I need your help, y'all. A friend of mine and I want to go race go karts this weekend. We live in New York City, and New Jersey is easily accessible. Actually, we both have cars, so we're pretty limitless as far as transportation is concerned.
Does anybody here know of a few places that you can recommend? Here are our primary concerns in order:
1.) It must not suck.
2.) A good variety of tracks and karts is a plus, but one really good set of both might be even better.
3.) Pricing should be "buy a bracelet, ride for X hours" or something simple like that. None of these, "buy purple tickets, ride tracks X, Y, and A for 20 tickets each, but not track H" bull cookies.
Thanks!
Buy my mid-90s Margay Cougar A/C kart w/ 2 Yamaha KT100 engines for a cool G. Spend a couple bills on a seat and odds and ends. Find a big parking lot, bring a couple friends, a hibachi and some beer.
Done.
EDIT: That sounds like it's a twin engine kart. It's not. 2 engines, just one at a time.
Someone i know was just commenting on GPNY, a kart venue just north of NYC, they said it was pretty good.
www.gpny.com
Taking a quick look at it, they are 6.5 hp motors, two courses slightly more than a quarter mile with different possible configurations of each, and a simple pricing layout. That should cover your constraints well enough.
6.5hp will not shock and awe, but it should be enough for a good time.
motomoron, email me jamesc2123 at aol.com with pics and more info?
In reply to confuZion3:
You can do GPNY as suggested. I've been there and it was great. It's indoor, so you can do it in on a cold or wet day.
Also, Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ has a neat outdoor track. My brother has been there with several friends and he said it was awesome.
http://www.racewaypark.com/karting.aspx
Last week I was at NJ Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ (for a vintage race). Some of our racers tried the rent-a-kart track that's there and they had a neat time. It looked really excellent. It's open to the general public (but not a lot of people seem to know about it).
http://www.njmp.com/karting.html
Lime Rock has karts too, but I haven't seen them running when I was there.
http://www.limerock.com/content/events-karting
OVRP, Cuddebackville NY 12729
www.ovrp.com
aeronca65t wrote:
Last week I was at NJ Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ (for a vintage race). Some of our racers tried the rent-a-kart track that's there and they had a neat time. It looked really excellent. It's open to the general public (but not a lot of people seem to know about it).
Yeah, the F1 Karting track. I saw it last time I was there. I almost did it, but I was the only one over there at the time.
I think we'll check out gpny for sure. I'll investigate that tonight.
Thanks, guys! Keep the ideas coming!
I live in North Jersey and Ive done a decent amount of arrive and drive karting in the area. In addition to the places mentioned, there is also Lehigh Valley Grand Prix in Allentown, PA, and V-17 in Hackensack, NJ. Both places are indoors.
V-17 is the closest to you, but I dont like it. I always end up having to wait forever, and their track is very narrow...to the point where you can't pass the person in front of you even if you are significantly faster.
I personally like Lehigh Valley Grand Prix the best, but its pretty far from the city. Both their karts and tracks are good, and they are very good about giving the blue flag to slower drivers (an important thing at the smaller, indoor tracks). GPNY is good, but can sometimes be too narrow. I'm looking to do an endurance race at GPNY on their "Supertrack" in the next couple of months.
Englishtown is great, and after a little bit of experience you can rent their faster, direct drive karts. However it is a lot more expensive than the indoor places, and its generally a whole day thing. Its also usually pretty unorganized, although sometimes that plays out to be a good thing. If you're going to go to englishtown, make sure you call Keith ahead of time and let him know you want to rent karts.
I have not been to Oakland Valley or NJMP. I know they both have arrive and drive sessions though.
I was thinking about going karting on Saturday myself. Post up what you plan on doing, and maybe me and a buddy will meet you.
Hope this helps,
Sean
I'm going this Saturday if it all pans out. If you want to go, PM me your digits and I'll give you a call. (This goes out to all you board members... as long as you're not creepy.)
NJMP and Lehigh Valley Grand Prix are both excellent - A-town gets the nod if its cold or raining but the road course at NJMP is awesome.
I had a LOT of fun at the NJ motorsports park in Millville. They have a nice couple of kart tracks there. Might be a bit far away for you though
Go to GPNY. Its a great place. if i didnt work saturday, id be joining you.
I am off sat the 10th, so if it ends up being postponed, im there.
In reply to confuZion3:
Which place are you planning on heading to? I'll send you a PM with my info.
BTW, I forgot to mention that if cost and time are no object, Englishtown is the best place to go to. They have the best karts, and the best track. But expect to drop some bucks, and spend the entire day there. You can minimize the cost by sharing a rental with your buddy.
