With the cancellations of mg tires 200 today it got me to think how healthy is our beloved sport right now? from where i sit in the Midwest its one unfortunate blow away from not existing. low club number and series abandoning tracks that once supported them, as i move towards the east things look better but are they? seems like there’s just too much racing going on and not near enough drivers to support it. i don’t mean to sound negative but i am curious what everyone thinks
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Regional and national numbers are strong as ever and our local club gets great numbers still. A BUNCH of really nice tracks are popping up, especially in the Midwest. I’m actually pretty positive on the state of the sport.
I think the sport is pretty healthy but the 200 has struggled to draw entries for years. I think one-offs like that are struggling. Most people are racing series and championships and not doing the “fun” events anymore.
I think having the 200 at the end of the year also hurts. Everyone’s budget is already gone.
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I agree with TJ that the health of the sport is generally good, despite the increasing expense. At our club, you’ll see a yo-yo of class numbers, but the overall participation is strong.
My fear would be the national scene. That’s ungodly expensive, racing for trophies. At some point, do those families throw in the towel, or move into cars?
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is there a world going forward where Fun one off events can still happen? for me its nice to race wheel to wheel not having any championship implications and having a quick one off race day is fun. we raced at badger for the Thor’s throwdown i found that event enjoyable low pressure but lots of fun kind of deal.
As long as the one-offs provide an experience that is fun and varied to series races, I think they will continue on. Street tracks, unique formats, and prizes can all be enticing and offer different experiences than you get on a typical race weekend with a series.
I hope races like Rock Island, Quincy, the Throwdown etc. stick around for a long time because they are fun and that should be the core barometer of success in karting.
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I think that’s 80% of the issue. Plus two really big and expensive Vegas races right around the corner. You gotta pick one or the other.
As the demographics of karting get ever younger, and with such a high turnover of drivers, the cultural memory of events like the 200 has evaporated. Endurance races (esp 2-stroke) were very much the norm in the 1960s and ’70s, and that cultural influence carried on into the following decades. But now? People have forgotten, or were never even aware in the first place.
With the focus shifting to IndyCar drivers and other motorsport “stars,” I don’t see much motivation for dedicated adult karters to compete either. Personally, I’d always adopt a “karters first” strategy, and I don’t see that here.
The prize money looked impressive, but to make the 200 work you’d need a long-term strategy to redevelop endurance karting. Without that, what’s the market? It’s the same problem superkarts face: an over-reliance on cultural memory instead of building a new one.
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I think it is also a function of the bifurcation into privateer-driven club racing, and everything “above” that being more team-driven than it was 10-15 years ago. If teams don’t have this type of event planned into their schedule, then many racers aren’t going to attend. Folks seem more likely to fall into one camp or the other, with the latter also being spread thin and probably running out of $$$ at this point in the year.
Additionally, the old days of the Robopong 200 had a strong local turnout, as TAG was much more proliferated. These days the local kart counts for KA100 are very low at NCMP, relative to the old TAG classes. Frankly, i think the turnout would be much better if they made the 200 a Briggs race…
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I suspect you’re probably bang on the money there.
I know there’s negative connotation to those briggs statements, but you guys are right. Why would we not use the engine that has the biggest (not best) pool of drivers or teams or even privateers? I know they had a 206 support class scheduled. I have suspicions that entries were larger for it than they were for the 200.
I always associated the 200 with being a high-performance 2-stroke affair. The 4-stroke scene has a very different vibe. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with the 2-stroke side of things. You could argue that the old TaG format at least allowed a demonstration of performance and reliability, creating a kind of competition between the engine distributors - though I’m not sure how much they were actually involved.
A complete spec 2-stroke category, however, feels a bit lame for events like this, because nothing is really being proven. The low-power 4-stroke scene is far more accepting of spec components, but whether that would draw in the big teams is anyone’s guess. Anyway, that’s me off on a tangent.
Personally I’d watch Norberg et al. battle it out in the 6 Hours of Skusa. Teams would be based on tent… ie Norberg would be paired with the other drivers under his tent (not sure who that is these days).
Xander could provide coverage. Since it would be a long race the announcers could have some sort of drinking game going on and get sloshed.
Would be funny seeing something similar to this
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No negative connotation here. The reality of this event is that they need to attract more than just top-level factory entries, and people have to show up that want to compete in the race itself, not just have their eyes on a $25k prize. I see the ideal demographic (which would yield the best turnout) being similar to that of the CKNA Grands, which could have worked from a scheduling standpoint too.
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Would be interesting to know the entry breakdown for the 200 versus the “support” classes, as one of the Saturday races was set to be a 100 lap 206 enduro that had a $5,000 payout to the winner.
Agreed that being “part of the schedule” at the beginning of the season likely has something to do with the lack of entries. Perhaps next year, if they even try again, it’ll be marketed earlier than July. I also imagine many use this time of year as a well-needed break after the summer stretch, because as soon as Rok the Rio and Supernats take place, we’re into the holidays and then right back into the Florida winter series.
i guess that’s one thing i find interesting “taking a break” its not that the sport has, its that the teams need to. is a winter series really necessary? CKNA has a spring and summer nationals why? there’s just too much racing. sometimes less is more right? the MG tire 200 seems like an event that should have massive success. especially for the Briggs 100 race.
I believe you are right. Costs have gotten out of hand not just for the sport but everything so that limits what people can do. I have been in karting for many years an it seems to have its cycles but what I am seeing now is there are less guys who can pretty much do everything to people who have to pay for regular work that effects what people can spend an what they percive. You also had people in the sporrt that sold or worked on syuff more for the love of the sport you are seeing less of that now. I sure hope that it survives so I can watch my grand kids further there times at a track. Time will tell
it seems like the continuation of many of these events hinges a lot on sponsor support as do a lot of things in racing but with the events being more localized then in the past they cant relay on racer registration to “make up “ the cost difference in the event.
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It is the only form of 2 cycle racing in the USA aside from KZ and 20 OKNs
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I think the driver is costs. It’s just so expensive now. I don’t have any national experience besides two CKNA weekend. But I always felt like I couldn’t keep up with these massive teams with 15 karts under the tent. As I didn’t have the money for the extra axles, coaching, and mechanic help.
Tbh I had more fun touring this summer running random club races. It’s nice to show up, practice and run in mid pack a majority of the time. Pitt/QCMP/Lorain did a great job aligning on a uniform ruleset for 206
On the cost note: I ran the 4 hr Enduro last year at Pitt Race… it was a 500$ entry. A big price to pay for 13 entries and a kid kart layout.
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