Some questions to Help us do better for the sport

Menace61 said:
Nice. I may look into that as i have several very nice karts just taking up space in my garage.
Click to expand...
We also had a sign that gave the local tracks info and our phone number if they wanted to ask questions.
Sturdy stationary stand with the kart heavily zip tied......yes we learned the hard way lol
 
Honestly, when at the track, see the newbies or people asking questions, take the time to help and give pointers. Welcome them into your pits and showcase areas to focus on etc.

Juice box division is fantastic, get them in young, learning the track, bringing people to the track, enjoy a hot dog and cheeseburger.

For adults, bring back amateur classes, even just one weight. Have the class to where they run a few times, then they can bump up to to the main class and feel comfortable.

Biggest battle with bringing new people in is promoting a positive experience and not crushing them when they get lapped, promote the newbies and help them.
 
Menace61 said:
Tire rules have kept me from visiting different tracks. I went to an indoor coke syrup race and did very well on Firestones. The next year it was Hoosier A-40's only. I had to buy 2 sets of Hoosiers for 1 weekend of racing. The next year it was Burris 33's only. I sold the Hoosiers and won't consider racing that event again. The only tire rule i would support is no Maxxis allowed.
Click to expand...
why no maxxis??
 
XXX#40 said:
For those building karts to put someone in that has never raced, hasn't really been thought through.
How much of your money do you want to share with someone when they wreck and sue you?
Click to expand...
There will always be reasons NOT to do things. That may be a big cause as to why so many tracks are failing. Time to focus on the reasons TO do things. There will always be risks, but following a calculated plan helps. I wish my track would have had a rental kart when my kids got started. The results would have been the same but it would have been nice not feeling like such a financial gamble.
 
Jake3890 said:
why no maxxis??
Click to expand...
Rich man's game. The biggest barrier to entry is $$$$. A set of burris tires can last years. A set of Maxxis are good for 2 - 4 races. We typically use no prep, or very little on the outside on our Burris tires. Maxxis are prepped to death inside and out.
Now if you want to attract new people which program is best.

In addition, with the shortage of tires we all experienced last year why would you require a tire that may not be available. At our local track everyone is on SS-11's. With the tire shortage last year we saw Hoosiers and Vegas also.
 
National unified rules structure so every track has a class with the same rules and you can travel anywhere and run.
(This would require tracks to cooperate...*gasp*)

Local tracks staggering their Fridday night / Saturday night programs so you can race both nights. This promotes fuller fields at each track.

Mandatory non-competition-particiapation for track officials and operators and a way to protest alleged bias nationally to the sanctioning bodies...which leads to:

Mandatory sanctioning body particiapation. Many piggyback on WKA's rules without giving WKA anything...

Class reduction. This would force larger fields and shorter programs -- both good things.

Eliminate fee'ing people to death. Charge entry fees to the racers, gate fee for everyone, pit pass for those in need. Done. Raise the rates if needed, but stop with the 500 bogus charges.

Driver licensing system -- reduces the claim of the aforementioned lawsuits to do negligence of untrained drivers. You should have to earn points through finishing position to advance to a more powerful class. You should get points deducted for off-track incidents and bashing into your fellow competitors. It should also be nationally universal and registered so other tracks know you're qualified to race. People may scoff, but even the lowest levels of car racing have it to ensure yahoos who don't belong on the track due to their temper or inexperience don't cause a danger to others. The incidents I've heard of at national level kart racing lately lead me to believe it's not a horrible idea...

Just some thoughts off the top of my head...
 
