Did you know endurance karting is a thing? I didn’t until I saw an Instagram ad advertising the 7-hour ‘Lucky Lap Enduro’ at the Atlanta Motorsports Park Kart Track. Although I have done plenty of endurance races in racecars, when I saw this event for enduro karting, I had to give it a shot. And overcome a few challenges as well.
Building the Team
Challenge one was building the team. The enduro requires a team of 2 to 4 drivers and a minimum of eight pitstops. Having discovered the event less than seven days out, I immediately hit a snag. The usual suspects, such as my friends and fellow racers, decided to act their ages and declined the invite. Some had valid reasons, like finishing the race prep for the endurance and sprint races we have the following weekend at the National Corvette Museum. The others, well, they thought that 7 hrs in a go-kart would be too rough on their aging bones.
Ultimately, I cast a wide net and formed a team with one of our NASA region Time Trial champions, Jonas Hannah, and his friend. Both would be on spring break the following week, with plenty of time to spend on this adventure. Making me 20 years their senior and automatically Team Captain. I was super excited this was going to happen.
Naming the Team
I believe racers take themselves too seriously. Don’t get me wrong, we work hard at it, but I also think it is supposed to be fun. And I see that missing from a lot of competition these days. As a result, these guys didn’t know that you don’t let me name the race team. It is a running joke, and I will pick something embarrassing and probably inappropriate for everyone. This time would be no different. In the end, I had a few ideas running around my head and settled on ‘Big Boys with Little Toys.’
Race Classing
Big Boys with Little Toys would run in the heavyweight class, as two of us are over 215 lbs. The third driver would then ballast up to 215 lbs. to remain legal. (More on that later) Another unique aspect of this race is that we have never driven the track. I wasn’t too concerned about learning a kart track. However, AMP has unique features and elevation changes, making it more technical than the run-of-the-mill kart track. Regardless, we would all get up to speed quickly.
Arrive and Drive
With a team assembled, challenge number two would happen en route to the racetrack located in Dawsonville, GA. I left a little after 6 am for a ‘quick’ 3-hour drive to arrive at the track 30 minutes before the drivers’ meeting. That is if there wasn’t a time change. I am so used to arriving at events the day before that it completely slipped my mind that the Atlanta area is on Eastern time. I am on Central and lost an hour during the journey. Fortunately, I realized this early enough and was able to arrive just as the driver’s meeting concluded. In doing so, the team avoided the penalty assessment for missing members. Something that can add up quickly.
The Race Start
The race itself was a blast. We started in 16th place, mainly because the competition was much more prepared and experienced on the track. In fact, I was surprised at how serious some of the teams were, with radios, timing stations, logo-branded suits, etc. We were there to have fun, but the thought did cross my mind to rename the team ‘Woefully Unprepared.’
Regardless, the start in rental karts was underwhelming. These karts do not get up to speed fast, but they do become a blast to drive once you figure out how to carry momentum around the turns. The elevation changes add to the fun.
To start, we would each drive 30-minute stints. This was mainly because there was a chance of rain throughout the day, and I wanted to make sure we could all try the track dry. (Fun fact: the rain never came, and this opening strategy left us with an additional pit stop that cost us the class win.)
Luck of the Draw
One issue with rental karts is that they all have some form of disrepair. Whether you get a good kart becomes the luck of the draw. My first one was bad. It would understeer before transitioning to snap oversteer at the slightest brake input. I loved the second kart and was within 2 seconds of the fastest (lightweight division) lap times, even with a significant weight penalty. The third kart made me want to get out and walk.
Note: This is my nice way of saying I need to lose weight. I am 35 lbs over in the heavyweight class and 75 lbs over in the lightweight class, a significant disadvantage in karting. I have no aspirations of running in the lightweight division, but I should be sub 215 lbs. That will easily shed over a second of lap time and allow me to cause trouble in the lightweight division. It’s time to get to work on that.
1 Hour in a Kart
Which brings me to the highlight of the weekend. My 2nd stint in the good kart, for 1 hour straight. This is what the guys who opted out of the event were scared of. Honestly, it wasn’t so bad. Even with the extra weight right now, I always keep my cardio on point so I wasn’t fatigued during the session. However, unlike car enduros, where I feel like my upper body does most of the work, it was the opposite for me in the kart. Yes, you expend more effort in your core while karting, but the relatively static leg positioning affected me. After about 45 minutes, my shins and knees felt tight. So much so that I hoped no one was filming in the pitstop because I wasn’t sure what my exit would look like.
Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I thought, and after a short walk, everything loosened up again.
The Race Finish
‘Big Boys in Little Toys’ would finish the class in third place. Not too bad for three guys with no experience at the track. Ironically, if we had been a bit more prepared, we would have most likely won. I gave us two penalty laps for not stopping at the pit entrance stop before stopping in the pit box. Coming from a racing background, I thought, ‘Why do they have this low-hanging tape here?’ It turns out it is a pre-pitstop stop. It was probably covered in the part of the race meeting I missed. Ultimately, we clawed ourselves from a seven-lap deficit to one lap.
Car vs Kart Enduro and Closing Notes
I have another endurance race this weekend in a racecar, but I must say the no-stress nature of the karting enduro is super appealing. I didn’t have to prep or maintain a car, worry about it breaking, or worry about the other drivers having issues. If anything happens in a karting enduro, they just throw you in another kart. The trade-off is that you may not like the kart you are given.
I am confident we will win next time out. I say next time because I enjoyed this event way more than I thought I would. Ultimately, we each drove 2 hours and 15 minutes, completing 325 laps total. I was super sore the next day, but it was a small price to pay for this level of fun. I am already looking to assemble a team for the next one with a new name, an actual race plan, and no more penalties.
One final thing. AMP doesn’t allow helmet-mounted cameras, so I rigged up the GoPro to my chest and got fantastic footage of the sky. So, if you are interested in the layout, check out this footage from someone else; it will give you an idea of the track.
