Just got the news a Karting Track is being built at Quaker City Dragstrip in Salem Ohio ?? Anybody know any news about it ??? Pictures… https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cvrp3j6NYXqarwn/
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I thought someone had posted this one already, but I guess not. Decent amount of new tracks popping. Very cool to see.
EKN article on the new tracks popping up in the US, here:
https://www.ekartingnews.com/2024/09/19/morning-coffee-new-and-improved/
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They just got a Stars race in 2025
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How in the world is NE Ohio going to support this many tracks? Call me a pessimist, but I don’t think more tracks is actually a good thing.
I’ve been wondering the same.
Pitt Race to Lorain Kartplex will be less than 2 hours on the turnpike, with Quaker right in the middle. Pitt’s primary business seems to be rentals nowadays, and would imagine Lorain will follow suit given proximity to the Cleveland Metro area. Quaker City’s Facebook page has been bombarded by drifters asking to run on the new kart track, which will likely be a revenue source for them.
My worry is that the local series will take the brunt of the effect, with racers likely staying loyal to their “local” track on conflicting dates. This does create an interesting opportunity for a “super” local series should the clubs be amenable to coordinating schedules.
I guess the counter argument would be that southwest Ohio and Indiana have the same “problem” between New Castle, MCC, and G&J. It doesn’t seem to have affected local turnout, at least not from my observations but could be wrong.
Personally couldn’t be more excited to have such high caliber tracks within a 2 hour driving distance, Pitt Race being the closest at 20 minutes to home. I love that Stars has added them to the rotation of potential tracks to visit each year.
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Unfortunately, I would disagree with your Ohio/Indiana outlook. I think Whiteland and MCC numbers aren’t great. NCMP continues to be the standard and G&J will hopefully continue to be the local focused track it always has been. I think the growth of all 4 is hindered by too many local options.
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NCMP is around 200-230 usually I believe.
WRP hovers in the 130-150 range.
MCC seems to be sub 100.
I think if Lorain and Quaker City embrace their role of being the gateway to the sport in their region, the way we have at Pitt Race, then it could be an absolute boom market. Throw in Kelly’s/Batavia too along with the existing Ohio tracks and Great Lakes is well represented.
Being from michigan the only real option i have other than running down to g and j and ncmp is east lansing kart track, which isnt very fun in a shifter.
Im stoked to have quaker and lorain coming to be next year. Im stoked to drive them and very glad theres more karting tracks somewhere in the tri state area.
Now if we could just get a track like this in MI…
Are you talking entries per club event? That would seem very high, especially for New Castle.
Having more tracks doesn’t necessarily translate to growth, that’s what some are alluding to here. It can also dilute whatever interest there is and history has shown that to be the case more than once. On the other hand, there are folks like Dan that have identified some reasons that they might flourish.
I don’t think anybody (at least here) is complaining, but rather they’re grateful that someone has put an investment in the tracks while pointing out a concern that there may not be enough interest in the area to sustain the tracks.
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That was an approximation of entries based on KRAs second to last race. They pushed 300 on the Labor Day night race.
Whiteland hovers in that stated range every race. Sometimes around 120. Sometimes a little less when we run on top of a national.
Well in Ohio there are no other tracks that will have Electric / Gas Rentals / and Pro Race track all in one. And a track that can put all the tracks together for one race Electric or Gas Race ??? I will very much support Lorain Ohio Kartplex and the vision they have. And the surrounding tracks. MORE THE MERRIER !!! I SAY !!!
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More great news for Ohio. I hope the tracks work together not to be predatory, and encourage growth. I have seen tracks encourage going to one track if it’s a off weekend. For the new tracks hopefully they are flexible with open tires and follow the popular classes. I also see avenues for drifting and solo, as the insurances makes it impossible to use parking lots. While I know the new tracks will be focusing on generating revenue with rentals, hopefully they still will be very welcoming and accommodating to the club racer. I bet starting in May (maybe next year rather then this year) that you could possible race every weekend between Pittrace, Lorain, Fremont, Thompson, and Quaker.
This is KEY. They have to work together.
Thompson, Lorain, Quaker City and Fremont need to try their best not to schedule overtop of each other.
Part of this is also coming together on rules, mainly tires. The Hoosier R60B and the MG Red are the dominant tires in the region. These new tracks need to either adopt an “open-spec” policy like the BKS and Fremont, or pick one of those two tires.
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Disclaimer: I hope everything I type is dead wrong and everyone in this thread gets to comeback and say we told you so…
I think the thing to remember here is that no matter how well the tracks play together, the market can only produce so many karters. Most will only support one track. That could be for a ton of reasons. For example, a 10-14 race schedule at one track is already a full schedule for a hobby, no need to travel elsewhere. OR Garage/storage at one track and no desire/need to travel means staying home. etc etc etc.
The perfect example of this scenario right now is Whiteland and New Castle. They have the same tire rules, very similar class structures, and do a good job not scheduling on top of each other. However, you still have 2 world class facilities 45 minutes apart with VERY LITTLE crossover. The WRP regulars stay at WRP and the NCMP regulars stay at NCMP.
What I think this means is for NE Ohio, you get 4 tracks with 5 in each class instead of 1 track with 20 in a class. And that makes it hard to grow.
I too hope the tracks work together. However, history shows they wont. And math says even if they do it wont be as popular as we all hope they become.
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Well we can only hope for the best ???
@fatboy1dh is spot on. This is what happens in the modern karting market. there are very few racers that travel away from the home track every without a garage at the facility.
There will be kart storage at LOK. And the only other track is 60 miles from Lorain Ohio and PItt is 120 miles
Historically speaking you are dead right Derek. I think the difference here are the markets in play. Whiteland and New Castle both draw from what is effectively the greater Indianapolis market (2.6 million) with some dip in to Cincy/Dayton and maybe Louisville. While Motorsports is not an oddity in that market, it’s still a tiny market.
The PA/OH market is Pittsburgh (2.4 million), Cleveland/Akron/Canton (3.7 million) with our 2 hour outliers being Buffalo, Detroit, Columbus, Morgantown, Wheeling, Erie.
Plus the number of indoor karting facilities feeding in to these potential tracks is strong 9-10 at my count within that same bubble vs 4-5 in the Indy/Lousville/Cincy market.
Growth takes work and a dedication to providing the services and infrastructure to bring new people in to the sport. And a lot of coordination.
I’m optimistic - but very cautiously so.
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