Eric85629 said:
There will always be reasons NOT to do things. That may be a big cause as to why so many tracks are failing. Time to focus on the reasons TO do things. There will always be risks, but following a calculated plan helps. I wish my track would have had a rental kart when my kids got started. The results would have been the same but it would have been nice not feeling like such a financial gamble.
Click to expand...
Once you face losing your home in a lawsuit, you'll learn some things are never worth the risk.
Lawsuits are a big reason many tracks across this country have closed.
One of the suits I was involved in just as a witness, a woman crossed thru a 4 row caution taped off area 3 times, she was told not to go back into that area it was dangerous and if she done it again she would be asked to leave "Twice".
The third time, a champ karts steering wheel quick connect snapped of the shaft, he ran through the fence striking the woman.
She sued, and included, Driver, chassis builder, quick disconnect manufacturer, track owner, and the land owner.
She won.
 
XXX#40 said:
Once you face losing your home in a lawsuit, you'll learn some things are never worth the risk.
Lawsuits are a big reason many tracks across this country have closed.
One of the suits I was involved in just as a witness, a woman crossed thru a 4 row caution taped off area 3 times, she was told not to go back into that area it was dangerous and if she done it again she would be asked to leave "Twice".
The third time, a champ karts steering wheel quick connect snapped of the shaft, he ran through the fence striking the woman.
She sued, and included, Driver, chassis builder, quick disconnect manufacturer, track owner, and the land owner.
She won.
Click to expand...
That's just horrible. This country is over lawyered.
 
Ratistiss said:
some things to do a better job at to get more new people involved:
  1. Most kids my son goes to school with don't even know our local track exists. One of my ideas is the racing community should get into local events with our karts to promote it (e.g., parades, festivals, etc.). Getting more kids interested is the start, then it's mom and dad.
  2. What is mom and dads big holdback when they get asked by their kid if they can race? For us it was how do we get involved. Someone was kind enough to let us test drive a kart when we visited our local track. Someone above mentioned rental rides. This is a good idea so the kid can figure out how much they really like it before mom and dad drop thousands of dollars.

once we get them started what do we need to do better to Keep them:
  1. Mechanical/technical help: I may be the exception but I was not a wrench turner and didn't even own a socket set or wrenches. For me it was a little bit intimidating going to the track when we first started. I did not know who I could ask questions too, most people were busy or seemed unfriendly (even if they were friendly).
  2. some kind of financing or long term rental: nothing in racing is cheap.
  3. Access to information: Bob's is great, but there is a lack of online content for racing, especially oval racing.
  4. Improved speaker/sound systems: the first few months I cannot count how many times we missed the grid due to poor sound systems and the rush to get the karts lined up.
If my son wasn't so set on being a race car driver I think I would have walked from discouragement just from the things listed above.

Also a big disappointment was we watched some of the tracks we were at make a bad call and then change it and then change it again. When there is a call to be made and it keeps changing the crowd can start to get a little out of hand. My point being most tracks need to make a decision and stick with it for the sake everyone. And yes we suffered a bad call or two against us but we understand the track teams do the best they can.

All this said, if asked today would we do it again I we would tell you hell yea. So I think it really is mostly an entry problem into this sport.
Click to expand...
In our 16 yr tender of promoting and operating a track we tried most everything, from taking karts to the schools, fairs, swap meets, car shows, having them on display with voucher tickets good for free hot dog and drink at the concession stand, that generated very little response.
 
XXX#40 said:
For those building karts to put someone in that has never raced, hasn't really been thought through.
How much of your money do you want to share with someone when they wreck and sue you?
Click to expand...
I understand fully where your coming from, but if it's going to be offered you need to do it through your local track with GOOD Insurance , can there still be a law suit of course, does that fact make the waiver more effective , NO but the track stands a much better chance with the Insurance Co Attorneys defending it than you do individually with an attorney you hire.
 
