That’s a pretty good group. I’ll IM you from this point on.
I agree there needs to be some form of universal set of rules every club/series should follow but the problem is now that the majority of clubs have deals with tire importers and dealers and use certain rule books because that is what their members want. However I think it would be a great idea to see a group of clubs get together and create a rulebook they could all agree upon especially the tracks Aaron listed because they are in the same general area.
I wish the national series would consider doing something to this standard because I feel like that would really help
It appears SKUSA and USPKS are working together a little bit, so that’s a start there with arguably the two new powerhouses in US karting. I like the Route ruleset with maybe using more durable tires for a club.
My thoughts were to have the clubs work with the National series too, as opposee to just looking up to them. It’s probably a couple years down the line before this gets started but the more people on board with opinions I can talk with at any level the better
One approach you could take is to work on getting consistency in a single class. Again though, the tire deal is the big challenge. Most tracks have exclusive deals either by class, or track that’s incentivized with $. So to make it work, something would have to be presented to the tracks and or racers to offset that.
A means to reduce the cost of a set of tires for a single race at a given track could work. That could mean folks at a given track working to put a stockpile of good takeoffs for visitors
The other thing that lingers in my mind is how often racers they will do something “if x, y, z was changed”. Then when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they don’t follow through*
*I’m guilty of this as well.
In the grand scheme of things, (and I mean this in the nicest way), what SKUSA and USPKS do doesn’t really matter to all but 5% of kart racers across the nation. At that, I’m being generous with my percentage. That may (and likely will) change. But I would take it at face value.
WKA, as dysfunctional as they appear to be do have the largest and widest reach via their insurance offerings but have not really been able to solve the problem of disparity that karting faces right now.
USPKS has the Route 66 regional series with them that many people are happy with, but they don’t have much reach at the club level. It’s interesting for me to see SKUSA’s ProKart Challenge series’. They have little reach at the club level, but the local touring stuff is what lots of tracks look at.
It seems WKA has the clubs, but those two have more footing in the traveling stuff at the moment. It’s a weirdifferent balance. In general, this seems to be a messy case of the prisoners dilemma
@Aaron_Hachmeister_13, Karting Australia as an organisation was formed about 4 years ago about the time of the WOSR. It was created from what was the AKA - Australian Kart Association, because the state associations had had enough of some issues that are before my time. As far as I am aware there has always been a national body.
If you can manage to get some sort of agreement to for a national body, you will be in for a wild time, that is for sure. People being people don’t like change, especially not in their back yard.
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Would be nice if tracks in a close proximity would get together like a CO-OP and help each other out. Run same tires, same rules etc. I’ve got 2 tracks, RA (Road America) and Badger, that have pretty much gotten to the same rules for 206 and it should help. The Yamaha pipe/can deal hopefully comes around to.
These 2 tracks, whether planned or inadvertent, have schedules that really help each other out. RA races 206 on Tuesday Night and a full group of 206, Yamaha, Tag & Shifter on Saturdays. Badger runs on Sundays with a few 2 day events during the season.
Anyone wanting to get into racing in this area has plenty of track time available. Believe you are able to get in 35 races between the 2 places. Add in practice track dates at both facilities and just a bit farther North at Shawano and a karter has as much as he could possible want.
Short story long. Get tracks on the same page as others and set it up to work with your neighbors and you will have more racers.
Yeah I believe I’m scheduled for 35 individual races this year starting this week and ending in the last weekend of October, which is 30 weeks. It’s awesome the amount of karting available in the area but the changes that need to be made drove us away from looking at different tracks and enjoying the experiences
North America is the only part of the world I’ve been to that doesn’t have an overriding national body that sets the rules (Most of Europe, South Africa, Japan), they also sometimes run the national championships and sometimes support drivers in their international aspirations.
I think its the USA’s super love for capitalism, its all a bit socialist to have a national body telling you what the rules are lol. Plus most of theses national bodies have been around for decades, they were instituted before anyone can remember (even before karting in some cases where the national body is the car racing body).
But the problem you will come across (IMO) is that most club racers don’t travel to other circuits, they will always want the best option for them and their votes control what the club does. Its very difficult for most people to do what is best for the greater good.
So at least a regional level you would need to get the clubs to bandy together to get a good deal for their members, you will come across opposition because no doubt some of those members will be the tire distributor and the tire distributors mates or the guy who sells the different LO206 exhaust etc etc. But I would hope most members would appreciate a reduction in cost by a group of clubs putting a tire contract out for tender and selecting the best option.
If you want to make karting easier for the individual, make the race days shorter with few, but bigger, classes, and cheapen the package pricing. Right now, I can go buy a fully kitted trail MXer bike for around $4K and ride with my kids in a plethora of locations within 30m of my house. So, since karting already is dependent on racetracks, which are few and far between, you have to maximize the dollar to convenience ratio. Euro sprint kart pieces and parts are absurdly expensive compared to American LTO dirt oval pieces, and they’re the same 6061 aluminum…both are still absurdly cheap compared to actual race car parts, so that’s a minor quibble. That said, I want OPEN tires, so I can run last years’ throw aways from the national, restored with dirt oval prep on 'em to meet a duro spec. Then there’s no worries about brand or availability or rules changes… I want minimal, but tough bodywork – Stilo type sidepods, no nose, chrome full bar rear. That affords T-bone protection and spin protection, but still forces respect among drivers. I want dual bearing, 40mm axle specced, with 5" dia. 6" wide tires. Wide availability, affordable, forces tuning decisions and compromises. Chassis pricing sub-$2K without wheels – c’mon, it’s a bunch of bent metal that’s TiG’d. The tubing runs $20/ft., for a total of around $1000, and it takes maybe 10 hrs. to weld…less with jigs and assembly line style output. Lastly, I want a benevolent dictator to buy all the series and orgs and merge them all and pare down to 8 classes, all the same rules. Kid / Jr slow / Jr. fast / Adult Fast / Adult Faster / Pro / Masters / Sportsman RWYB.
Ah well, a man can dream, right… Just what I’d do if I was magically placed in charge.
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