Buttonwillow kart GP - Bachelor party cup

[Salt Racer]

What? - Wheel-to-wheel racing in go-karts

Where? - Buttonwillow raceway's kart track

When? - July 16th '05 (at Vince's bachelor party), probably morning to noonish.



Why? - Because my car won't be ready, and I want to drive something. You'll feel the same if you show up as a spectator. And karts are fun.

Cost? - Depends on how many sign up. More competitors, cheapter it gets.

Prize? - Priceless bragging right (you earn it with your superior driving skills, not with money - refer to my sig). If that isn't enough, other prize, such as one free lap dance at a local strip bar and free beer, could also be arranged.


Would be nice if four or more people get in on this deal. If any of car drivers want to take a shot at winning the title of the fastest kart driver (at this event), we'll leave the slots available for you during lunch hour or something.

I am selfishly planning to rent four 4-cycle. karts (cheaper, and slower karts require better driving) for 3~4 hours. If 5 or 6 people sign up, we'll set up some kind of ladder, do a couple of qualifying sessions and a final race. That probably won't take three hours, and everyone can goof around the rest of allotted time.

So who wants to race?

[Matt@RFR]

What's your best guess on pricing?

[Salt Racer]

Four karts for three hours is $325, so if four people sign up, it'll be $81.25 (plus tax, I think) per person.

http://www.sunstatekartsports.com/prices.htm

So far, Brian (Q-ship) and I are definite. I think Vince is interested too (though I think we should let him drive for free).

Also, we'll work out some discount for driving clinic participants since they won't be driving as much as we will.

[Matt@RFR]

Rock on. My Dad and I are in.

[Salt Racer]

Excellent! I'll call up BuRP in a couple of days and reserve karts. We'll work out the final price later and you guys can pay me at the track.

[zbugger]

I'm in for that. Good thing I'm buying a helmet. I'm in for sure on the karts Katz.

[Q ship]

I'm in for that. Good thing I'm buying a helmet. I'm in for sure on the karts Katz.

Allen, don't buy a helmet just yet. Katz can confirm this when he calls but the info I saw was that helmets were included with the kart rental. And as a very wise man pointed out to me a few months ago, the new SA05 standard helmets will be coming out in October.

So you've been practicing, eh Katz? Hmmmm......

[Salt Racer]

I’ll check to see if the price really include helmet. It’s better to wait to buy a brand new helmet, as Brian said. This is the last year of Snell 00, and 05 will be on sale in October. Snell 00 will be good for another five years so if you intend to use it frequently, you can probably justify the cost. If you need a helmet to go for a ride in somebody’s car, you can borrow mine (Simpson 7-3/8, ie large) as long as I'm screwing around in the pit area.

OK, so far we have…
Allen
Brian
Matt’s pop
Matt
Katz

Here’s my proposed plan. This schedule can accommodate one more person, so if additional two or more sign up, it’ll have to be re-scheduled. Also, this assumes that we’ll have the track to ourselves (which I doubt), or if few others sharing the track agrees with us to run with us in this format. The whole scheduling could very well become pointless, but it’s better to be prepared than showing up to an empty track with no plan. I’d like to use time as efficiently as possible and I really think GP style racing will be much more fun than just showing up and randomly drive the karts around on track. Anyway, here it goes.

Rent karts for 3 hours, starting 9:30AM to 12:30PM or something. We probably should show up by 30 minutes earlier than starting time – I’m sure guys at rental shop will go over some basic/safety stuff, and we should be ready to go, all suited up. We’ll run a bunch of 10-minute sessions with some break in between.

