Karting business?

Joshua wrote: Are you looking to put in a new track or buy an old one?

New one.

Joshua wrote: Insurance would be a killer, getting enough customers proves to be a challenge in many parts of the country, cost of putting in a race track, multiple rental karts, land to put the track on, etc.

"Enough customers"- seems like there would be a direct correlation between the overhead, the ROI, and the # of customers. This will be a tough formula. It's a small, poor town. But there will be a high racing tourist impact. Would definitely have to have a complicated price schedule to capitalize on the racing events.

"Cost of building track"- Pricey, but probably no where in the country that is lower.

"Land"- not an issue. Land is secured, just have to develop the business.

Joshua wrote: Being in Georgia you are very close to Florida (in case you didn't already know), ...

I'm not even sure how to give a good sarcastic comment to that one!

Joshua wrote: It would be expensive but cool!

Expensive... I'd rather think about ROI than how many dollars. Anything can be paid for if it generates enough receipts.

Does it have to be a kart-only track? Why not a road course in general?

EDIT: You've probably already seen this, but a good resource. http://experiencevir.com/attractions/karting.php

There is already a 2 mile road course on the site. I'm thinking about something smaller in conjunction.

SVreX wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: A couple of old SCCA buddies (a married couple) just opened a place (indoor, and electrics) near VIR, would you like me to contact them and ask?

Sure. Won't turn down any input.

Okay. I'll PM you with their stuff, instead of putting it on the thread.

There was a kart parts business here in Atlanta that bought property and tried for nearly two years to get a shifter kart track built near Road Atlanta, but neighbors shot down every zoning proposal and would not compromise. Hopefully the planned kart facility at Atlanta Motorsports Park will be affordable to non-members.

FGC: Thanks

nderwater: zoning will not be an issue.

SVreX wrote: There is already a 2 mile road course on the site. I'm thinking about something smaller in conjunction.

There is already a 2 mile road course on site? Where is this going to be located? Is it an old abandoned course? Would there happen to be a good nursing college near by that I could attend while working corners!?!?

It seems like in California kart tracks capitalize on more than just karts, they run pocket rockets or "Blata bikes" or whatever they're called, some even host drifting events if I remember right.

Keep an eye out on eKartingnews, I think that may have been where I saw fleets go up for sale in the past.

SVreX, did I send you that PM? I can't remember.

Yes you did. Thank you.

One thing I would suggest, if you do the track outside, is provide some runoff area between the track and the tire wall. it will make the track feel a bit bigger, and leaves some margin for error for those who overcook a corner. anyone who has been to VIR's kart track recently can attest to this, most all of their corners have lots of runoff, and as such the track genuinely feels big.

Also, if you can work some elevation change into the track, do it, along with some banking in the corners, and kerbing on the inside at the apex and then on the outside at corner exit, and make the inner kerbing tall enough that you can use it to help the karts turn, especially in the tighter corners.

regarding the karts, I would reccomend something with an adjustable pedal location, rather than the ability to slide the seat fore and aft. this lets the karts stay relatively balanced front-to-rear, yet still allows enough adjustment to accomidate people of most/all heights. Also, I would reccomend using a butterfly steering wheel that is about the same diameter as the steering wheel on the karts at any American Indoor Karting location if you have one near you, or a Logitech G25/G27 if you don't. much smaller than that and you will end up jacked after a 15 minute session, much bigger than that and it will be like driving a city bus, and the wheel being a butterfly wheel should give a bit better visibility, especially for the shorter drivers out there

Interesting - rex, since you know the MidGA SCCA, you may be familliar with the "Family fun Raceway" on HWY 247 in Warner Robins, or maybe you aren't.

It originally opened when I was in high school and has a SHORT outdoor figure 8 track, so small you can easily throw a racing helmet over the entire track. They've gone out of business, sat vacant, and reopened like 5 times over the last 15 yrs. I just noticed they opened agin this week.

The track was so short and boring that it was never worth the money. It has to be a kids-only affair and if you don't get the adults in you won't stay afloat.

If it happens for you, let me know where. I'll bring the guys up and we'll burn some dinos. I've never had the pleasure of driving a fast kart.

ultraclyde wrote: If it happens for you, let me know where. I'll bring the guys up and we'll burn some dinos. I've never had the pleasure of driving a fast kart.

Ditto that. I'm intrigued to find out more about the location you're scouting, once you're ready to divulge the details.

nderwater wrote:

ultraclyde wrote: If it happens for you, let me know where. I'll bring the guys up and we'll burn some dinos. I've never had the pleasure of driving a fast kart.

Ditto that. I'm intrigued to find out more about the location you're scouting, once you're ready to divulge the details.

x3. When you started talking about a course already on the property, I was instantly stoked. I lived in Macon (MidGa Region's nice folks!) for half a minute, but have to admit I spent most of my time running around to Atlanta, Charlotte and Savannah on my days off instead of staying in town and looking for stuff to do (peak of my SCCA Corner Worker days).

SVreX wrote: Yes you did. Thank you.

You're more than welcome, sir. Jeez, I hope this comes together the way you want it to!

Would it be worth staging races for carts that are WKA type customer owned ones? Seems Kart tracks do ok but add to the Kart track a proper fun arrive and drive environment for downtime and busy real race weekends and you may have a winner

nocones wrote: Would it be worth staging races for carts that are WKA type customer owned ones? Seems Kart tracks do ok but add to the Kart track a proper fun arrive and drive environment for downtime and busy real race weekends and you may have a winner

+1