The biggest problem with car drivers in karting is most of the time the weight issue and the endurance to perform in karting.
I see a lot car driver do some laps in karting and most of them get exhausted after a couple of laps,most of the time they are to heavy and therefore they are slower what results in loss of interest.
Easy problem to solve. You have three catagories with varying grip levels.
100 Britain - Hard
100 National - Medium
100 Super - Soft
You HAVE to start in Britain thus wonât be getting exhausted straight away. If you win you move up to National and then you win there you go 100 Super. This can be tweaked for those who want to stay in the hard tyre classes. No single-make classes because manufacturers will often pick a tyre that lasts only a race or two because it sells more.
The governmental body can not allow single-make classes because is cedes control to manufacturers whose incentives arenât the same. It would have to be monumentally strong in this regard
- this post is bought to you from 1989
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Seems to be a bigger issue in America compared to EU - or at least, to me, karting seems to be bigger across the pond. Car culture exists because driving & riding bikes, to a lesser extent, is an everyman experience on the public roads (an important factor), so itâs relatable. Karts are probably relatively exotic just because they are restricted to closed courses. Since F1 is so much more a part of EU culture & karts convey an analogous experience to it, it seems only natural that it would be a hit there. And while F1 is growing here, oval tracks have been the mainstay in racing for âreasonsâ. But things are changing.
Convenience is a tough nut to crack, though. Probably the subconscious question in Avg Joe Americanâs mind would be something along the lines of, âwhy bother trying when you donât have to?,â & I donât know how to offer a response to someone who canât relate to the idea of breaking a sweat & getting a little dirt on them. Itâs much like trying to explain why I like to work out. Youâre either into it, or you arenât. The enjoyment is in the effort. It isnât misery. But for a lot of people, thatâs Greek. Sim racing might not help in this regard. But then, it could also pique an interest in the real thing, too.
I donât think kartng is necessarily more popular in Europe than America once you count in all the derivatives of a kart you have in the states (dirt oval etcâŚ).
I think what America has, and its to its advantage I believe, is more street races (well, more well known ones anyway, we do have them here especially in Mediterranean countries). Nothing really beats putting karts in front of people rather than tracks in the middle of nowhere. What would be good to know is whether this actually generates increased numbers or is largely a vanity exercise (thatâs still a good reason, street racing is epic).
Yeah, but I think street courses is really only a niche novelty to those who already race karts, not as an attraction to get new people interested in racing them.
Wow, there is a lot to unpack in this thread. Where to start?
Having grown up in the Car Racing culture I can remember a time (late 70âs) when the family would load up the Van with race car in tow and camp out at the track for the weekend. Granted it was casual camping and not full wilderness roughing it. We had a large tent, air mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows, fold up table and chairs, a packed coolers of food and drinks and the old gasoline fired Coleman Camp Stove and Lantern. It was so much stuff, that we would usually get to the track on Friday afternoon just to set up and start breaking down Sunday afternoon before the last race. That was the Norm. At least 90% of the racers and workers Camped. So much so, that almost every track I have ever been to had showers in the bathrooms. At the end of day following the Social Event (aka Beer Party), it was common place to wander the grounds and visit with the other racers. Sit around campfires and tell stories of past or present events while the kids played together. At larger events the fans would often fill the infield and I can recall several wild parties breaking out (fans, workers and racers all together). After the races were almost as important as the races themselves. It was in fact a Culture! Over time things have changed of course. Fewer people are Camping and instead opting for Hotels or the RV life. Cannot say I blame them, comfort has certainly increased on the list of priorities over the last few decades. I wil give it to Nascar though, you can always see a packed infield of Tents and RVâs from the TV coverage.
In Karting, at least at the club track I run, there is no one camping in tents at all that I have seen and only a handful of RVâs/RV-Toy Haulers at the track. Seems most that have traveled stay in Hotels or live local and just go home for the night.
I have read the occasional story telling otherwise, one about a Racer at the Supernats on a shoestring budget sleeping on a bench just to have the chance to compete. Where did these stories go? Instead we are being fed tripe about what the latest and greatest chassis or engine manufacturer has put out and why we need to buy it when in reality, there seems to have been little or no innovation over the last 5 years. Why are we not talking about the real stories? How someone first got into Karting or why Karting is its own thing and not just a training ground for children to go race something else when they grow up? My Father and his three brothers all raced karts growing up. Granted as they got older, their need for more speed transitioned them to auto racing (Drag and Road Racing). I think it was partly to do with my Grandfather racing Indy back in the 40âs too. It was the âNext Stepâ. They all had stories. Karting has come so far from those days. It has evolved into its own sport. We should be Marketing it as such. Telling the Stories that inspire more to join us.
