Anyone interested in some awesome shifter kart racing come on down to Homestead Speedway this weekend for the first race of the Winter Tour. This is not just a regular local race most of the big dogs will be here from all over the US and beyond getting some track time for the upcoming season.

The track is set up in one of the huge parking lots not in the Speedway itself,you can just park by the fence and watch if you're broke like me and dont want to pay to get in to the pit area although if this is your first time to a kart race it might be worth it to go and check out these beasts up close . I'll probably be set up by the fence all weekend,just look for a red GSR if anyone wants to hang out.

 

im interested, how do i start getting into shifter karts anyways? i dunno where to buy one or if i gotta go to school for it somewhere, please let me know

 

Joe,I would not recommend starting off in a shifter kart,I would suggest Easykart or Rotax,those would let you learn the fundamentals of karting a lot quicker than a shifter which are tough to just jump into and get up to speed. A school is'nt required although it would'nt be a bad idea. Although I had made this post a year ago the first Winter Tour race is actually this weekend 22 & 23 as well. Look for the Rysa Racing tent and talk to Rudy and he can hook you up with whatever kart you might want to go with,hope to see you there.

 

You don't want to start out in Shifter Karts.

Start out with a single speed kart. No worries, they are plenty fast (365 lbs and 28 Hp for a Rotax Spec kart).

If you've got a local kart track, and by that I mean a real kart track, not a rental place, just go by there and talk to the guys that are already doing it. This is also a great way to find good used equipment as guys are always upgrading and you can usually find a very nice used kart for thousands less than you'd pay for a new one.

After that, just show up and race. At the club level the only licensing requirements are really safety related. At my local track, new racers simply have to start from the back of the pack for 12 races and be signed off after each race. Once thats done, you're set to race in the Club Series.

I'd recommend you looking for a KT100 engined kart (thats a 100cc yamaha) if you don't have $2500+ to spend. Find your local karting store and figure out what chassis they sell, once you know that you'll know what to look for. If you can afford a Rotax engined kart or another of the TaG (electric start, TaG stands for Touch and Go) engines.

Good luck and have fun. Karting is by far the best way to improve your driving/racing skills and is incredibly cheap when compared to racing a car.

 

I ended up finishing the race on the road adjacent to the track there last year.

Here is the topic with all the details.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=734355

Overall, it was an awesome weekend and a great course.

I'll be dedicating myself to just road racing this year. Just got back from Daytona a couple of weeks ago and will be heading off to Kershaw in about a month or so.

If you see Rudy, tell him I said hi. I wonder if he still remembers me.

Later,

AJ Nealey

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joek84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im interested, how do i start getting into shifter karts anyways? i dunno where to buy one or if i gotta go to school for it somewhere, please let me know</TD></TR></TABLE>

Joe, just for comparison reasons. A Rotax kart will out perform a C5 Vette on a track.

 

thanks for all the help. I was told there's a kart place somewhere between west palm beach and broward in south florida. Couldn't find out the name of it though. I prob woulda checked out the races this weekend but i was busy sleeping in and going out at night cause it was my 21st bday. you guys know of any kart stores i should check out around the miami area. thanks again.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Littleton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Joe, just for comparison reasons. A Rotax kart will out perform a C5 Vette on a track.</TD></TR></TABLE>

do you have any more details on it vs a c5 vette? I'm trying to get into the sport

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Littleton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Joe, just for comparison reasons. A Rotax kart will out perform a C5 Vette on a track.</TD></TR></TABLE>



How much do those commonly go for used?

 

http://www.ekartingnews.com

Check the classifieds, Rotax and other TaG karts come up for sale all the time in almost every region of the country.

However, before purchasing anything, I suggest you visit your local shop, find out what chassis and engines they support/service and look in that direction when you decide to buy. It'll be a lot easier tuning it and getting it serviced if the local shop knows exactly what you own and how it responds to changes.

 

so there's no karting event until april around south florida. there any other one's in the state other than all the way up at jacksonville? I think i wanna get into racing the yamaha kt100s, that right? lemme know, thanks

 

try shifter magazine or karting. There is a Tony Kart Team here in Tampa. Always have used ones for sale.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joek84 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so there's no karting event until april around south florida. there any other one's in the state other than all the way up at jacksonville? I think i wanna get into racing the yamaha kt100s, that right? lemme know, thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

A good cheap way to test the waters of karting is throught http://www.race-sport.net

The owner of the place is amweiss on here, his store is located in Boca Raton. Anyways, you can rent shifter karts by the half hour and you race them at Moroso. If you guys didn't know, Moroso now has a Kart track.