Not Your Typical Go-Karts

Despite loving cars as a kid, Brian Stuart wasn't ever a big racing fan. In fact, he had no interest in the sport at all. That all changed 12 years ago when he and his seven-year old son got tickets to a NASCAR event at Talladega. His son was instantly hooked. So, of course, dad was too. The two then went to a go-kart race in Winfield. The next thing Stuart knew, he had purchased a go-kart for his son. Over a decade later, Stuart is now the head of Mid-America Speedway Nationals, which hosts races in the area bringing in drivers from all over the country. "All of this cropped up by the need of an organization to run the top quality go-kart racers in the country," Stuart said. "We've got guys from North Carolina, Georgia - you name it, they come to our races." The idea to start the circuit came back in 2006, when Stuart and others had a meeting of the minds to get more people involved with go-kart racing. Now almost three years later, their sanctioning body National Speedway Partnership has become the premiere go-kart circuit in the country. "I got together with the National Speedway Partnership and said we needed to do something," Stuart said. "Somehow or another, it wound up in my lap - that's how we got this started. Just like pee-wee football, kids as young as five can start racing. Age classes go all the way up to 15. After that, drivers move on to the adult level. Similar to NASCAR, the go-kart circuit has a point system to determine a champion based on a five-race series. They hold races at the end of each month and points are determined based on where the drivers finish in the individual races. Lucas Gibbs, a freshman at Udall High School, is currently racing in the 12-15 Junior Three Age Division, which is the highest level for juniors. He got his start ten years ago, almost by luck. "I filled in for my cousin," Gibbs said. "She had gotten in a wreck and was scared to drive, so they asked me to do it and I said yes." It was a smart move for Gibbs, as he was a natural. He won his first race seven years ago at a World Karting Association (another sanctioning body) event in Nebraska. Since then, he's become a six-time national champion, the national points champion and has won four pole awards. While Gibbs has no plans of slowing down and in fact wants to continue to move up the circuit's ladder, he worries about whether or not the circuit will continue to grow due to the struggling economy. "I think it's actually decreased over the last couple of years, because how much it costs to buy fuel," he said. "But I think the hope still is that it will get bigger." The increase in fuel costs has Stuart worried as well. He says what will make driving on the circuit so difficult is that for most, it's just a hobby, so the money prizes are minimal. "Winners are getting just a couple of hundred bucks," Stuart said. "Compare that to the amount they spend, which could sometimes be up to fifty-thousand dollars a year racing and we're always concerned that people will quit coming." As of right now though, the entries for tournaments are still coming in. They had 395 entries for their first race of the season. Compare that to their first race ever, which brought in 270 entries and it's evident that people are becoming more intrigued by the sport. "Still today, most people don't know about us," Stuart said. "That's why we're trying to advertise, so people can look at it and say: 'That looks cool. Let's go watch it.'" Stuart was quick to point out the circuit is not a spectator sport because the go-karts are so small, with eight or nine horsepower motors. When out on a track, the carts can go as fast as 70 mph, at just two inches off the ground. "It feels like you're flying," Stuart said. "But it's not like a place like 81 Speedway, where it's big and loud. Not many spectators come out but if you get a few, then maybe one or two get hooked." Getting people hooked is why Stuart is hosting the Park City Pilgrim Shootout over Thanksgiving weekend, with a five-hundred dollar prize to the winner of each class. After the first of the year, the circuit heads to Kansas City's Kemper Arena for another showcase, which will feature thousands in cash prizes. "Once the parents and the kids get out of the mode that they're going to be the next Jeff Gordon, then it's just fun for everybody," Stuart said. "That's what my family and I do now. I'm doing all of this for my kids."