Karting 101

The sensation of speed is about more than numbers. When you travel in an airliner, you may be moving through the air at 500 miles per hour – but it hardly feels like you’re moving at all. But remember those times when you’ve been flying down a hill on your bicycle – it feels like you’re going impossibly fast. You may only reach speeds of 15 or 20 mph, but the sensation of speed is amplified by the situation. That’s one of the tricks that makes karting so much fun.

Karting is a sport, like most motorsports, that has many levels and varieties, from pure amateur to professional. The cost of entry can be very low — $15 or $20 for an afternoon of indoor electric karting with rented go-karts and equipment. For serious karters, the prices can escalate quickly, from kart purchases to track time and training to transportation to race entry fees. Many professional race car drivers started out in karts and on the karting circuit as kids, some as young as five or six years old. The skills that they learned in karting transferred directly to their careers in bigger vehicles, forming the foundation for how they competed in the future.

The World Karting Association is the organization “for racers to enjoy all aspects of Karting in the USA,” according to their website. “Providing regulations, instruction and venues for fair and safe karting competition in the USA, WKA has a place for everyone in karting. Whether you want the pure thrill of speed and the competition of racing, or the atmosphere of family and friends, or the ethics of learning to work karting events, WKA and karting are for you!”

The WKA promotes recreational karting, like the kind you find at indoor karting centers and at local outdoor kart tracks. Karting centers and tracks are a great place to explore the sport, and to get instruction and training to become a better driver.

If you, or your kids, become interested in taking the next step from recreational to competitive kart racing, the WKA has resources for that, too. Karting operates on a ladder of competition. Drivers climb the ladder as they get older, accumulate skills and achievements, and proceed from local events to regional, national and even international competitions.

There are several WKA racing series in the U.S., with events held all over the country: the Manufacturer’s Cup Series; Speedway Dirt; and the Road Racing Series.

The key element that all karting events have in common is fun, and the amazing sensation of speed that can be experienced while driving a tiny vehicle just inches above the ground. Be careful – this kind of fun is addictive, and kids can build skills very quickly. It’s the kind of sport where your children will soon have an advantage over you – adult body weight can make a kart slower. Be ready to get passed by your 10 year old.