That brings me to my next point. Why does it feel like we are stuck in the grammar school of racing? We obviously have racers well into their 70âs still running. Most National Oranizations have Masters Classes that are quite sizable. Obviously if someone has aspirations of racing Cars, then Karting a great training ground to start at a far younger age than Auto Racing allows. Parents are not signing up their kids for Little League sports because they think their child will be the next Super Star Athlete. They it do to teach their kids about Sportsmanship, Physical Activity,Team Work, Competition, Adversity and Challenging themselves Work Hard and Improve. All the things that echo throughout our Adult Lives. These are all things that Karting teaches as well. I have heard rumors about the cost of a season of cheerleading between the uniforms, camps and competitions. It does not seem out of the realm of possibility to go Karting on a similar budget.
For that matter, why are there no Karting Camps you can send your kids to? Most other sports have them. Two to four weeks during the school break. Could be like some of the generic summer camps only with a Kart Track instead of a Lake. If we want to grow Karting Culture, this is the direction we should be thinking. Teach the kids about the Karts, how they are made, how to work on them. There are so many other roles supporting racing like Timing and Scoring, Corner Working, Flagging, Organizing, Track Design & Maintenance and Data Acquisition that could be break out activities from simply just Track Time. Package it all together into a sort of Karting Motorsports Lodge. Adults have these for Auto Racing.
We all talk about how do we improve the visibility of our sport. I think it starts with the young. I do not think most people even know Kart Racing is a thing, other than the occasional blurb about some famous racing driver having started in Karting. I also think that many that are aware of Karting, liken it too much to Auto Racing and that it requires a huge budget to participate in. Like anything else we buy in this world, the cost is directly associated with the demand. Compared to Cars or Motorcycles, Karts are relatively in very low demand. If we can increase the demand, manufacturing will respond with higher production and lower costs. Volume = Profit. A greater demand may also spark innovation as more companies come to the table. One of our biggest hurdles to overcome is relatability to the average person. Millions of people tune in to watch auto racing and all of the advertising that comes with it. Big Brands are pedaling their wears to the general public by relating to action on the track. Tires, Motor Oils and Parts companies are a huge contributor to racing for that reason. The average person probably has no idea the race car on track did not buy a single thing from AutoZone or Advance, that the tires used on racecars are not available at your corner shop or that the motor oil in the engine may not be the same oil advertised on the sticker above the fender. On the other hand, the drivers may drink the Beer that has its advertising plastered all over the track and in commercials. 
Point is, no matter what form of racing we talk about, it all started at the Grass Roots level and became something more. Manufactures pitted their equipment against others and drummed up publicity to incite the masses to come see the spectacle. It worked. I saw something on TV the other day about how Bently showed up one year at Le Mans on a whim and buggered the competition. It drew so much attention, they came back for several years repeating victory and growing their brand.
I agree with Alan, Street Races are a great attention grabber for the general public. For Racers, it may only be a novelty, but if we hope to expose more people to the possibility of affordable racing, then we have to put it in front of them and not hide it out in the middle of nowhere.
They need to see racers are just a bunch of regular folks that found something exciting to do in their lives. That many of us come from humble backgrounds and do not require High Paying Executive Jobs to afford to go play. That Joe the Barber, can load up the family-truckster with the wife and kids to go play for the weekend on a regular basis. If we cannot put the idea on exhibition then no one will know it even exists or that it is very approachable.
Circling back around to competition and innovation, Alan makes some very good points. They are however relegated to the Highest Levels of Karting. If you want to see an increase in membership, we have to keep some parity on the lower levels or we will price ourselves out of the appeal. I strongly believe this is why Briggs has blown up so much. It makes the racing less about who bought the best engine that money can buy or a Factory Team can make and more about the Driver and Setup. All keeping the cost very low. It may not draw the crowds, but maybe some more prominent races could direct people to the local tracks to get started.
It scares me to think following the Briggs Bankruptcy that they will become harder and harder to get. Aside from the clones, Honda seems to be the only other small engine manufacturer in the game right now with the capability of producing a Box Stock Spec engine. That does not mean that Open Classes should go away from the lower levels of competition, but I would not expect as wide of an appeal compared to many of the stock classes. TaG is or at least was a good example of several manufacturers having a go at a 125 cc water cooled engine. Now it seems IAME and Vortex are having a pretty strong go at each other with the VLR and KA in the 100 cc air cooled category. At the regional and national levels, I know these to engines are not typically run together, but at the local level I am seeing more mixed groups that ever before. I have read Gavinâs posts talking about similar mixed manufacturers groups in the TaG 125 class he runs, so the competition is there just maybe not as strong as it could be with more racers in the mix.