09:30 – 09:40 Practice session
09:45 – 09:50 Practice session
10:00 – 10:10 Qualifying session (Matt’s pop, Matt, Allen, Brian)
10:15 – 10:25 Qualifying session (Allen, Brian, Katz)
10:30 – 10:40 Qualifying session (Matt’s pop, Matt, Katz)

Note: I listed the names just as an example. I assume there’s no ballast available to even out the weight difference. Besides it’ll be PITA to swap ballast after each session, as I’d like to shuffle the karts around between sessions – their karts are probably much better maintained than typical indoor place, but probably there still are subtle differences among them. So instead, weight difference can be used to determine grid for qualifying. Heavier dudes will grid ahead of lighter guys. One extra kart will be available during the 2nd and 3rd qualifying (unless more people sign up). Anyone can hop in, but the results won’t count towards final point. But, this is a good cheating ******* technique as you’ll get more time to fine tune your lines.

10:50 – 11:05 Bachelor party Cup Finals

Note: grid will be determined by sum of points from qualifying. Or if there’s enough difference among karts, points can be used as the right for choosing a kart. And weight can be used to determine grid positions just like qualifying.

11:10 – 11:30 Goofing around


The track seems to be much wider than typical indoor tracks, so I think it’ll be really boring to run just 3 karts in the final. Unless more guys/gals sign up, only one person will be left out, which is kinda cruel, and everyone should get about equal seat time. I thought about something like “The best of also-ran’s cup”, but that probably wouldn’t work well. So we can just use the time slot for goofing around. I’m guessing driving clinic participants will be about to finish the morning sessions by 11:30, and we’ll probably be beat up by then (except for young Allen). We can surrender karts to anyone of clinic participants who want to run for like $10 per 10-min session and the money raised will be evenly distributed to kart cup participants. If nobody wants to hop in, we can keep on driving.

Again, there’s a good chance this scheduling becomes pointless. I’ll wait a couple more days and see if there’s anyone else interested in before I call them up. I’ll let you know when I know more.

Also, suggestions/alternative plans are welcomed and appreciated.

[Mean 69]

Super-Katz,

Do you know what types of karts these are? TAG's? Shifters? Sean has a SWEET shifter, I think he is on track today, I might be able to talk him into a trip. His kart is fast though.... I would imagine they're TAG's (Touch and Go, you can start the thing yourself, mostly with a Rotax engine). Everyone I have ever talked to says that karts are the best thing slicedbread, better even. And yes, ribs will be sore, I have a buddy that broke three!!! after not having been in his shifter for several months. Hell, this sounds as fun as the track deal!

Great idea,
Mark

[vanzuuk1]

Karts are awesome , I had the same plan for my bachelor party but there was a scheduling conflict and it did not happen. You will have a great time but you will be sore the next day. Once again I find myself on the wrong coast.

[Salt Racer]

Incredible-Mark,

I don't know what kind (brand) those karts are. Mechanically, I think they're just plain-Jane kind with 4-stroke motor and centrifugal clutch. Looks like TAG karts are available at extra charge. I might ask them the cost of renting TAG, but more than likely we'll stick with regular kind.

So Sean has a shifter kart too? He's living my dream!!

[Salt Racer]

Well, I just called the kart place and was told that they don't take reservations. Bummer....

I guess we'll just show up and hope we can secure 4~5 karts for three hours.

[Q ship]

Katz, did they say what time they open? Any info on helmets? I probably will do the same as last time and fly in, so I won't be able to get there until around 10 or so, so I doubt I can help getting in line for a kart.

[Nova-Mann]

Wish my son's and I could be there. We have raced there in the past at national events (Stars of Karting) in 125cc ICC class. It is an awsome track. A 125 ICC kart will top out at 90 mph on the straight and flat drive your ribs halfway to the other side of your body in the corners. Really wish we could be there. Don't know about the stripper thing though!

[Salt Racer]

Crap! I forgot to ask about helmet. Guess I better call them back.

...A 125 ICC kart will top out at 90 mph on the straight and flat drive your ribs halfway to the other side of your body in the corners...

Now I'm tempted to rent a 2-stroke kart...
You should come out if your schedule is open. You're closer to Buttonwillow than me (I'm currently in Tacoma).