No Vintage Enduro's at Mid Ohio or Gratten... Thanks Dart Kart Club

R

Rixkart

New member
No Vintage Karts at Mid Ohio.....
Please "Share" this with all your friends.....
Before the rumors start flying, let me post what I do know... I was called last Saturday by Howard O'Chocke (VP of DKC and the Vintage karters voice on the DKC Board) and he told me that the Dart Kart Board no longer wants to have Vintage karts on their schedule.
The only reason that I was given, was that "when the Vintage Karts go on the track, the radio's light up". I have been given no other explanation of what that means. I have requested a meeting with the Board for an explanation or to see if we can reach some compromise or to just find out what the real problem is. The Vintage Class is larger than some of the other classes and I can not imagine what has brought this on. It also will mean a large loss of income for DKC. I hope the DKC Board will grant me this request and we continue to be a part of the schedule at Mid Ohio....
What brand best defines Vintage Karting? "Dart Kart" does. The club was born at Dart Kart Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio at the Rupp Plant. That is as vintage and historic as it gets. They kept the name for a reason. It explains their history and the fact that they are one of the oldest clubs in the U.S. Why wouldn't they embrace Vintage Karting. It's what their history and name is all about.
But they look down on the Vintage Karts...
I guess we aren't good enough for them.....
And can afford to lose 12 to 16 entries...
Now I see there is no Vintage Karts listed on the DKC Web site Class listing for 2014...
They have offered No explanations, made no contact, nothing from DKC as to why they eliminated the Vintage karts....
My family had been racing there, off and on, since late 70's... Long before many of the Board members were even involved in Karting.
So, this is what 4 people can decided to do for no reason....
Which classes are next?? Yours???? LO Classes???? And don't try and help.... You'll be labeled a troublemaker...
Anyone can email me and I will be happy to tell you what I know....
Thanks for reading...
Rick Chapman
VKA Enduro Director
 
Sounds familiar. <cough, cough, pro gas, cough, cough> Don't worry though.

Anchorman-2-quote-cruise-control.png
 
That's sad. If there is a class that defines RR that is Vintage. Should be the last one to be removed from any event IMO. Karting can only grow properly by respecting its own history.
 
Mid Ohio

Rick,
1. You state in your post no one contacted you from DKC. Howard did contact you and he is the Vice President plus your rep on our board.
2. You said 4 people made the decision. There are 9 board members, 7 were present, don't have the meeting minutes yet but the vote was not 4-3.
3. DKC reviews all local option classes each year.
4. We did not discuss it at the meeting but overtime is available to purchase on Friday and Sunday at Mid Ohio. If your group wants to purchase the time for both of those days I will take it to the board for a vote.
5. If we are not offering the vintage classes in 2014 why would we leave it listed on the DKC website?

Gene
 
Gene…
You are right when you said Howard called me.
And you are right when you said he was the Vintage Karters Rep on the DKC Board.
But when he called, he only had some idea of why we were removed and he had no actual reason.
I have been looked at, by the Vintage Karters, as their voice to present their suggestions and ideas to Howard then onto the DKC Board. So both Howard and I have been the voice of the people that enjoyed the Vintage karts and wanted to see that DKC benefits from their efforts.
When I attended the November, DKC Open meeting, as soon as I entered the building, I was ignored and 3 Board Members even turned their backs on me. The only people who came to simply say Hi, was Howard and Kathy.
During that meeting, I made the suggestion to combine both Vintage Classes, and that was accepted happily by the people there. I presented my proposal, answered a few questions, and then asked a couple questions about the “Eagle” Awards and you answered me with the most derogatory, insulting and humiliating attitude that I have ever heard.
Enough said about that….
I came with a proposal that would have added entries and increase the DKC revenue. And Suggestions made by other Vintage Karters.
This has never been about me, Gene.
As for the time issue, after 5 years, all of a sudden DKC is having a time issue with the Vintage kart classes?? Maybe if the DKC Board would have discussed this with us. We could have worked something out. We pay as much entry fee as any other class, so why don’t you ask some of the other LO Classes to buy extra time??? And by the way, I have read the WKA Tech manual and I have not found it written anywhere, that we need to have a full bodywork to run any class…
Your explanation does not make any sense and was a poor attempt to put something out there.
So, With all this said.
Every Vintage Karter extends our Best wishes to everyone who races at Mid Ohio. We hope you have a great and memorable 2014 Season.
We also wish DKC the Best and we hope DKC continues to put on the races at Mid Ohio..
Perhaps one day, we can return to this iconic race track and enjoy the facility with our fellow enduro racers.
Good Luck you everyone…
 
I hate shady, sounds like its run like a clickish local track.

VKA kind of irritated a few of us when it did in the McCulloch saw motor development with its recent guidelines this year.

I'm also glad that Sugar River Raceway in Brodhead, WI runs two events outside of its normal VKA event. Its good for the modern karters to see the old stuff.
 
