Can you please tell me if you have open practice for shifter karts, also do you have a open class for shifter kart modified ? I have a Honda CR250 shifter and wanted to know if you have weekday practice. Not sure what course layout you have. What size course you have for shifters. My cart is standard shifer, not super kart with body and wing. Thanks Mike
Hey Mike. It varies a lot by the area you’re in.
Some tracks offer an open/unlimited class and also have practice available during the week.
It depends on the facility
Hi James, thanks for the info. Who would I ask for more information about practice at Charlotte then? I live in New Jersey and it would be a full day trip to get to the track and then it would be best to stay a day or so for me so I could enjoy the use of the track. My kart is a CRG Road Rebel with a custom honda CR250 with electronic paddle shift. I normally run at OVRP Cuddebackville NY and I have also run at NJMS. Both are great tracks. Any info you can share would be helpful. Thanks again Mike
Lots of shifters at GoPro. Should be fine.
A bit late to the party bit we definitely could use you in the state championship shifter class. We had two guys last race. The serious shifter stuff is the gearup series.
If you aren’t ready to race no big deal you can do just the practice saturdays. I can’t think of a more low key shifter starting point.
Call Marco if you want more info, and discuss your situation.
Our schedule looks like this:
He has a Honda CR250, which is not eligible for the shifter class, ICYMI.
I don’t know of any series that offer an open shifter class where 250cc is eligible. OVRP, NHKA, and NJ State Championship mandate 125cc. Obviously there’s no problem for open practice days!
Ah missed that. Well for turning laps on Saturday it might work.
Now that I think about it, if you’re looking for an actual series to race in, I believe AKRA offers an Unlimited class where the CR250 is eligible. They mostly float around Michigan and Ohio.
1 Like
Yep, basically any road race series. Here’s a list of all road race events:
All of those events and series are covered in the topic I linked. There’s a google calendar too 
I can’t speak for clubs like the NHKA since I not involved in running them, but despite them not having a specific class for 250cc gearbox karts, they tend to be pretty accommodating to at least give other karts a place to race. They obviously won’t stick a kart in a highly competitive class to compete for points that doesn’t comply with the rules, but may let them race independent of any other class racing.
The biggest issues I see that would keep a kart off the track altogether:
The kart is unsafe, it doesn’t meet the safety guidelines the track or club require.
The kart is too loud.
The kart is too fast, thus unsafe. For smaller kart tracks a 250 may not have that issue, but sometimes for example, NHKA races at a track called Canaan, which is essentially a small road course. A 250 may achieve a speed there that might make some people in charge nervous.
And of course, some places may be more inflexible with their racing series than others (Go Pro Motorplex comes to mind).
Best thing to do would be contacting the club in question directly to find the answer.
Thanks for the information. Yes it has been a problem to want to go all out with my 250 shifter. I does go over 100 + mph and it does make some nervous. My kart is perfectly maintained and it is not too loud, however as you have mentioned it does go too fast for some. I have been to Go Pro Motorplex and I did not have a issue with noise or speed. To be honest I could not go full speed because as soon as I stepped on the gas and shifted a few gears it was time to brake so going to fast was not an issue for me. Sounds like a road course is what would be best for me. Problem is trying to get a place that would say yes to that. If you have any suggestions for me in the north east ( New York ) area please let me know. Thanks all the best Mike Stendor
Your best bet is to call tracks in the area: tracks.kartpulse.com
Or find the nearest road course event near you. This topic has been updated with a calendar recently.
Generally a CR250 isn’t much faster (if at all) over a lap on a sprint course vs 125. It’s a more violent ride though 
Paddle shift should be worth some time though.
Otherwise you might have to see if a car or motorcycle series will let you tag along some day. Or save a bunch of cash and just rent a track all to yourself. These are both pretty involved as you can imagine.
I sympathize though, it sucks that you’re not able to find somewhere to stretch it’s legs just yet.
See if you can find some road racers from your way that travel, maybe share transport etc to an event like Mid Ohio?
Also. We need to see this kart… got any video?
1 Like
Hi James, Yes I have some video on my YouTube channel my channel is Mike Stendor I also have some photo’s of the kart on my instagram page. My instagram page is sparkie1213 you are on point though with a local track and the fact it is not really any faster than a 125 shifter but it is hard to control because it is so violent. Wanting to run it out for all it can do is on my bucket list of things to do though.
thanks for your reply Mike
1 Like
Mike, OVRP will definitely be cool with letting you drive during an open practice day. You can see our calendar here:
1 Like
Hi Justin, yes I am a member of OVRP. They are really nice. I do go there a lot. Do you go to OVRP ? If so maybe we can try to go on the same day of the week. I normally go on quiet practice days. Thank you for the information Mike
I’m the race director of OVRP this year, so I’m there quite often. Just shoot me a message when you’ll be there!