Looking for some input on starting a masters class for KA100. The youth have figured things out and have continued to get faster and faster while the old guys have basically stayed the same. With 14 to 16 karts every race day its a good size field for our track. We have about a 50/50 mix of 15 - 35 yo and 35 plus. The older set used to contend for the podium but in the second half of the season its all youth at the front. This has been discouraging for some of the older drivers. Here are the considerations for starting a masters class;
Run both age groups together but for separate points, keeps the field large but we still have the age mix concern.
Run separately. This could allow for some flexibility with weight, we run 375 which I gather is heavy for senior. This may encourage older drivers to consider the class that are turned off with either racing with their kid or that are overweight.
There are other pros and cons but these would be the main two ways to handle it. What do other tracks do with senior and masters?
For our club in Ohio (OVKA) we have both Senior and Master 100cc (KA and VLR) classes. Seniors run at 360lbs and Masters run at 390lbs. To qualify for Masters you need to be 30yo + or over 200lbs. Typically they are separate run groups as we can get up to 15 Masters drivers.
I think the key difference between Masters and Senior is just mindset. Most of our Masters guys load up their karts post event, and don’t touch them until the next race; basically because they have “life” ( work, cutting grass, birthday parties, etc.). Testing days come few and far between.
National organizations are running 380-390lbs for Masters weight. I see no reason a for a club to run at a lower weight unless your oldies are slim. Going up to 390 could even push the fast youths down to Senior. You have a nice kart count, but to me it’s not high enough to justify separating points…everyone doesn’t need a trophy!
As @Ethan_Bokeno said, we have a great group of a dozen or more Masters/Heavy drivers that show up each week and if your club can support two healthily-numbered classes, I would recommend it since there’s a big difference in “intensity” between the 16-19 year olds that fill Senior classes and the 30+ year olds that race Masters (there are almost no 20-30 year olds, though that seems to be a common issue).
On our 206 side, we even added a Legends 206 (50+ year old class) this year in addition to our existing Masters/Heavy (30+ year old/200lb class) and while there was some initial worry that this would “split” the numbers of our most competitive class (206 Masters) in reality we still had 14-20 Masters and 8-12 Legends at our events, which worked out well for us since we have a huge age range of racers in our club.
I don’t think it so much about a trophy as it is having a chance to be competitive. I have talked with my older peers and some are discouraged from running at the back. My concern is this mindset may shrink the field.
In terms of format, i’ve always been a fan of running separate grids during the same race for heats. Then for the final they run separate races, ie dedicated track time. It’s a good compromise that also means the track workers are not having to stand out in the baking sun for another two or more races.
At our track, NTK, they were initially running on 100 Sr/Jr separately. As the Sr field grew, they added a Masters. After the split, the Sr group grew slightly as kids moved up for Jr, but it was the Masters group that grew more as it attracted drivers from other classes. Some moved down from Tag others up from 206.
At our track, Tag has always struggled to run 6 to 8 entries per race, but 206 has had good grids with 15+ entries in Sr and Heavy each, so it did not deminish their numbers too much. Additionally, 206 has had new drivers enter the mix to replace those that moved out. Another reason I like 206 as an entry level class, it attacts new people.
That is my hope that the split may actually benefit both senior and masters and grow each class. Since I posted this we have had our end of year awards banquet and the owner has expressed interest in creating the Masters class and likely to run it completely separate as well.