Alan, you spoke about the days when people used to make their own karts. I think the biggest decline of that is relative to the availability of equipment needed to do so. Back in my Fatherâs time of Karting, the Karts where much more simplistic without all the crazy bends and mixed metal tubing. They could build one in the garage. When I was young, I knew of several people that had welding equipment, now I can think of less than five and even fewer with workshops to build them in. I remember growing up we were a society of fixers, more often repairing things than just replacing them. Now we have become consumers and its easier to just replace something when it breaks or buy a new one when we want to upgrade. Itâs more of systemic change in our society that we have become a bunch of users and not makers. One that I am not fond of and has likely the caused much of our economic uncertainty in the last few decades. In this country, it seems the only ones creating new things are artists, designers and possibly engineers. I say possibly, because many engineers are usually just figuring out how to make someone elseâs design a reality. I imagine Europe is not far off the mark either.
Iâd rather see more people creating more digital content about karting, telling stories than more karting street races, if Iâm trying to reach more people in 2020, TBH.
Except that they may be more inclined to just dip their toes into the relatively shallower SIM side of the pool, because itâs convenient & they donât want to put in the effort. That was my point. A lot of people just plain donât want to put forth the effort. Staying comfortable at home is a thing.
Iâll also throw in that street racing, while it exists, is anathema to a risk-averse society, which is what America is devolving to. Have to wonder if will ever get shut down due to perceived liability.
I would love to see more digital content about karting too. How do you propose we get that content in front of them? As it stands, you have to search for it. If you do not know it exists, why would you search for it in the first place?
A street race can shut down several city blocks and anybody nearby will know something is going on. It will most likely make the Local News as well. Maybe afterwards they search for more information and find the digital content about karting. The Street Race isnât the Story, itâs what lets them know there are Stories out there or Stories to make.
Simply put, people have to not be lazy, and make the content themselves. We live in the Youtube era, where everyone knows how to create content, and can even made Instagram stories from their phones.
Itâs just that people donât create content (outside of lame 20 minute videos lapping a track), and donât partner with others to create content. So then there is no content to see, so then no one looks.
Itâs a âField of Dreamsâ scenario.
Do not get me started on this⌠As a kid I spent a year living in France and boy was I amazed at how good the public sport programs were, even from a kid that at the time lived in a not wealthy part of town. There was so much available to do recreationally, sport wise, facilities, leagues etc. And it was all public. Basically, free, or cheap.
Even more mind boggling was the fact that for Xmas holidays and the Easter holidays every single kid went to ski camp, on the state, me included.
Hey, Iâm teaching n00bs the track here!
(Its a given our little videos are only of interest to a small group of fellow racers or thinking about it racers. Iâve had more than a few folks at NJMP tell me that my videos helped them get started in the series. 
)
That anything state appropriated is âcheapâ or âfreeâ is a common misperception. Tax rates donât lie. Just sayinâ.
Iâd rather the sport be able to sell itself, & that goes back to the people in it. Personally, Iâm working on friends/coworkers that have related interests. 1 car guy is looking hard at LO206, & Iâm planning to take him up to watch some racing so he can learn more. My 6x12 trailer project is finished now & able to hauler 2 karts + a med sized rolling tool cabinet, so Iâve offered to haul up together to do track days if/when he dives in.
I was referring to getting the content in front of others, the masses. How do you propose we expose the general public to the subject of Karting?
I agree. We often put up videos of ourselves running laps or heat races with little or no real action to speak of. Nor do we take the time to talk to the camera about what is going on. I am guilty of both, but to be fair I generally only post my races to give friends and family a glimpse. I try to record everything for personal performance review. I love that we, on this forum, bring attention to those that actually take the time to post good content. I am just trying to figure out how to get that message to a broader base of people.
Build it and they will come. Sure, easy to say, but when I was talking to Oscar (Illegal Alien Racing) the other day, he mentioned he was struggling with views and subscribership. He puts up Great Karting Content. Not just burning laps, but he talks about whatâs going on in the drivers mind like race-craft and pass setup. Goes over the different packages/classes you can run. Even so far as to let folks know what to look for when buying a used kart. He has some followers to be sure, but not like this Ella-B Toys crap that my daughter binges. Unless people have a reason to look for it, they are not likely to find it. Thatâs all Iâm saying.
Leaving economic theory out of it, the public access to sport was something the state seemed to take seriously.
I am not going to try to respond to all that has been discussed today but I will pile on Gregâs comments about kartingâs reach, or lack thereof, to the general public.
Iâve been involved in Motorsports from grassroots all the way up to the NASCAR circus my entire life. My 1st race was the Indy 500 at 6 weeks old. Not that I remember it.
It really wasnât until this season when I got my 1st kart that I realized how big karting actually is. I had always known of shifter karts but thought that was only big in Europe and sparse here in the states.
