Hi Gang, Just wanted to give you a heads up on a new racing circuit being opened in the spring/summer of 2011 in Dallas. I think we get a post on here about every 3 months about someone who wants to build a circuit or might build a circuit or definitly wishes they had a circuit, so I have held off until on letting this one out of the bag until I knew it was going forward. One of my kart racing buddies/competitors has taken the plunge to building a new state of the art .8 tenths of a mile karting circuit in Rockwall/Rowlett area. The track is going to have 17 turns and the potential for a number of layouts. While .8 tenths would be short for a car circuit, .8 tenths is on the long side for a kart track. While the track is a proper outdoor karting facility (no bumpers or slick track), there is meant to be concession karts available. There are a few overhead maps of the track floating around that I haven't been able to locate, but in order to prove that things are in fact happening take a ride on this mini helicopter and check out the work being done last Friday. (turn the volume down as the noise is very annoying!!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iYuJ47WOyY Cheers MJDrive
When I had my shifter kart well actually before I baught it I would always go out to our local track and was always offered rides, karters are a great bunch of folks and generous beyond beliefe. This is were I used to run my kart at and you can see the new portion added; http://www.racekarts.com/Track/Layout.html My very first time driving a kart was in a 100cc and the guys were amazed that I came within 2 sec's of the lap record for that class, God I miss my kart.
On Sunday I went with one of the partners to the new facility and had a look around at the site and the progress going on. There are certainly some things happening! The facility is just off I-30, east of Lake Ray Hubbard (47 minutes from my tollway/635 launching point). They are planning on having 30 concession karts available for rental on the track. As opposed to the standard fare smash/bash style rental karts they are going with a French manufactured Sodi kart, which actually looks and handles like a real racing kart while being powered by a 270cc Honda 4-cycle motor equipped with an automatic variable drive transmission (read: they should be rapid!). http://www.sodikart.com/gb/kart/rental-karts/sodi-kart-rx7,3,97.html Made a quick video to show a ground view of the 'pro shop', but lots of cold and wind cut down on video quality. http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=905915481190&oid=170006419684314&comments Here is the track map for the facility: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks great. What are the requirements to rent the karts if you have little to no experience? Just observe & learn from others?
Hey Gregg, Glad the track could light the fire! Lambo, I think the rental karts will be the standard requirements: a working pulse, $20-$30 cash and a few minutes to sit through their instructional "don't punt it into a wall video!" If they end up with the Sodi kart rental's they will be top notch: fast, great handling, nothing in common with speed zone. Basically race karts with less power and some extra bodywork/bumpers.
Theyve finished the track! Some onboard video from a customer on the rental karts with data acquisition for you racing techie junkies out there. Im down in Austin, so i havent made it out there yet, but cannot wait! [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSrXfFQIWew&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]
Damn, that is one wobbly kart! Track looks good though, going to have to check it out! Hopefully I dont get banned from this track...
A couple of guys from DFW Auto Club and a few other forums went there this past Saturday for a day at the track. http://www.dfwautoclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9080
I flew over it the other day. Right near the Caddo Mills (7F3) airport. I think I'll fly out there some time and stop. Kevin Adds is a great guyf
