Completely new need A TON of knowledge

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I’ve recently in the past few years sparked a HUGE interest in racing however don’t have a huge financial benefit backing me so I’ve landed on karting as a way to start I’ve driven karts before both gas powered and electric mostly rentals but some were not. I’ve viewed multiple forums and have seen some questions be asked to similar posts so I figured I’d answer some now to help any reader or responder

Where are you located?
Central Ohio about 15 minutes southwest of Columbus

What age bracket do you fall under
Based on research I’ve done I’m 16 so I believe Seniors

How would you describe your mechanics abilities
I’ve had a passion for cars and just motors and engines in general for a very long time and have grown to know my way around a lot of engine parts as well as how to maintain and repair them. I’m pretty confident given some time with a kart that I’d be able to get the hang of it pretty quickly

Any racing experience or knowledge
Knowledge I’d confidently say I have a decent amount a lot less in the experience department though. As I said I’ve driven multiple karts before just never in a competitive series, and usually my performances are pretty good. Living in the US I’ve done quite a bit of research and quickly realized I have no where near the amount of money needed to dump into an F1600 car that I don’t even have in the first place. Karting seemed like the best option for me as far as both single seaters and racing in general went also just to have some more experience before moving forward to respect more experienced and deserving drivers. I do however have a lot of simracing experience including competing competitively and while I’m very proud of that it’s not exactly what I want to do (real racing). I also know there is a VAST difference between sim and the real thing but I included to reinforce the fact of being confident in my knowledge of racing.

Whats the main thing you need help with to get started?
There’s a few things. One being just the general structure of a series how it works and what I would need to be prepared for it. Another being what championships series or races would make sense for me, as well as if it would be a better approach to buy my own kart or pay to use someone else’s.

Starting with structure. From the research I’ve done myself I’ve realized that at least to me karting seems to lack the structure other racing series seem to have however that could just dumb down to my lack of understanding. Now when I say structure I’m not referring to the layout of races and race weekend more of the structure in a sense of how certain series will act as somewhat of a feeder into bigger championships (WEC,IMSA,GT500). However I lack an understanding of that same ideal in karting for example if there is a hierarchy to the classes or how the class structure really works and if some championships mean more than others or mean something entirely different. I’m usually a very visual person and like to have at least somewhat of an idea as to where something might lead and considering I would like to make a career out of racing I want to know if there are certain things I should/shouldn’t make a strong effort to participate in.

The final thing being, whether I should buy my own kart or use what I’ve seen being called an “arrive and drive” program or somewhere in between. As much as I would love to learn my way around a kart and how to “wrench” it unfortunately I don’t think that route would be best considering what I CAN do. I also have zero connection to the karting world whatsoever besides being friends with a few drivers on Instagram. So would it be possible to maybe work with a mechanic at the garage who services multiple karts? Perhaps to get the help and learning experience out of it.

The other option I’ve seen is to arrive and drive program now I’m not sure where to find these but I know they exist and I also have no clue how much these programs cost.

So yeah I have a lot to learn and would love some input/advice. Apologies for this being so long winded but thank you for reading.

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I’m new as well, so I can’t lend credible advice for most of this. What I will say, however, is that from what I’ve found so far is that what is true in one part of America is not necessarily true in another part.

In Northern California we seem to be fairly well served track-wise with 4 tracks all within an hour of Sacramento. But there are almost no kart/kart part retailers around. If that’s the case in your neck of the woods, I will say that owning your own kart and doing it yourself has proven to be a bit of a challenge. There’s no one locally I can go to for parts and knowledge.

All of this to say: while this forum is AMAZING I would really try to find someone local to you to give specific advice to your area.

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Won’t lie, too long of a read for me. My best advice is literally read this entire sub. Every question you have, it’s been asked and it’s been answered in here. Just search it. Read read read read and read more.

Edit: Ironic i’m telling him to read more when after my first sentence

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Okay step one is to take it one step at a time.

Welcome! Your local track will probably be MCC near Cincinnati I believe. The first step before anything would be to visit on a weekend when they have a club race, watch the program, see how everything runs, ask questions, and explore.

As a newbie, you certainly can rent a kart/engine and there is plenty of opportunity for that at MCC. But what are your goals in racing? Because buying and learning how to wrench and maintain your own stuff can be very beneficial for you. The community is open and friendly and always willing to offer advice or a helping hand.

