Learn me: Kids starting karting

Age: 6-8 Region: Southeast (Alabama specifically)

How to dip the toe vs dive in? Leagues and events? New or used karts? Real world costs? Training and practice?

Let's just assume I know nothing (my wife would say that is safe assumption).

Ohh I want more on this too! Self study got me to height requirements which the 5 year old doesn't meet ...yet

My son asked me if he could race karts after we got to far on YouTube watching it.

If you have a rental track near you that allows your kid to drive them at that age and/or size, then do that first. Let them get a feel for it and see if they enjoy it. Driving a kart at that age can be scary. No need to jump head first into something they may not like.

If that's not an option, find a local track and figure out when they have another race and go check out the races. Entry fee's usually $5 and will get you and your kid an insurance band, but give you the chance to walk the pits and talk to lots of drivers, kids and dads.

In Alabama, there's a lot of dirt track. My son races on small asphalt road courses, so I don't have any experience with dirt.

If you decide to "get into it" buy used and look for something called a "kid kart". Age range is 5-7 (or 8) and there's no size restriction.

My son's been doing it almost 10 years and we've been all over the U.S. racing. There's a lot of B.S. out there, so keep that in mind.

I love first time karters because their heads get filled with dreams of their kids racing professionally and get told they HAVE to buy some new "superfast" part to be competitive. I always give them the straight answer of what they need.

It's an awesome sport and the time you'll build with your kid (as long as you're not one of "those" dads) will be worth every penny.

I'm always happy to help and to answer questions.

-Rob

Rent them first. My son is going to our local track this Friday to test it all out. Go to the track. Talk to folks. See if the kid likes it.

That's my plan.

http://stockholmkartingcenter.com

There is an Autobahn here, but he has to be 8 (he's just about to turn 7). So it's awhile before that's practical.

I don't have any dreams of him doing anything other than having fun and maybe getting into the sport.

Is there a SCCA or NASA for karts? Where should I look?

In reply to BradLTL:

Some autocrosses will let you run karts but it depends on the club. Check with the local club about rules.

Scca allows karts to autocross but that's it I think. First thing is find what's close to you. There's about a million different classes out there so figure out what is done close to you then go visit on a practice day

The only thing I can tell you is that I looked into it off and on for years for my boys. We went to the local track where kids ran (this was back when we lived in PA) a few times and talked to a lot of parents, the local message board, etc... The upshot I got was that if you want your kid to be competitive at all, you needed to spend a lot of money, and invest a lot of time. Also, at least from what I was told, there are too many of "those guys" who think their kid is the next Jimmie Johnson. So they are hyper-competitive, including cheating. Rob, I hear what you're saying about buying used and not having to buy the latest/greatest superfast plutonium powered engine. Much of the feedback I got was exactly that, we could buy used. But event that isn't cheap, unless you buy bottom rung equipment, which would make your son a bottom rung driver. Not that I need my kid to win every race, but finishing last every time isn't fun either. Even when buying new, you wind up going against the "my son HAS TO win" fathers, so it takes some of the fun out of it. So between cost, time and the hypercompetitive/cheating aspect of it, I just decided it was a rabbit hole I didn't want to go down. Of course, having said that, I spend a E36 M3 load of money and time in my boys playing football and lacrosse year round...plus a daughter who also plays lacrosse year round.

My boys are now 13 and 10, and still have a passion to race. They constantly beg me to take them to K1 Speed or anywhere they can drive a gokart. The 13 year old is dying to buy something to drive around our golf cart community, and is dead set on running LeMons with me when he turns 16. I guess I need to start getting him into at least some arrive and drive type karting, maybe at a place like Atlanta Motorsports Park. Can't do it a ton, but at least some. No way in hell would I put him on a LeMons track unless he has plenty of experience with car/kart control and more importantly, race traffic management.

That's kid-kart age.

If the local indoor track will let them drive, do that. It's dozens vs hundreds of dollars.

If not, then the only way into the water is with both feet at once. You will want a straight (buy four bathroom scales and check) used kart. You will want a MyChron 4 or 5. You will need the tools needed to work on a passenger car plus a set of Beta T-handle Allen wrenches. You will need helmets and rib/chest protectors. Everything else can be improvised.

