Just Getting Started...

VarNyxKhaos

New member
Sooo I'm brand new here & was directed by a Pro Cart racer I chatted with, I'm looking to in the next year or so getting into Real Cart Racing. What are some of your best tips for up-and-coming Racers that want to actually get into it for real instead of just paying to rent a cart every weekend to beat everyone's records over & over again??
I could really use some tips, some info, how best to get into it from the starting point, how to find the best tracks cuz I'm stuck in the middle of Arkansas and having a lot of trouble finding some real ones other than the rent a cart semi pro but family fun track w 60mph carts in Branson.

A little background; my mother was training to be a stock car driver in her early 20s & she taught me to drive. I've been ATV racing w friends since I was a kid & always had a need for speed, but for family reasons was never actually allowed to get into the real thing.. Soo I'm at a 32yr old late start disadvantage.. I've been racing at the Xtreme Speedway In Branson for 6yrs, constantlybreaking records on 60mph carts & desperately want to gt into the real thing..
 
Welcome . Branson - you may have too travel some .
The thing is until you find a local track you wont really know where they are .
Hopefully some one down that way will chime in .
You been on asphalt . So most tracks are going too be dirt oval .
Find a track go too a few events . A buy out would be best . Buy a name brand , nothing too old and suitable for the type racing you will be doing .
Left turn only (LTO) or sprint (Straight rail) .
 
Look at the region specified for tracks on here... Go to the tracks and find out what they are running as far as chassis, engine, tires, ect. Then more than likely a local guy will have a descent buyout for you to get started.
 
Sooo I'm brand new here & was directed by a Pro Cart racer I chatted with, I'm looking to in the next year or so getting into Real Cart Racing. What are some of your best tips for up-and-coming Racers that want to actually get into it for real instead of just paying to rent a cart every weekend to beat everyone's records over & over again??
I could really use some tips, some info, how best to get into it from the starting point, how to find the best tracks cuz I'm stuck in the middle of Arkansas and having a lot of trouble finding some real ones other than the rent a cart semi pro but family fun track w 60mph carts in Branson.

A little background; my mother was training to be a stock car driver in her early 20s & she taught me to drive. I've been ATV racing w friends since I was a kid & always had a need for speed, but for family reasons was never actually allowed to get into the real thing.. Soo I'm at a 32yr old late start disadvantage.. I've been racing at the Xtreme Speedway In Branson for 6yrs, constantlybreaking records on 60mph carts & desperately want to gt into the real thing..
So Im about an hour and 15 minutes from Branson towards the Joplin area. Are you interested in dirt oval?

If so, I HIGHLY recommend Twister Alley Raceway in Butterfield, MO.

I dont know of any non dirt oval tracks in the SWMO/NWA area. Depending on the drive you might look in the Memphis/Jonesboro/Little Rock areas. Most of everything around here is all dirt oval, but there may be something a little further south Ive never heard of.
 
I'm actually feeling quite disappointed so far :/ I'm used to the Actual Multi turn, hairpin, straightaways, wide turns & such at 60mph, not the crappy little 30mph fun ones.. And when I called the twister track & the TriPod track I was actually laughed at by the owners because they said Real Carting ONLY has Left Turns, don't use shifters, and there's no such thing as Pro Carting with multi direction turning & hairpins & such...

That's the kind of racing I enjoy & just going in a circle would be boring without using track mobility to overtake the other drivers & such...

I was also laughed at when I told them I was told the cart I was looking at goes 200mph (A 2020 Slack Pursuit) & that real racing carts ONLY go 75mph Max, and they ONLY Turn Left??

Can I PLEASE get some clarification on what I'm hearing here.. :/
 
The main track I was looking at is JPR Speedway in OK (only 100 miles from me, I live in Springdale AR)... and it's just the kind of track I'm interested in Racing.
 

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You are thinking of skusa stuff right there. No kart will go 200mph. Just not happening. Superkarts go over a 100 and guess what they are nothing like that slack you mentioned. If that is what you want to race be prepared to drop over 10k on 1 kart. For that track you will need a straightrail and a rulebook before you decide on engine.

There is a sprint forum on here but majority of us race dirt oval. That slack you mentiomed is a oval LTO or left turn only chassis.
 
I'm actually feeling quite disappointed so far :/ I'm used to the Actual Multi turn, hairpin, straightaways, wide turns & such at 60mph, not the crappy little 30mph fun ones.. And when I called the twister track & the TriPod track I was actually laughed at by the owners because they said Real Carting ONLY has Left Turns, don't use shifters, and there's no such thing as Pro Carting with multi direction turning & hairpins & such...

That's the kind of racing I enjoy & just going in a circle would be boring without using track mobility to overtake the other drivers & such...

I was also laughed at when I told them I was told the cart I was looking at goes 200mph (A 2020 Slack Pursuit) & that real racing carts ONLY go 75mph Max, and they ONLY Turn Left??

Can I PLEASE get some clarification on what I'm hearing here.. :/
Well, depending on who you talked to at twister, I doubt that he was laughing at you so to speak, most likely was getting a chuckle out of the conversation. Chip and Tony are both really great guys and wouldn't do that to be an insult at all.

For the Oval stuff, we dont use shifters as we dont need them. They also may not have understood what you were looking for or referring to with "pro carting".

I would challenge you to try the oval stuff on a real track sometime, its much more interesting than it looks.