You will indeed be in the senior class. The structure of karting is very regional but as far as a ladder system within the sport, you will start in local club races, and once you feel comfortable and are competent behind the wheel, you can start traveling to do regional level racing and maybe eventually national level stuff. There are a few different series to run as you move up the ladder, but that should be a few steps down the road. Right now the focus should be on gathering info and learning the sport a bit so you can figure out what you want to do later.

Do you have an idea of your annual budget for this?

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As far as budget goes I’m not entirely sure what it would NEED to be I’ve heard multiple different things from different people and I’ve also heard that it depends on region but I’m willing to invest as much as I can into it which pretty much takes me to goals which is as far as I can physically go lol. I’ve been to a lot of racing events none in karting and I’ve seen up close how certain things run before a race but once again not karting I have gotten in touch with a local shop/team and am planning on attending a race tomorrow and then meeting with them again Monday to get somewhat of a “lay of the land”

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This is going to be your correct approach. This site is a great source of information and as Cameron mentioned, probably most of your questions have been asked before. What will be more helpful is the local knowledge. This will help you understand the classes run at your track(s) and where you would find the best fit. Talk to the racers too. Karters are usually friendly and want to have more people in our sport.

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Living in central Ohio, your best track options will be:
Motorsports Country Club (MCC) in Batavia, Ohio
G&J Kartway in Camden, Ohio and
New Castle Motorsports Park (NCMP) in New Castle, Indiana.

Each of those tracks have their own club series involved with them. For MCC it’s their Pro-Am series, for G&J it’s Ohio Valley Karting Association (OVKA), and for NCMP it’s Kart Racers of America (KRA).

I’d recommend visiting each of those tracks on a club race weekend and seeing if one stands out to you as each operates a little differently and has different participation across different classes.

If arrive and drive is in your budget and what you want to do, then MCC is the easiest path as the owner of the track also runs the Trinity Karting race team so his team obviously offers service for any of the races at his track. You can also reach out to them about a membership to the track and how to start on your path to owning your own kart as they can help you there too being dealers of Kart Republic karts.

Since you’re new and it’s near the end of the season, you should bookmark February and plan to attend the OVKA swap meet where they put on a learning seminar specifically for new karters. OVKA probably has the best support path for new kart owners entering the sport.

Somewhere in your research and decision making you’re going to need to figure out your budget and intended racing class. Your primary choices should be 4-stroke 206 or 2-stroke KA100. Those can be raced at every track and series mentioned.

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Check out our 30 page “How to Get Started” guide and PowerPoint presentation from the 2024 OVKA Swap Meet here:

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This is probably the best advice I’ve gotten so far I got in touch with trinity and am able to also attend a weekend with them at a MUCH closer track then the other team I was in touch with I plan on doing both though just to get something from people that might have different perspectives

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Getting started is the hard part - once you find the community, you’ll find the support you need.

We kind of specialize in moving people from where you are now to active karters so here are a few thoughts from someone that does this regularly:

Definitely start with some Arrive & Drives at a few tracks. Some tracks have them in house, others you have to seek out local teams. You are fortunate to be in a very active region that is only getting stronger in the near future.

MCCC - Batavia
OVKA/G&J - Camden
Wilmington - Wilmington
Pitt Race - Pittsburgh, PA
NCMP - New Castle, IN
Adkins - Port Washington
Thompson - Cleveland (East)
Fremont - Fremont

Coming in 2025:
Quaker City - Salem
Lorain - Cleveland (West)

Arrive & drives are great for the initial fact finding missions and getting a taste of the sport, but if you are set on this being your direction - just plan on buying a kart soon and put your money to better use.

Arrive & Drive costs for us are $200 for 206 and $300 for KA (plus practice pass) which I think is middle of the road. Includes kart, instructor, fitting, basic safety gear and an hour off on track time. Plus a lot of time in between to ask questions and poke around the shop, check out karts, talk to other racers, etc.

Start in 206 - learning curve is less steep, fields are big, universal rule set (excluding tires) across all of those tracks and used equipment is plentiful.

If you are thinking to move up the ladder eventually, look for a chassis that can move between classes rather than a 206 specific chassis.

Cost wise - average turn key package for us is $4000-6000 for a nice used OTK chassis, new prepped engine, all new consumables, fully assembled and ready to race. Brand new will run $6500-8500 depending on chassis brand.

Figure on an additional $1000 for stand, rain wheels, rain tires, rain cover, rain driver, 3-4 tooth sprocket range.

Just a few thoughts there to start with.

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