Tire men

Just spent the weekend at the World 100 in Jasper. As I've stated before we're pretty new to go kart racing. I understand trial and error and the learning that goes into this. Like anything you have to put time in to get results. But I keep reading and hearing that the best racers have the best "tire man" in the game or they themselves are the best "tire men". Where do I find one of these tire men, where can I learn from one? I'd be happy to learn the basics, to give my kids there best shot.
 
Find either your engine , chassis or local kart shop guy .
Get on there program . Stick with it .
Tire programs are a lot of work , a huge learning curve .
Generally there not teaching you . They are full of information its up to you too listen and learn .
Keeping notes and watching lap times is where its at .
Budget is always a concern , 2-3 sets of cut and prepped tires and the full arsenal of whom ever you chose, preps . At the minimum.
 
Just spent the weekend at the World 100 in Jasper. As I've stated before we're pretty new to go kart racing. I understand trial and error and the learning that goes into this. Like anything you have to put time in to get results. But I keep reading and hearing that the best racers have the best "tire man" in the game or they themselves are the best "tire men". Where do I find one of these tire men, where can I learn from one? I'd be happy to learn the basics, to give my kids there best shot.
Tire men are easy to find, the best tire men are a bit harder. Anyones time is going to cost money, i dont know of anyone who is willing to work for free. Some cost lots more, some are better with kids over adults, some are the opposite of that. I was at the 100, was a heck of a day.
 
Just spent the weekend at the World 100 in Jasper. As I've stated before we're pretty new to go kart racing. I understand trial and error and the learning that goes into this. Like anything you have to put time in to get results. But I keep reading and hearing that the best racers have the best "tire man" in the game or they themselves are the best "tire men". Where do I find one of these tire men, where can I learn from one? I'd be happy to learn the basics, to give my kids there best shot.

You can learn a lot of "basics" right here on this website.
Asking plenty of questions and taking a lot of notes will go along way in speeding up the learning curve.

Now, if you're wanting a tire guy to manage all of your tires, that'll be expensive (and wasteful in my opinion.)
If you want a tire guy to come to the track and hold your hand, (I call that babysitting), again, that'll be wasteful experience in the long run. Sure, he might wipe your tires and you win a race, but once he's gone and you're on your own, you'll not be as lucky.
If you pay a tire guy to come teach you, be prepared to learn. Anyone can wipe tires. Not everyone is good at learning (or teaching.) I think that separates a lot of racers from learning to do tires on their own.

I don't know what others charge, but I think that (for the most part) most guys are around $300/day plus expenses. Of course he'll want you on his cuts and prep program, so there's add'l cost up front. You would do much better to team up with someone and split the expenses of having a tire guy at the track with you, just make sure that's understood and approved before you hire the guy. Hiring someone local will be considerably cheaper than someone several states away that might not be at the race that you will be attending. He'll certainly be cheaper when it comes to travel expenses. Now, he may, or may not, be more familiar with the track(s) that you are competing on, so I'll leave that out there as well.

We've got guys competing all across the country on our tires and preps and as much as I'd like to be at every track helping all these guys, it's just not physically possible. Most tire guys race themselves, have kids racing, or are dedicated to one team (chassis, engine builder, etc.) I think you'll find that to be the case with most of the top tier tire guys - they're already spread pretty thin as it is.

We'd be glad to help in any way that we can, but like so many others, it'll likely be from a distance. :)

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🏁Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
Carlson Motorsports on Facebook
30 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
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