I think there will be others that will eventually take over as the “old sages” of the sport. However, what segment of the sport these future gurus represent is another question.
Kart racing here has seen a shift in culture from one individual pitting from the back of a pickup truck (or small trailer), to big-tent, tractor-trailer, high-$$$, professional layouts. That may be a broad generalization, but anyone in the sport of karting for a while has seen a change.
One would assume the change in leaders in karting may reflect the shift mentioned above.The question is, will this change be beneficial for us? Maybe for the higher-end clientele that the bigger outfits serve, but for the rest of us, I’m not sure. I’ll admit I have my doubts.
Having said that, I can say from personal experience here, there are still many kart dealers, club/series owners, track operators, etc., that are extremely helpful, and do it because they love karting like you said, and it’s much appreciated.