Rick, I for one thank you for your efforts. Preservation of karting's roots seem to be a moot point to the "Fast & Furious" bunch karting has become so overwhelmed with. I think if DKC is gonna host WKA races, they need to review WKA's mission statement and educate themselves about the entire karting community.
 
unbeleivable

Not that I run vintage but they do run with the briggs guys and I have been held up by them on occasion during a race, but hey that's road racing as racers these guys have never chopped me off they have always driven a good line and in a straight line they are bullets lol. But should they just be eliminated when clubs are struggling for entries? You cant have both looking for entries then eliminating racers and adding classes(pro gas) just flat out ridiculous and then telling a group you can play you just have to pay OT. I can't blame the vintage guys being upset. Oh and by the way I don't think these vintage guys can run at Brodhead lol

Denny Smith
 
PM me if you want, but how much are we talking in sponsorship to subsidize getting the Vintage guys back on track?
 
dfsmith said:
Oh and by the way I don't think these vintage guys can run at Brodhead lol

Denny Smith
Click to expand...
I did not say that they did or didn't, just that I'm happy Brodhead includes us vintage guys (and in my case a guy that also run moderns) as an example of good track.

I know the difference between sprint and enduro just as I know the difference between a good track and a not so well operated track. Brodhead has 3 vintage events on the schedule this season, one VKA, and two with their modern karts. And I do run a very fast rear engine kart there.
 
Hmmmm. According to WKA rules, I could run Unlimited with a pair of open 820's on my Hegar twin, no bodywork, and probably win the battle of attrition compared to what "high-tech" stuff probably lights up their radios when they drop out all over the place.... Lol.
 
B-man I was thinking the same but maybe add some TAGS lol some are good some are not so good never had a problem with vintage I know they can't handle the corner speeds because of the kart not the driver.
 
Rick,

I am on the DKC board AND I know very little about vintage karts. I know they occasionally are in the way and I am occasionally in their way, but not intentionally and I certainly have had more issues with some TAGs like has been mentioned. I have no problem with the vintage karts. However, there are some major differences between these karts and everything else that is run...like the braking systems. I am certainly not saying that was the reason, just pointing out that there are some safety issues that have remained unresolved over the past few years. I think the other thing that I will point out is that the Board acts as a group based on information available. IF you thought you were being singled out and treated as a troublemaker, I did not get that from the meeting. And I would hope Howard would communicate that as well. My experience with this Board and others is simple. As a group, they don't act maliciously. There may be individual agendas and sometimes they get through and sometimes they don't. We have experienced with with Pro-Gas this year in the 4-cycle world.
I wish you luck in getting this resolved. I would think a few phone calls to the right people may do more good than a paragraph that starts out with "I don't want to spread rumors"...then goes on to spread rumor and innuendo.

Jack Reall
 
Vintage karts (Sprint AND Enduro) are always welcome at CES events. www.championshipenduro.com or www.facebook.com/CESKarting
There may not be any vintage-specific classes mentioned in the rules but you can be sure you would be accommodated.

My (personal) suggestion would be to diversify your events across orgs and bring your own regs. If you already have something for regs I'm sure we could include it in the CES rulebook.
Maybe do one WKA, one CES and one MKA round? I know this is easier said than done, but I think it might be a good approach.
 
CaptJack said:
Rick,

I am on the DKC board AND I know very little about vintage karts. I know they occasionally are in the way and I am occasionally in their way, but not intentionally and I certainly have had more issues with some TAGs like has been mentioned. I have no problem with the vintage karts. However, there are some major differences between these karts and everything else that is run...like the braking systems. I am certainly not saying that was the reason, just pointing out that there are some safety issues that have remained unresolved over the past few years. I think the other thing that I will point out is that the Board acts as a group based on information available. IF you thought you were being singled out and treated as a troublemaker, I did not get that from the meeting. And I would hope Howard would communicate that as well. My experience with this Board and others is simple. As a group, they don't act maliciously. There may be individual agendas and sometimes they get through and sometimes they don't. We have experienced with with Pro-Gas this year in the 4-cycle world.
I wish you luck in getting this resolved. I would think a few phone calls to the right people may do more good than a paragraph that starts out with "I don't want to spread rumors"...then goes on to spread rumor and innuendo.

Jack Reall
Click to expand...

But Jack, my curiosity is still up with this "radios light up" comment. If in fact such a comment was made, I (and others) would like to know what constitutes such scenarios that are any different than that which occurs with other classes? I can be totally wrong (and hope I am) but this is beginning to have all the appearances of sweeping something under the rug. JMHO -Alan-
 
I would be curious, if brakes are an issue, why not go to those vintage racers or say reach out to the Vintage Karting Association and ask for them to help in addressing it. I'm not an enduro guy but a vintage sprint karter. The classes I run sprints in, the VKA Guidelines recommend modern disc braking systems for safety reasons and I agree with those guides. Have there been Vintage Enduro crashes in recent years?

@RadialFin: The VKA do have rules or I guess you can call it class guidelines published. I personally do have a beef about the lack of McCulloch saw class engines, but the guides are there. And most of it addresses sprints.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top