Are your talking from a pole position stand point ? Or in the Pack ? At my track , I use a fire box , meaning the pole kart cannot start on the green until they are anywhere inside the firebox . I want my karts to pace around the track at a steady pace just fast enough to get around without taking forever , but slow enough to keep everyone together , and not strung out . I would like to see at least daylight between karts , but that sometimes doesn't happen . If your the pole kart and coming to the green , anticipating when to hit the gas is a key to getting out ahead of the ones behind you . Most will wait until the kart behind them gets over anxious and bumps them , which at that point is when you want to hit the gas , because that bump has pushed you out ahead of the kart behind and gives you an advantage of the helping bump . Good drivers will not bump the kart in front , but will lean right on the bumper of the kart ahead of them just enough to anticipate the leaders start and go with them . In most cases , if they bump you , they will try and check up , and that causes all kinds of mayhem behind them . But to answer your question , the pole kart sets the pace for everyone else to follow . Keeping it just below lockup or right at that point seems to be where most are going to be . The track people will let you know if your pacing the field to fast or to slow at most tracks , but the pole kart sets the pace for the rest to follow .