South Texas Speedway Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 This Wednesday we would like to have a meeting with any interested parents. We are going to start with 2 age groups basically 5-8 and 9-13. The track is cut and being worked on, we will have it ready soon. We want to meet to discuss which kart to use and how we can build some rules to start with. We will meet at the track in the infield at 6:00 Wednesday. Please come with an open mind ready to discuss all options. thanks Owen [pic added by Nick Holt at request of poster] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Texas Speedway Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Basic thought about rules around rules for the 5-8 year olds. 5 to 8 year old class Frames Any production & Custom frame allowed. Must be made of steel. No aluminum or titanium. Champ karts ok. No suspension karts. Body Bodies are optional. Fiberglass, Aluminum or steel bodies. A Wing may be run on roof of Kart. Feet must be protected with nose cone or tubing. Suspension No Suspension/shock/spring allowed. Bumpers and Nerf Bars - Mandatory Front and rear bumpers of max. 1” O.D. tubing are required and must cover ½ of the tires and may not exceed past the outside of tires. Nerf bars are of max 1” O.D. tubing are required and may not extend past the outside of tires. Bumpers and nerf bars must have rounded ends. No sharp edges. Roll Cages A roll cage is required Cage must be constructed of minimum ¾ in O.D. Cage must be securely mounted to the frame. Wheels Any steel or aluminum wheels allowed. Wheel spacers between the wheel and HUB are not allowed. Tires Turf -type Tires only. (15x6x6.50 is max size) No after-market racing tires are allowed. Fuel Gasoline only. No methanol. Drive train Must be live axle type Must be chain or belt driven Chain guard must be in place between chain and driver Brakes Must have a minimum (2) rear wheel brakes. Brakes must be in good working order. Must have guard in place over brake rotor. Engine Block Up to 3.5hp motors Stock blocks only May remove governor, choke, and change air filter to racing filter design. Keyway must be in stock position. Flywheel must be stock Carburetion Stock Carburetors only. No Tilloston or Mikuni carburetors. Any exhaust is allowed. Must have flanged end These are the same as the RGS 3hp stock class. The rules for the 9-13 year olds will basically be the same but will be up to 5.5 hp. Hope this makes sense we will be discussing Wednesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8G RACING FAMILY Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 COUNT US IN JUST TO FAR FOR MEETING TELL US HOW IT GOES ITS A GREAT THING U R DOING 4 THOSE KIDS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claybuster Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Count me, I mean my boy in. I can not attend tomorrow night, can not get there by 6. Anyone that has any info on the cage carts for 5-8, please pass along. I have been looking but not finding a whole lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Photo added in 1st post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Williams Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 same here, very intrested but cannot come to meeting. track looks good too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Texas Speedway Posted February 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 We will post our findings from the meeting tomorrow. I hope to work out any rules issues and decide on how we can get some karts on the track as soon as possible. Have to give a big Thanks to Chuck Perry, Steve Grantz and Joey Heinaman for helping get this track built. Get them Children ready to race, this is going to be a blast. Owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champkrt1 Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Track looks great Owen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Nut Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Lookin' good. Excited to see some kids go at it in the dirt. RN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbinsSr Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 Track looks great,,,I think every short track should do something simular for the kids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjf Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Owen how about a kart class for the over 50 bunch? WHAT YOU THINK ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallracing2003 Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 COUNT US IN JUST TO FAR FOR MEETING TELL US HOW IT GOES ITS A GREAT THING U R DOING 4 THOSE KIDS If you are talking about karts and parts... there are a few companies that make the quarter midgets, but mostly for asphalt. Alot of these karts down at RGS are home made, or they took an asphalt kart, solid axle types without any suspension, and modified them, or just welded on a 1 inch tubing roll cage. If I find some websites.. I'll post them... I have a RGS dirt kart, it's a top quality kart that I bought from the Driveline guys, if anyone is interested I am selling the complete kart, race ready for $1500.00 It has a hot rodded Briggs/Stratton engine with all the top of the line racing parts on the kart itself, new tires and wheels, etc.. new electric starter, etc... engine runs great and runs on methanol currently, but can be setup to run pump gas with the change of a carb jet. The only problem I have had with the cart is the exhaust pipe bolts and the carburator bolts, after a few races you need to tighten them back up from all the vibration. It would be better if the bolt holes were re-tapped or heli-coiled, then some type of brace fastened on to keep things in place. A stock Briggs & Stratton, or any side shaft engine could easily be mounted on to run as a "stock class" kart as opposed to the outlaw open class it was running previously. If anyone is interested, PM me and I will send you more detailed photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon14 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Do these go karts have seat belts since they have a roll cage? If so, what kind of seats are they using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frontstraight Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Do these go karts have seat belts since they have a roll cage? If so, what kind of seats are they using? In McAllen we do require at least four point belts. The roll cage is good, but no enough to keep the kids inside when one goes over, and they do go over alot. In one of my karts I have a Kirkey kid seat, in the other I have a "toddler" sized car seat, both are easily fit with racing harnesses. The harness is available through the race place, or through one of the many kart sites like TSW.com. Another thing to look for is the fitment of the helmets. Kids helmets are harder to find, but we have had a couple that have lost their helmets in roll overs. Make sure that the childs cheeks are compressed some and that the chin strap is fastened and tight. The one thing that baffles me is how many people will put their kids out on a track with haphazzard roll cages (had one guy with loosely bolted on 3/4" conduit) or with a lack of safety equipment. I know that I have spent as much on firesuits, neck braces, arm restraints and helmets as I have spent on many of the carts. Please do not cut corners with the kids. They don't know any better, but you should. The decisions you make can possibly have a great affect on you child for the rest of their life. Luckily we have never had a serious injury with the kids, and have had plenty of violent roll overs and crashes. If you wouldn't run without it, don't let your kids. By the way, if you are looking for tires for your carts I am the sales manager for Pueblo Tires. We currently have a location in Alice, soon to by in Kingsville and by the end of the year in Annaville. We sell the tires for the carts at a discounted rate, right around $14.00 each. Let me know by pm or email, or call my cell phone and I will make sure that the store closest to you knows you are coming and you will be taken care of. Mike Braaten Cell 956-227-6868 email: mike@pueblotires.