U.S. Superkart Questionnaire

[Johnny West]

Joey Scotty and I would like to go to any of these.
Mid Ohio
Grattan
Blackhawk Farms
Atlanta Motor speed way
Road Atlanta
Heartland Park KS
Barber MSP
Road America
Michigan International Speed Way
Vir
Lighting track
Track of the Americas Texas
Miller MSP
Laguna ( if possible) need some one to drive the truck.

Altho I will be running local next year. It is possible I could make a few trips.
As far as the rules I agree, we should have a "unlimited class for guys that want to do something different.

Good luck to everyone for the next season.
_________________
Johnny West/West Racing

[Eric Gossard]

Austin, Laguna, Mid Ohio



Austin, Laguna,Willow,Barber, Watkins Glenn

[Mike Hurdzan]

Nev, Chris and I will try to race all the races within no more than 8 hours of Columbus and closer the better because of time and money issues. Our preferred tracks are Mid-Ohio, Grattan, MIS, and maybe VIR. The Chicago tracks are close enough and so is Putnam is that ever comes back. The issue is simply time and money.

Mike

[Mark Jauregui]

Hi,

This is a bit late. I tried to respond to the poll a few times, but the form never worked. I shared most of these thoughts with Firouz and company during the F1 gathering in Austin:

- Regional series (supporting regional RR clubs) followed by a centralized winner take all championship (The USKGP that Berny puts on rocks and is/was very accommodating the last time I was able to make it at Miller...something that encourages international competitors to come throw down with us.)

- In addition to regional club RR events, superkarts marketing/runing with non-karting groups (car and motorcycle) as support races (American Le Mans, Rolex Grand Am, MotoGP, Formula/Pro-Mazda, F1000, Hooked on Driving, other motorcycle events, etc.). We need to expose our sport to new groups to build interest, lower entry fees, and convert new drivers. We seem to be marketing to the already converted.

- Keep our specs as consistent with Euro (and Aus/NZ) specs as possible so they have a reason to come promote their products as well as see who is fastest. The U.S. should be a big market for international manufacturers. Reciprocally, if we innovate/build great stuff here that meets their specs and is cheaper, they will start buying from us. I would give some room for innovation around bodywork though. We can gain more reliable speed there at a far more reasonable price, and it is more tangible to a typical driver than a tweaked out motor that requires costly repairs all the time.

- Classes (three classes builds big groups and keeps it simple)
- FE (Div. 1) - Twins
- Super ICE/Gas Gas
- ICE (Div. 2) - Moto-based
- Working with Viper Racing and others, many around the country have figured out a pretty reliable CR250 package. It allows newbies to get lots of seat time without breaking the bank. This has allowed a pretty good sized group of us to enjoy some great racing here in the West. A newbie can slowly step up their motor as budget and seat time permit. Those more experienced can also help the new people if the engine is a known quantity.

- Insurance that allows helmet cameras to be mounted on helmets as intended. We all use and learn from them. This is a fantastic tool to learn from and promote our sport, limited by antiquated regulations. IKF insurance is ridiculous...there, I said it.

Tracks for me:
- Laguna
- Sears Point
- Thunderhill
- Miller
- PIR
- The Ridge (during dry season)
- Austin as a support race for bigger event...F1 would be amazing.

Cheers,
Mark
_________________
Mark Jauregui

F125, 250 ICE/FE
NCK

[cole odom]

YES! what Mark said......A little less fanatical about the helmet cam, but what mark said!!!
_________________
COLE ODOM
TONY KART- CR125
MSR CR250 SUPERKART

I AM SO SMOOTH THAT TO THE UNTRAINED EYE IT LOOKS LIKE I AM GOING SLOW!?

[Dean Martin]

Its a nice thread with good intentions but we read/write it every year now. I too could write a list of the tracks Id like to race or "rewrite the rules and they will come" but they wont come

The primary factors are economy, club regulatory politics, travel costs and real regional effort to attend or at least respect the events on the calendar.

Laguna Rolex event was the highest profile for North America last year with the usual Ekarting forum commitment to attend. However, attendance was basically west coast plus 4 visitors. In fact, I recall a conflicting Topeka date was subsequently promoted after Laguna was confirmed - depleating the attendance of both !

The west coast has a healthy ICE contingent now with a reasonable travel commitment from WA, NV, CO, AZ and OR. Our rules capture the needs of most people and the race dates typically complement rather than conflict.

My advice
Focus to build your regional attendance with rules and promotion
Respect or support the dates of the annual big events
Or sell your Superkarts out west as IKF continues to grow

Happy New Year All
_________________
DEAN MARTIN

[Sam Zavaglia]

[marc croslyn II]

SAM my friend YOU KNOCKED OUT OF THE BALL PARK !!!!

[Doug Newhouse]

I like the Runoff idea at seasons end. I ran with SCCA for years and it works for them. Why not us?

Here's a thought if travel and budget is the issue lets find the closest track.

Everyone interested in a runoff provide your home City State Zip code.

Of those who respond, triangulate locations and the select the tracks closest to all addresses.

if the averages provide 2-3 choices / tracks within an hour or two put it up for a vote.

