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As I try to learn more about the world of karting I been reading about different national and international groups and sanctioning bodies. It reads a little like alphabet soup. Most of my motorcyce racing was affiliated with the AMA for sanctioning and insurance. Can anyone tell me what sanctioning/insurance group(s) the CSC and the individual tracks belong to? Thanks.
The CSC is not sanctioned by any national organization. It uses SKUSA, Tag USA, and WKA rules as a basis for it’s rules package. IMI, GJMS, and Bandi all use NKA for their insurance (at least, they did last I knew), as virtually everybody in karting does.
Hmn. Seems strange. Is there a good reason why the local clubs shy away from any national affiliation? It looks like they lean on the organizations for rules but don’t take the next step of actual participation. Not knowing any of the national organizations I don’t know what the benefits or disadvantages of membership would be. I suspect, as in other industries, the national organizations provide critical help in building conformity, clarification and steering the future of karting while taking input from local clubs all across the nation. Perhaps the lack of association with national organizations is part of the reason why karting is so confusing in Colorado.
Larry – I can’t say for sure, but I would guess that the track owners are not affiliated with any national organization due to the fact the national organizations are all crap. They want money to be a member, but they give you absolutley no support. WKA seems to be the best, but they are still weak.
Again, I’m not familar with the organziations or their history but it would seem they are best positioned to make things simplier and help the industry grow. I was reading through the current issue of National Kart News and found Alex Barron’s article especially true for me. His lifetime of invovlement in karting has led him to believe people are turned off by karting or leave prematurely because things are so confusing. He believes there are way too many classes dictated by small local shops without any national affiliations. He believes we need to support and build the big national bodies. He goes on, “When everything is simplified, there’s direction. That’s what makes it (karting) interesting.” I agree.
Larry
I wish that there was a sanctioning organization for karting that was as good as the AMA but the truth is there is not. It has always come down to what classes the promoters and kart shops support in their area. This support is what drives the new racers into the type of classes they run. We used to have many Yamaha engines running in Colorado but my shop was the only one who really supported the class. When shifter karts and TAG karts became popular the Yamaha class dried up. With the CSC series we are trying to accommodate the majority of racers interest and classes that they support. We cannot be everything for everyone but this series is the closet I have seen in my 35 years of karting to uniting the kart racers of Colorado. There are some growing pains but overall I am very pleased with the results to far. You will always have critics who are not happy no matter what you do. It is up to all of us to make it better and it will be, it is getting better every year. I would not get frustrated listening to the whiners you will always have them.
None of the national organizations have ever made anything simpler, only more divided. Until there is a organization similar to the CIK in Europe karting will always be fragmented in the USA. Karting in the USA has been confusing since I was a kid and probably always will be. Karting is much more technical than motorcycles and does not have the volume of sales or the support of large manufacturers to support an organization similar to the AMA. There simply are no large manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha and the like, this sport is too small.Thanks for the perspective. It is very well articulated and you raise a good point. In thinking about the motorcycling and karting industries one of the clear differences is the lack of large manufactures in karting. Certainly, the AMA would not be what it is without the vast support they get from the manufactures. I?m personally aware of the huge amount of time, resources and energy the manufactures put into motorcycling. The AMA (and it has problems too) would not be successful without the support of both the manufactures and motorcyclists. It makes sense that without the support of large, profitable manufactures it will be nearly impossible to create a single organization strong enough to drive the future of karting in the USA.
I also wasn?t aware that the market for karting was so small. I think I read somewhere recently that there are about 100,000 karters in the USA. Gee, the AMA?s membership alone is two and half times that. The other thing that baffles me, given the size of the market, is the number of different national organizations. I?ve already come across the following organizations: WKA, IKF, Stars, KART, RMAX, SKUSA, TaG USA, ROK, IRA. And I?ve just started looking into this. I suspect that until/unless there is a major shake-out AND a huge infusion of new karters that the goal of having more widespread conformity is still a bit of wishful thinking. Unitl then, I guess we need to enjoy and appreciate what we have while striving toward continuous improvement.
100,000 would be nice, that would be 2000 per state. There are many states with less than 100 and some with no tracks to race at all. I would say the number is closer to 30,000-35,000. There is alot of turnover in this sport with the average karter racing about 3 years. This leaves many used karts available which keep being resold many times. There are probably more karts in the garage than are racing.
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