I dont know of any kart that would be raced that goes 200mph. About the fastest I know of is 120mph and thats on places like Daytona or Charlotte. Most karts that those two track owners deal with would top out around 75 or 80 because you run out of gear.

Try to get with those guys in Oklahoma if youre looking for road course stuff, they should be able to get you going in the right direction.
 
You are thinking of skusa stuff right there. No kart will go 200mph. Just not happening. Superkarts go over a 100 and guess what they are nothing like that slack you mentioned. If that is what you want to race be prepared to drop over 10k on 1 kart. For that track you will need a straightrail and a rulebook before you decide on engine.

There is a sprint forum on here but majority of us race dirt oval. That slack you mentiomed is a oval LTO or left turn only chassis.
What is Skusa? A straight rail? And soo I was right? There IS real cart racing that goes on multi turn high speed tracks w highpowered carts & hairpin turns??
 
And just being realistuc here no kart is going to turn at 60mph unless your are on a big and i mean big banked oval. Super karts usa division. Its the top tier of sprint racing in america. Outside of that you will mostly find clubs that have certain rules for what engines and tires you can race. If superkarts is what you are lookinf at be prepared to spend spend spend because those big teams are hard to beat.
 
Straight rail chassis are for left and right turns. They will outdo an Lto every day on a multi turn course. Go pop over to the sprint forum and start asking questions.

First thing, they are Karts. Not carts.
 
What is Skusa? A straight rail? And soo I was right? There IS real cart racing that goes on multi turn high speed tracks w highpowered carts & hairpin turns??
Highpowered is relative.

Just for reference, the city of branson has laws against karts going over 45mph. They had to do that after somebody died on one. I dont remember the circumstances but it was some after hours shenanigans and a kid ended up dead. They might be advertised as 60mph but you basically never hit that speed. (or at least they used to)

Hairpins are over rated, they just tear stuff up.
 
Straight rail chassis are for left and right turns. They will outdo an Lto every day on a multi turn course. Go pop over to the sprint forum and start asking questions.

First thing, they are Karts. Not carts.
Sorry about that, my fones autocorrect is annoying as hell.
Soo, sprint Karting is what I'm looking for then?? And sprint? Doesn't just mean a high speed straightway?
And yahh, I had never heard of them going faster than 85mph until today when talking to that seller that directed me to this site, so I was shocked, excited & blown away all at once. Lol
I'm just trying to get myself going & find out where to start & all the basics I need. Soo I guess I need to look for a StraightRail Sprinting Cart??
 
Im a dirt guy so i couldnt tell you much about them but if thats what you wamt to do then yes that is the style chassis you will be looking for. Margay, tonykart, and crg are the only brands i know of but there are more out there.

Best thing you could do for yourself is go to different tracks and get a feel for it. Imo dirt is way more fun and forgiving on your body. And its usually cheaper from what I have seen
 
And on the topic of mph when my cousins raced over 10 years ago they went to a bigger asphalt oval. Believe it was a 1/3 mile but not sure. Definetely bigger than a 1/4 and he was clocked at 98mph on a qualifying run. Single cylinder briggs animalon methanol and he was probaly all of 430lbs in the kart.
 
Soo, wats really bothering me is the oval track vs multi turn type tracks, I've raced both with the low speed 30mph & the bigger Karts & im always super bored on the ovals cause the other drivers moves are too predictable & after 5 laps in 1st place from starting last I'm just like, ok, is this gonna be over yet, I'm bored. Lol.

I enjoy outwitting, out maneuvering & predicting other drivers moves & drifting past them around a calculated turn or using their failure on a hairpin to my advantage, or pulling up between a couple combatting drivers on a straight away & blasting past them once I know how the drivers move & react. Its soo different each time w diff drivers & learning them on the 1st lap & then out racing them...
Does it feel Anything like that on just a single turn, one direction, over & over again, left turn track? Am I looking at it wrong??
 
Your still stuck in the rental kart mindset. You may think your good but your only as good as your competition. Those things are meant for anyone to be able to drive them. If you think your going to go out and whoop everyone just remember there is always someone better than you. Racing no matter the discipline is all about learning. The more willing you are to learn the easier it gets.

What do you know as youve already said you raced atvs? Know anything about toe, camber, and caster? How about air pressures and gearing? Karts are also not like anything with suspension as the suspension is the metal rails you are riding on. Each chassis is designed to flex and your adjustments should favor what yhe chassis likes. Tires are the name of the game anywhere you go and if your tires are not on point you will get smoked everytime. Having an understanding of all this will make it easier but remember you have ti keep an open mind as you dont know anything about karts other than hopping in and driving.
 
Yahh, that's why I'm open mindedlynasking the questions I am so I can get an understanding of all this stuff before I get into.it
 
Out of every discipline of racing there is I would say karting has the biggest learning curve of them all. And in all reality gettimg your feet wet and doing it is the easiest way to learn. Take a few weekends and check out the roadcourse scene and the dirt scene and talk to people at the tracks. It will help you decide what you feel is best for you. Ive been working around the dirt scene and on & off racing for 13 years now. Im 24 and still havemt mastered it yet but it is the most fun I have ever had. I took a break for awhile and took up downhill lomgboarding. Going 60+ on a piece of wood with 4 little wheels was way more of an adrenaline rush but after going spine first into a curb at 25 and cracking 2 vertabrae in my lower back I had to hang it up. The family here on bobs is always willing to help with any questions you may have.
 
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