be on reducing the spending to get more people in it.  Standardize a few engines, and then there will be an environment where people can once again really start making money.

I am also a relative newcomer that doesn’t know a damn thing, other than it is crystal clear that this sport needs some serious organization.

[Jim Maier]

Why do they have similar classes like rookie comer and rookie Yamaha?  Why not one or the other?  Having 2 classes means the very competitive kids need to enter both.  It doubles entry fees and reduces track time for all the other classes.  If they combined all of these similar classes it would result in lower costs, be just as competitive, and everybody would actually benefit from more track time.  I am probably missing an obvious reason why they have these duplicate classes, so please let me know.

[Jim Maier]

I don’t think it will be a black eye by an stretch.  But I also don’t think it will make fans or interested people flock to the tracks either.  Karting has way too many more pronounced barriers to entry for this show to matter in that regard.

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