Dirt Oval Beginner Tips

A

alexbowman

New member
Hi Everyone!
I am just getting into the world of karting (haven't even bought my kart yet) and I am looking for as many tips or hints as I can get! My main questions are: What equipment is necessary to get started? What maintenance needs to be done every week to keep the kart running fast? Also what did you wish you had known or someone had told you before you started? And just any other helpful advice that you would like to throw my way!

Thanks in advance to anyone that replies!

P.S. if it helps, ill be racing at Lawrenceburg Motorcycle Speedway (Dirt Oval)
 
IMHO, best thing you can, should, do first is visit a local track, talk to folks there that are racing, see what tips they have, also ask them all the questions , like maybe if they know of good reasonably priced karts, engines, etc. some times you can find real bargains, plus they should be able to give you some help at the track.
 
^ All good advice.
I made a post in your other thread on here.
Biggest questions will be "What motor package do you need?" & "What tires will you need?"
Your sanctioning body & track's rules will dictate this much -- beyond that, it's kind of up to you in how much you want/choose to spend.
A beginner used kart could be found for $1000, or a decent competitive turn-key kart could be had for around $1500. Top of the line, all the latest bells & whistles, brand new equipment will run in the neighborhood of $5000 right now. Keep in mind, that is none of your safety equipment, or spares of anything. I am familiar with the track, (the 'Burg,) and can offer some more advice if needed.

Spend good money on safety equipment, a "decent" chassis, and a competitive engine. Short cuts general yield short results. Not that you need absolute top of the line stuff, but make sure that you are getting something that will compete, or you will quickly lose interest.

I've got a real nice used Phantom Phenom chassis that could be made turn-key for you if you are interested, (and we're not too far from you ~ 3 hours or so and we get to the Creation Museum near Cinci pretty regularly that we could arrange delivery.)
Click to expand...


-----
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
27 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
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By far the biggest thing is to go where your going to race and look around. We have all seen people show up to a track with say an Animal motor when all they run there is clones.
Dont let people up sell their kart with a bunch of used tires.....most will be junk.
If you plan to run clones keep in mind that almost any clone you buy with a kart will need work to be up to date and legal.
 
We just started too, last year was our first season. The summer before we decided to get into karts. I spent several months on here reading everything I could get my eyes on about karts and kart setup. I asked questions and got a lot of good advice. I went to the local tracks and checked them out. I am not a very social person so I did not talk to anyone, but I did walk around the pits and look at what everyone was doing. We found a kart locally on Craigslist for sale. It ended up needing some work, but it was mostly ready to race.
In the first year we had to buy the safety equipment. Helmet, jacket, chest protector, neck support. We also bought some tire prep and extra gears and some different tires. We picked up some used tires from another racer. We built a small trailer to haul the kart, and built a kart stand ourselves.
Over the summer we learned what we needed to carry in the trailer to the races. I carry my 2 mechanics socket sets and a tool box with 2 sets of wrenches, allen wrenches and screwdrivers. We carry an air tank or a small 12 volt air compressor, a flashlight, a magnet for finding dropped parts, and vice grips and pliers. I also carry a couple of hammers and pry bars in case of a wreck and emergency repairs are needed.
For parts we carry extra gears, extra spark plug, a quart of oil, zip ties and duck tape, and an assortment of extra nuts and bolts. I also started carrying extra chain links and extra wheel bearings. Oh, don't forget an extra key for the clutch and flywheel. That was all the parts we thought we would need to carry along the first year. All we ended up needing was some bolts, the spark plug and the gears. The assortment of zip ties worked great too for quick fixes.
I also carried a couple of milk jugs full of water, a wash pan and soap along. The water was used to clean the tires each time off the track, and to wash our hands after handling the tires or working on the kart. A box of rubber gloves, rags and plastic grocery bags was also very helpful. The gloves were used prepping tires, the rags were used for cleaning the mud off the tires and the bags were used for hauling our trash from the track. We also used the bags one night when it started raining to cover the engine.
Every week after the race I change the oil and lube the chain. I don't know if it is necessary to change oil every week, but oil is cheap compared to an engine. I have a small crock pot I got at a garage sale. It holds about 4 cups. I put our used motor oil in the pot and heat it up, then I roll the chain through the hot oil. After leaving it in the oil long enough to heat the chain, I roll the chain through the oil then hang it to drip dry. Other than cleaning the kart good and checking the bearings that is about all that I do routinely every week.
 
"I put our used motor oil in the pot and heat it up, then I roll the chain through the hot oil. After leaving it in the oil long enough to heat the chain, I roll the chain through the oil then hang it to drip dry."

I like your thinking on oil for the chain... Why heat it up?? We were planning on doing the same this year with our chain.. Maybe spray it off with water or solvent (remove dirt) and then let it soak until we prep for racing..
 
Clean off the excess dirt/grime, then drop the chain into a small crock pot full of your favorite elixir. Most will add some paraffin wax to the mixture as well.

Place a small screen about a 1/2" off the bottom of the pot to support the chain.
Heating the chain will cause the metal to expand. As it expands, dirt will fall out (thus the reason for the screen on the bottom.) Oil will be able to better penetrate the pins and rollers while the chain is hot/expanded.
Pull the chain out of the crock pot and let it drip dry (clothes line or similar arrangement.)
As the chain cools, the oil is trapped between the pins and rollers, etc where it needs to be.
Works great.
We still end up spraying our chains at the track before the features each night but you certainly don't need a bunch of chain oil flinging off of your chain and getting into your clutch!


-----
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
27 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
Back up throttle kit / cable, spare set of wheels, standard cotter pin set, nuts and bolts, a few extra hose clamps and at least one back up steering block and tie rod.
 
It would be to your advantage to find a helpful established racer and form a "team," even volunteering to help them with their equipment for a few weeks. That will give you a sense of their routine and a chance to learn via osmosis / hands-on experience. I'd also pick up Todd Godwin's book, and perhaps one or two other books / ebooks. Until you have enough seat time to be a consistent driver on a predictable and fast line, the chassis and tuning will only matter about 75%...You want it good enough to point where you steer it to, and then once you start finding time in chunks of .2-.3 sec instead of 1-5 sec. you can start focusing more on setup. I'd find the baseline for your chassis and leave it at factory recommended settings until you know enough (and how) to change it. I'd spend very little on your hauler until neccesary -- trailers don't win races. I'd spend money on a decent motor -- not national level, not garage bench grinder ported Joe's Special Build. I'd get a rib protector and a Leatt type device. I'd also get racing shoes for better pedal feel. I'm sure others will chime in more... Also, play lots of racing games...they won't teach you squat about karting, but will teach you about consistent lines and timing and keep your reflexes sharp.
 
I forgot to add back on the chain oiling posts, before I drop our chain in the warm oil, I put it in a pan of solvent. I swish I around the solvent then take it out and wipe it through a white shop rag. I do this several times until the shop towel comes out fairly clean. This gets most of the loose dirt and dirty chain oil out of the chain.
I haven't thought about the wax, that is a good idea. The wax in the hot oil will float to the surface, so when you pull the chain out of the oil it will get a coat of wax.
 
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