For the past 10 years I have been trying get a sports car ride or a regional oval track ride but just didnât have the funds or could convince myself that it was worth the $ money once I got to that point. Now I am pretty content with chasing after karts. Not looking to run up the âLadderâ but just my competitive nature to want to beat the best.
If I had known karting was this popular and run in so many locales I wouldâve bought a kart years ago. I have numerous friends who are now looking to get karts because they were in the same boat and just didnât know how big of a culture it was.
I really think there is a huge market out there for guys like me that have either grown up in motorsports on the car side or maybe played high level stick and ball sports but just canât be as active anymore due to old injuries.
I think one of the best ways to grow the sport is to just try to get new faces to the track. And by that I mean individually try to get a friend or colleague to come to watch a race. Just one new participant could turn into 5 more in a hurry and so on down the line. I was blown away by the excitement at the first race I went to. I think that could go along way with anyone with a competitive spirit.
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For example, karters rarely collaborate with popular car channels with larger audiences, as a way to 1) expose karting to a larger group and 2) create some content for another channel.
A channel like Illegal Alien Racing is a good example. Sure, if youâre already into karting, itâs got a good amount of information, because you know what youâre looking for as a go karter.
However, since none of that content gets cross shared with larger audiences, new people wonât get exposed to karting content, which might encourage them to look up more to the sport. However, if Oscar created some content for a car channel that was interested in driving, or introducing drifters like from Lone Star Drift into karting, that video would reach a much larger potential audience.
His content is good, but itâll largely interest existing karters who want to see other elements of a sport they already are familar with, rather than new people who wonât be searching for karting without incentive.
My opinion is that we should be making more content for racing/car enthusiasts who donât know about karting. If weâre trying to introduce new people into karting, the content has to target new people.
For example, I share my karting articles and onboards with my local car clubs and Facebook groups as content they can âlook at thisâ.
I try to find audiences who are interested in motorsport, but donât know about karting, rather than just creating content specifically for karters.
Oh, I donât disagree. It gets it out there. Because $. Thatâs kind of the rub. It does take money. But individuals who voluntarily get involved - like us - will bring that. Generating interest in a voluntary market (ie. Advertising & selling it) is the challenge.
Also agree that social media channels can be a real utility, but hooking views/followers is the trick.
I hear what you are saying. I just think that limiting exposure to Karting to âRacing/Car Enthusiastsâ is limiting exposure to a broader base. Letâ be frank, Racing, although it is widely known, is not often pursued by the average person and Car Enthusiasts are not necessarily into racing. Racing is a Sport, whether its on foot, in a car, on a motor cycle or in a kart. Why should we limit ourselves to marketing to those already in the sport. I agree it is an easy transition, but poaching from one form of motorsport for another does grow the entity as a whole.
Karting and Motor Cycles are about the only two forms of Motorsports available to children. If we want to grow our sport, then we should be focused on engaging the kids, not the parents. The kids will engage the parents as a result. Not all of them will stick it out and some of them may move to racing cars, but if enough take the plunge, then others will follow. I donât know a kid alive that didnât show off the new bike they got to all of their friends. Imagine seeing the kid down the street got a Racing Kart. Next thing you know the parents are all talking and come to find out it is doable for their kids too. Maybe even the parents give it a run to boot. After all, its not like there is just one class or age group running on Race Day. I have seen multigenerational families racing at the track.
Back when I was a kid, the SCCA use to run Solo events in Mall Parking Lots. It wasnât ideal, but it created interest in the sport. Why couldnât karting do something similar? Put on a few Exhibition Events a year at the Club Level just to draw attention. Host them somewhere easily accessible to the general public. Send out flyers to the local schools for free admission.
In some ways the internet has made people lazy. Why venture out to find out for yourself, when you can just GTS (Google That Shit). Cross Content can certainly bolster interest in karting content, but at some point we have to look beyond the motorsports community and seek elsewhere if we want our base to grow.
I am not disagreeing with you. I just believe we need to think more broadly about how to expand karting in general.
Karting doesnât struggle attracting children and parents. In my area weâve seen a massive pivot in the last 30 years away from a a balanced aged sport (we didnât even have cadets until the late 80s) to one predominantly junior and cadet focused. This is reflected in license numbers too here and what you see at the various club meetings. My local club is now almost 90% cadet and junior. The 10% of seniors tends to be young drivers 16-18 as well. Itâs not like that everywhere, but itâs a general trend that can be observed.
This area of karting received millions of dollars worth of free advertisement every year. Whether it be Lewis Hamilton posting old videos or it getting mentioned on the news or getting mentioned on major motorsport coverage. There is a caveat there that not enough is being done to counter the narrative its only for rich people, but generally I donât think junior karting has much more room for growth.