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon14 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Thanks frontstraight, thats some good information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claybuster Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Was there anything discussed or established at the meeting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallracing2003 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Do these go karts have seat belts since they have a roll cage? If so, what kind of seats are they using? The kart I have for sale has a kirkey racing seat, new 5 point harness (Same ones you put in your stock car), plus arm and leg restraint straps. When one of these karts rolls over, the first thing to fly out are arms and legs... having them arm and leg restraints keeps the legs and arms from moving anywhere other than enough room to steer and foot the pedals, and in case they need to get out quick, the harness has the standard quick release and the arm and leg restraints have a large steel hoop about 2 inches in diameter that hooks into the 5 point harness, and when you release the lever everything comes loose so they can get out quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poorboy Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Do these go karts have seat belts since they have a roll cage? If so, what kind of seats are they using? The kart I have for sale has a kirkey racing seat, new 5 point harness (Same ones you put in your stock car), plus arm and leg restraint straps. When one of these karts rolls over, the first thing to fly out are arms and legs... having them arm and leg restraints keeps the legs and arms from moving anywhere other than enough room to steer and foot the pedals, and in case they need to get out quick, the harness has the standard quick release and the arm and leg restraints have a large steel hoop about 2 inches in diameter that hooks into the 5 point harness, and when you release the lever everything comes loose so they can get out quick. check you PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Texas Speedway Posted February 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 At the meeting we went over what we were going to do with the rules and what the plan was as far as when to run the karts during the program. The karts will run their heats immediatly following the big cars hot lap sessions and the kart features will be at intermission. As far as the rules, there will only be one motor allowed it can be found at Harbor frieght for $129.99 and you can by a warranty for it. It is a 6.5 HP Central Machiney (Harbor Freight Item # 96549-1VGA) motor. THIS WILL BE THE ONLY MOTOR ALLOWED. The track wil also be buying a couple of these motors to swap out with winners just to keep things on the up and up. Only changes to this motor will be air cleaner and exhaust. Everything else in the rules currently conforms to the Valley rules with the exception of the tires, we are not sure exactly what we are going to do for sure no racing tires but not sure if we will run the turf slick or the wider turf like the valley. Running the narrower turf slick could save on wheel cost. Other than that it is pretty straight forward have already had alot of smiling young faces making laps getting ready to go. I have sent the official STS rules to Jason for updating the website he will get them up when he has time. As of right now we will have 2 age groups and if it looks like we need to adjust we will. Also we are looking at some type of restictor plate for either the exhaust or the intake to slow down the younger children, the motor is fairly fast and we want to be safe. Also the part everyone does not like, everyone involved just like with a big car will be required to buy a pit pass so if you plan to bring your child to race a kart they will be required to buy a pit pass for $25, I know it is crazy to think the track has to make money to stay alive but it does, sorry. Thanks Owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt8435 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 i's like to see a picture of one of these machines just to get an idea of what they look like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
champkrt1 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 Here are some of the machines that ran at RGS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallracing2003 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 i's like to see a picture of one of these machines just to get an idea of what they look like Here are some up close shots of our kart, a bit dirty still from the last time my son raced it. It currently has the open class engine on it, but for $129 at Harbor Freight, you can't beat it for a 6.5 HP engine. Like Owen stated, just pay for that warranty and you'll be fine. This particular kart has the hydraulic disc brake, adjustable wedge knob on right front (which can be locked or removed if your class does not allow) and it has the wide turf tires ($14 each from Pueblo... can't beat it), racing centrifugal clutch, oversize rear axle chain gear, kirkey aluminum seat, 5 point harness and 4 arm and leg restraints., just so you know what you are looking at if it's not too clear in the photos. http://www.putfile.com/album/176641 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt8435 Posted February 13, 2008 Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 thanks. pretty cool little machines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racevw112 Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Here's a pic of what our boys ran in 2007. Our oldest turned 16 and is not eligible to run carts this year, so we've reskinned the 27 cart and turned it into the 86. Run in North Texas at Cowtown Speedway. If interested in another set of rules as your program grows, you can find it at http://www.cowtownspeedway.com/karts.html. The run their big car show on Saturday nights and their cart show on Friday nights. Pretty cool on the carts, with the cart track in the certer of the infield like this one, we all park our tow trucks and trailers on the big track on Friday nights. We started in 2003 or 2004 and there was anywhere between 100 and 130 carts a night. This has fallen off to around 70 - 80 over the past few years, much like the big car racing has. Track charges $10 a night for pit passes, gives 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies. New for the 2008 year is a $5.00 draw fee in an effort to bring in more funding without raising pit fees. Most carts have Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, etc. with them, so it does add up and help supplement the income for the Saturday night show. It's a good program! Good luck getting it all going. I think you'll really enjoy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallracing2003 Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Here's a pic of what our boys ran in 2007. Our oldest turned 16 and is not eligible to run carts this year, so we've reskinned the 27 cart and turned it into the 86. Very nice karts... awesome what you can do with a little sheet metal work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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