Holland Michigan 49464

[Riley Will]

250FE
Calgary, Canada, T2E 6S1
_________________
Riley Will
BRC Engineering
rwill@brceng.com
(403) 216-0630 wk.
www.brceng.com

[Brian Wilhelm]

First off, let me say that this is aimed at no one, I just have a few questions/observations.
1-What is the drive to run at car and motorcycle event and having to rent track time? This seems to be a failed concept. How many drivers have made the move to superkarts from cars or motorcycles because of superkarts being at their events? Wouldn't it make more sense to just go to WKA/KART, etc. events, race in Unlimited class, and keep your own points? This is where potential growth will come from anyway.
2-Why is the group moving to being more inclusive rather than exclusive? Diluting the few available entries into more classes doesn't seem to make any sense from the outside looking in. Look at KART rules. VERY simple. Basically show up and race. Sending someone home beacuse his kart did not meet some length rule seems very counter-productive, and the message sent to drivers considering superkarts is questionable.
A couple of years ago, I was looking hard at putting together a 250 superkart of some flavor. The lack of leadership, questionable tracks, last-minute event cancellations, "czar" installed to run things, "czar" removed,
bizzarre rules changes, etc., made me put the entire thing on hold. From talking to some other drivers, I am not the only one.
Can someone, anyone, answer? Am I way off base here?
_________________
Brian

[Tyrone Johnson]

[Doug Newhouse]

I'm just a rookie to Super Karts, but have 25-30 years experience in racing. Started in Karting moved all over the place GP Bikes, Super Bikes, Dirt Bikes, Formula Cars, Drag Cars, and a few other venues, I came back to karting for budget reasons and I really like the people.

I'm also not clear on the desire for Super Kart exclusivity. Just my thoughts here, but I'd think growth would come from with in the Karting community. Seems that we would want to embrace IKF & WKA and any regional opportunities.

Work with them to get a little more recognition - identity, possibly our own classes (still not sure what Unlimited is...catch all for run what you brung!), Also don't understand why the 125 shifter sit ups are calling themselves Super Karts, its all very confusing. How about start small and shoot for our class with a rolling start and save the clutches, work together make something happen etc. etc.

At seasons end if we can pull off a "king of the hill" event for east verses west and or invite the world... that would be great! thus my comments earlier about finding the best economical location for those with 250s. Also don't see a reason this couldn't be tied to / hosted by WKA or IKF, but then I don't have any recent history with whats happening and why.

SCCA do something called the runoffs at seasons end and crown champions for each class, it gets a lot of attention for the sport.

Daytona could make for a cool deal at years end, but then I'm not sure I really want to ring the piss out of my twin up on the banking. The location is way in the South East corner as is Laguna (North West) which surely limits participation.

I'm open to helping and or open to some schooling if I'm out to lunch.

kind regards

Doug

[Dan Davis]

I am most interested in supporting my regional club and cannot support those events as well as events outside of the club.
The very last thing I want to see is existing regional kart road racing clubs going down the drain. Every entry counts for every club that I am aware of.
With that said, I may attend a more distant event in the future but only if I can combine travel with at least several of my local kart racing buddies.....who do not race superkarts. This means that any event MUST be a kart racing event.

Don't get me wrong, I have thoroughly enjoyed racing with superkart drivers in the past and certainly hope to race with you all again but my local regional club comes first and foremost....always has. I do not believe that superkart entries are any better than any other kart entry and believe that karting events deserve support the before any other form of racing event. It's really just that simple for me. Times have changed like it or not and choices have to be made more than ever before.

As far as tracks outside of my region, I'd say some of my favorites have been:
VIR (GRAND COURSE)
BARBER
ROAD AMERICA
ROAD ATLANTA
and the list goes on.

I feel very fortunate to have raced the above tracks and many others and would have NEVER been able to drive them if it weren't for my local racing friends.
If I am given the choice to give up future opportunities to race any of the more distant courses to help regional events continue to operate, I'll choose regional events in less than one heartbeat. It's about the grass roots club and its people, my friends.
Tracks are not the reason I attend and participate at kart racing events these days. If my club were to cease to operate, I would very likely cease my regular racing activities as well.

Support your regional club if you are lucky enough to have one. If you don't support them, they won't be able to support you in the future......this goes for track owners/promoters just as much as racers.

THANK YOU KART/MARRS!!

[Mark Jauregui]

I have updated my post for clarification as I believe all of us recognize and fully support that the regional kart RR series are first priority (NCK here in Nor. Cal. for me). Perhaps, I am wrong, but I don't believe Superkarts running a solo series was/is the intent here. However, extending our reach into some of the other types of events as we have been able to do over the years, seems to be of interest to many (as budgets allow).

Clarifications:
- Regional series (supporting regional RR clubs) followed by a centralized winner take all championship (The USKGP that Berny puts on rocks and is/was very accommodating the last time I was able to make it at Miller...something that encourages international competitors to come throw down with us.)

- In addition to regional club RR events, superkarts marketing/running with non-karting groups (car and motorcycle) as support races (American Le Mans, Rolex Grand Am, MotoGP, Formula/Pro-Mazda, F1000, Hooked on Driving, other motorcycle events, etc.). We need to expose our sport to new groups to build interest, lower entry fees, and convert new drivers. We seem to be marketing to the already converted.

MJ
_________________
Mark Jauregui

F125, 250 ICE/FE
NCK