XXX#40 said:
Once you face losing your home in a lawsuit, you'll learn some things are never worth the risk.
Lawsuits are a big reason many tracks across this country have closed.
One of the suits I was involved in just as a witness, a woman crossed thru a 4 row caution taped off area 3 times, she was told not to go back into that area it was dangerous and if she done it again she would be asked to leave "Twice".
The third time, a champ karts steering wheel quick connect snapped of the shaft, he ran through the fence striking the woman.
She sued, and included, Driver, chassis builder, quick disconnect manufacturer, track owner, and the land owner.
She won.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately when you can hire a flea bag attorney with no retainer cost from your pocket, that operates by getting paid only if they win your case, this happens a lot more often.
 
racing promotor said:
I understand fully where your coming from, but if it's going to be offered you need to do it through your local track with GOOD Insurance , can there still be a law suit of course, does that fact make the waiver more effective , NO but the track stands a much better chance with the Insurance Co Attorneys defending it than you do individually with an attorney you hire.
Click to expand...
The other law suit, was just that, 2 insurance companies fighting it out.
I would leave that up to the track, maybe help build one and donate to the track.
 
Playstation 5, Nintendo and I-Racing and the smart phone have destroyed the younger generation. I tried to get my son to race took him to the track had him run predator. I asked him if he wanted to go again he said he could do all that with his gaming system and he wouldn't have to wait around for other classes to finnish.
my dad took me to a kart track when I was around 9 or 10. I begged him for 10 years to get a kart so we could both race. never cared about any other form of motorsport..only karts lol
 
Another thing that happens that scares some off is just our Actions at times when we let our competitive stupidness come out, especially with the youth and at the scales, over 20 yrs I thought I heard it all until 2 events later, Under our tender of operating a track This and purposely spinning to bait a caution, was the 2 biggest No No's .
We all need to remember it's not come to the fight's and every now and then a race breaks out. It's a RACE once we get that stay tuned in reminding ourselves that quite often.
I'ts a Race not an Idiot contest !!
 
Our home track was getting pretty dumb by the middle of the season and the guy that runs the show made a mandatory meeting for all parents and drivers. At the end of said meeting he made everybody form a line and I kid you not made everybody collect a smiley face sticker from him. And mandated that if he didn't see those smiley face stickers then that kart was not hitting the track. It was pretty effective.
 
racing promotor said:
Another thing that happens that scares some off is just our Actions at times when we let our competitive stupidness come out, especially with the youth and at the scales, over 20 yrs I thought I heard it all until 2 events later, Under our tender of operating a track This and purposely spinning to bait a caution, was the 2 biggest No No's .
We all need to remember it's not come to the fight's and every now and then a race breaks out. It's a RACE once we get that stay tuned in reminding ourselves that quite often.
I'ts a Race not an Idiot contest !!
Click to expand...
We always scored to the start finish line, stopped teammates and random drivers from trying to get a caution, when the person that caused it goes to the tail
 
JanGaLanG said:
Our home track was getting pretty dumb by the middle of the season and the guy that runs the show made a mandatory meeting for all parents and drivers. At the end of said meeting he made everybody form a line and I kid you not made everybody collect a smiley face sticker from him. And mandated that if he didn't see those smiley face stickers then that kart was not hitting the track. It was pretty effective.
Click to expand...
Our youngest grandson is all but 7 yrs old 1 st grade and his teacher passes out high 5 tickets with incentives to do well, and it works very effective, Since we all know with kids racing at this age a cool sticker is worth 2 tenth of speed lol I think this would be great idea to bring into karting and pass out throughout the night, and be selective whom hands the kid the high 5 sticker, there would be times if that sticker came from a competitors dad would have even stronger effect.
 
XXX#40 said:
We always scored to the start finish line, stopped teammates and random drivers from trying to get a caution, when the person that caused it goes to the tail
Click to expand...
They always went to the tail but would do it anyway, So I ended up making it simple so they didn't get a chance to do it twice in the same race, EVERYONE got there rolled black warning in the drivers meeting before the race ever started, then when it happened see ya go park it and NO POINTS for that night, then If they chose to turn it into an Idiot contest they got 20 min to load everything up and hit the road, plus next 2 weeks off not allowed to be on the property.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top