- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 17 years ago by
.
- Posts
Hello there karters!
I joined a while ago but forgot… Lol, the usual me…
I guess I should introduce myself… My name is Sparky (not in real life!) and I am 13 years old. I am currently involved in SimRacing (Realistic racing PC games that require real life racing tactics). My father is the owner of Colorado Vintage Oval Racers (CVOR). Unlike my dad, I am not showing as much interest in oval raicng than road racing. I mean, yeah, I realize oval racing takes a lot of skill, but road racing is just what interests me more. I am not yet karting but I have tried it at both The Track at Centannial and IMI and I hope to buy a kart within the next 2 years or so.
I guess that sums it up. If you want to contact me then you are most certainly welcome to contact me via MSN, Yahoo Messenger or AIM.
Oh and by the way I have a map for a possible temporary karting track at the Budweiser Events Center in case anyone’s interested… 😀
Sparky — I’m also a “new guy” (see General discussion, “New Old Guy” topic), although I only dimly remember 13, as I’m 57. I was skimming through forum postings today trying to pick up new information about this sport and spotted your introductory posting.
I gather these guys and gals are very welcoming to sport newcomers, as they were to me, and imagine you may not have received a reply to your introductory post yet because it’s located in a bit of an out of the way area (“Just for Fun”), which seems to be largely filled with very amusing oddities (e.g. videos), comments and humor (good lord, do people really use the Beans on Friday Push to Pass technique in Karting? Wow, there’s more to the techniques in this sport than I thought).
These folks have encouraged me to visit the tracks where club events take place, see what and how they race, meet people and ask questions, which I’m already doing whenever possible.
I’ve been to a couple of club races where you can see GOOD amateur racing in many Karting classes, and on my own visits to The Track in Centennial and IMI have met a number of very nice folks.
Last week a bunch of guys who were at The Track when I was out there chugging around in the little pink rentals made a point of introducing themselves and even put me into one of their ROTAX TAG karts so I could have my first taste of real power and performance (which I immediately took off track more than once due to an temporary imbalance between my enthusiasm for the speed it provided and my good judgement. Must be a geezer thing. The kart owner was very patient with me, though, after I drove his nice expensive kart through the dirt stones and dust like an idiot. Again, just another example, I think, of the nice folks in this sport. I hope to balance out more on the side of good judgement if I have an opportunity like that again, before I buy my own little toy).
I’d encourage you to do the same (not the crashing other people’s karts part, the meeting people part…), and, bring your Dad, as I’ve already discovered that a lot of these folks are also current or past racers in other forms of motorsports and I’m sure he’d enjoy that.
This forum seems to be another excellent way to get up to speed on stuff, either through reviewing old postings or posting your own. I’m still trying to get to the point where I know what to ask. 🙂
There are a lot of younger people in this sport, and in many cases they seem to enjoy full family participation and support as well; family teams and all, which I think is way cool. I attended the ROTAX Grand Nationals at The Track this summer and was amazed at how young — and talented — some of these kids are. I hope to be able to say in my later years (I know this is hard for someone of your age to believe, but let me assure you that 57 is definitely *not* your “later years”) that “back in ought-7 I saw that Formula One star when he/she was running in Kart racing.”
Maybe someday you might be one of those guys? Not me, I’m too old and crotchety, slow reflexes, too many years of beer drinking and so on (although the mid-torso spare tire that results helps keep my center of gravity lower when I’m on track). Tell Dad only kidding there, I don’t encourage that sort of disgraceful behavior in young people!
Regardless of your particular long term professional aspirations, what better way to really live life than to learn how to use your skills and talent to go nowhere fast! As one of the forum participants says in his “signature” line, “When you’re racing, it’s life. Anything that happens before or after…it’s just waiting” –Steve McQueen, from the movie “LeMans” about the 24 hours of LeMans.
Good luck and have fun.
Sheldon Potter
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.