GO!

KARTING THE CALSPEED WAY John-Fredrik Wright Imagine a go-kart so extreme that you are holding on for dear life, forgetting to breathe. Well, for mere mortals—ones who don’t drive these machines all the time—the experience of hugging the corners on Cal Speed Karting’s racetrack, might actually make you forget this one rudimentary prerequisite for life. Breathing. CalSpeed Karting offers two variants of driving on their course; one using a fast cart, and one using an extremely fast cart. After a morning in the “only” fast carts—learning the basics and trying to shave seconds off your lap-time—the extremely fast carts will literally knock the air out of you. It was such a rough ride (in a good way) that I actually tried sucking in air on the straight away and then screaming in my helmet, literally, through the corners. This way I at least did not forget to breath. Phew!

As an enthusiast for anything that I can drive seemingly fast in a controlled environment, I’m an easy sell for CalSpeed. However, trying to be as objective as possible, I can see why this is such an appreciated activity for all. Most will say that the thrill of driving a go-cart is all they need. But even so, there is an underlying bonus in screaming around a racetrack with your butt only a couple of inches above the asphalt. A driver who has mastered the art of getting around the track without spinning out, has also learned quite a bit about getting to know the safety boundaries and what might happen when you press the envelope a little too far. Even a seasoned driver will gain; see it as a refresher course to safe driving. CalSpeed Karting Center is located in Fontana, on the grounds of the Auto Club Speedway, just east of where the 10 and 15 freeways meet in San Bernardino County. Even if that amounts to a rather long drive, you can see it as warm-up and cool-down periods before and after driving the track.

The personnel at CalSpeed seem to be very knowledgeable, and do a great job at making sure the group enjoys their time there. On offer is group/ corporate events, kart driving school, drop-in and drive, and will cater to basically any group event you might have. So if you want to blast around a track in a 30HP, 0-60 in less than 4 seconds, go-kart; sing up for the kart driving school. And if your not in it for a school experience, but still want to have a whole lot of fun, make sure to schedule an arrive-and-drive program where everything needed is included, and you can blast around the track in a 15HP, more-than-fast-enough cart. Visit CalSpeed Karting online at calspeedkarting.com for more information.