Karting 101

scottIN

Since I've had a few members contact me about karting & since a Z is pretty damn close to a kart compared to most cars, thought I'd do a little write up on it. I'll focus on sprint racing since that's what I do, but there is also dirt oval, oval and road race (long course).

Sprint karting is divided up into classes - usually by engine type (100 cc, 125 cc, shifter, etc.). Some engines have their own class (for example, Yamaha). The chassis are pretty much open, with most of them coming from Italy. Classes are further divided by age, with the youngest being kid karts (5-7 year olds) then juniors, seniors and masters. I race in the masters class (not a skill designation - just 35+). I actually didn't start racing until I was 35 (6 years ago).

First, let me say that these aren't toys - they're real racing machines. Being where I am just outside of Indy, I get the chance to race against IndyCar drivers like Ed Carpenter, Jay Howard, Tomas Scheckter, Scott Dixon and the late Dan Wheldon. These guys race karts on their off weekends. If you've ever gone to a kart rental place, most of those are 5 hp karts. The one I run is 26 hp. There's a difference...

And speaking of the type of kart, the class I run is TaG (which stands for Touch and Go). It's a 125 cc, water cooled single speed with an on-board starter. It's the second fastest class behind shifters (40+ hp and 5 gears). Here's a pic.


One of the first questions everyone asks is cost. You can get started with a used TaG kart for around $3,000 or so for something fairly current. If you want new, top of the line equipment, plan on spending north of $10,000. Then you've got fuel, tires, safety gear, etc. I know guys running karts that, with travel, are spending upwards of $100,000 / yr. And no matter how good you are, sponsorships are next to impossible to come by-maybe some free parts here & there or buying things at dealer cost, but you'll never make a living karting.

One of the biggest shocks for me was the working on them part. I figure it's about 3 hours work for every 1 hour of track time. You're pushing these things to the edge and crap breaks all the time. You have to love to wrench (or hire someone that does). It's not a 'get in and drive' type of deal. Here's a couple of photos of my garage at the track (our track has rental garages for the season) and my off-season shop where I an tear everything down over the winter. You'll notice two karts - one of them is my wife's.





I'll do a part two at some point covering things like the people, the exhilaration, safety and some other things, but if you have any questions, ask away...