I thought it might be fun to have a meet there this spring summer for the Indiana (guess we could let Ohio & Ky in) guys. The rental karts they have are pretty nice. They're actual racing chassis with a 5 hp Honda. They'll run about 50 mph down the straight. And anyone who wanted to - after proving their proficiency in a rental kart - is welcome to jump in my kart. I had one friend - who considered himself a good driver - try to go straight to driving my kart. After about 2 laps of not being able to keep it on the track, he pulled in and we put him in a rental for 10 minutes. After that, he was fine in a real kart. As someone once said 'Trying to learn to drive a kart in a TaG is like taking driver's training in an IndyCar.'
One interesting thing about karts that most people don't know is that to turn them, you have to be on 3 wheels. Because it's a live axle set up, you have to lift the inside rear going through a turn to keep from scrubbing your tires. The chassis has a lot of flex and the front geometry a lot of Ackerman so it twists when you turn.
One day I asked Dismore about speed perception in a kart vs. an Indycar: He said that a kart at 75 mph feels about like an IndyCar at 220. Things happen so fast it's incredible. You're so close to the ground everything feels sped up.
The whole speed thing is cool, but the best part of karting are the people. Everyone is so nice and helpful - which you need when you first start out. And if you're an ***, you won't be around next year becasue nobody will help you. It's a pretty cool system becasue it keeps all the problem people away. And it's not unusual to have your competitors help you between races if you've got a problem. Sometimes you just don't have time to do it all yourself and the guys in your class are always the first to offer a hand. It definitely attracts a certain type of person (and drives away others).
Here's a few more pics...
Me & Milka Duno - I crewed for her at a race a couple years ago.
This is the start of a big endurance race held here every year. #4 in the middle is Dan Wheldon and there are about a dozen other IndyCar & Nascar drivers in the field.
My kart after the wreck
The wife & I and Eddie Cheever on a race day. Few years ago, I had Tomas Scheckter in the garage to my right, and Eddie Cheever in the garage to my left. Kind of funny since Tomas used to drive for Eddie.