If you haven't already I would recommend also posting on Ekartingnews.com (if you are thinking the roadcourse/sprint track) Or 4cycle.com ( they have all disciplines but mainly 4cycle engines and oval). You would probably be in the Kid kart division. The engine chooses are usually Briggs and Stratton, Clone (not sure if it is still popular), Comer and Honda X50. I think the Briggs and Stratton lo206 is a awesome engine and you can continue to use it through the ranks, you just change out the slide and limiter. 2cycle (oil burners) engines in my experience are more expensive and require more work, depending on the track can be more popular and put out more Horsepower.

Klayfish wrote: My boys are now 13 and 10, and still have a passion to race. They constantly beg me to take them to K1 Speed or anywhere they can drive a gokart. The 13 year old is dying to buy something to drive around our golf cart community, and is dead set on running LeMons with me when he turns 16. I guess I need to start getting him into at least some arrive and drive type karting, maybe at a place like Atlanta Motorsports Park. Can't do it a ton, but at least some. No way in hell would I put him on a LeMons track unless he has plenty of experience with car/kart control and more importantly, race traffic management.

Look at your local track and see if they have a Briggs (L0206) or Chonda (knockoff Honda) 4-stroke class as the cost of entry is much cheaper. Most run on used chassis, tires are designed to last a few races and the motors are relatively inexpensive to buy. Around here, it's a pretty big class for any of the club races. Having people to run with makes a huge difference.

I have a lot more I started to post based on my experience in the sport over the past ten years. My son started locally and, because he had some skill, we began going to bigger an bigger races. A LOT of the cost comes into that. Like I tell many people getting into the sport, pray you kid isn't any good, because it gets expensive very quickly.

I realized long ago, that we could run a competitive Formula Vee for about the same thing we were spending on karts. BUT, there's not as much racing, the classes are not as tight and while the day to day costs are about the same cost, accident's are much more expensive. I had a dad raving about how his kid went from karts to circle track cars and how circle track was much cheaper. The entry fee was $5 (vs. generally $500 to $1000 for a big kart race) and the tires last much longer. Then his kid put it in the wall and he mentioned a $60k new chassis and I just laughed.

I'm happy to give some more insight, but it could probably fill up a few pages. If anyone's interested I can type it and if you have specific questions, I can answer those. Or feel free to ping me.

For anyone thinking about it, check out your local tracks and figure out what they run. Too often I see people show up with some motor that nobody else runs. Sure, they'll put them in an equivalent group, but since it's not the same, you don't know if you're faster/slower because of the engine or because of the driver.

Finally, I LOVE this sport even with it's politics and cost. I've been "down in the trenches" for many years and don't show up with a Prevost motor home towing a trailer bigger than my garage at home. I know how to do it as cheap as possible and only spend the big bucks on things that matter. I am more than happy to help anyone thinking about getting into the sport.

-Rob

Buy a Comer 50cc kid kart. Start autocrossing.

Last year the boy was in a baby kart as discussed above

This year I have him in a big boy kart

The logistics of karting at autocross are great - wife tows the kart, and I also get to race. Sure as hell beats karting your little Brayden around for travel soccer.

I have a CRG cadet kart with a low hours Comer K-80 on it sitting in my basement in NE PA. It's suitable for ages 8-12. My boys never really caught the bug so it's been raced only a few weekends and lapped parking lots for a couple hours. It's down there collecting dust for 5 years since everyone's legs grew too long to sit in it.

If anyone wants to fork over $1000 and come get it - it's yours. The motor alone cost more than that. I think the whole thing cost me close to $3k when I bought it back in '08. I'll clean it and make it run before taking your money.

I also have a kart suit, chest protector and neck collar that fits a skinny 12 year old I could dig up and throw in with the package.

If your kids are racing on dirt, and being the age that thier are, I would go ahead and get two older karts instead of a kid kart. The 6 year old will outgrown said kid kart in less than an year. I think the AKRA rules are use down in Alabama and they had a red plate? class for 6-8 year olds. As heavily restricted as a red plate clone is, the engine should last a whole year before it needs a refresh. Tires will need to be prep but using Track Tac will work great on the tires.