Although I have been involved in many form of racing over the years, it has just been a couple of months that I have been back in kart racing. In this column, I hope to share some of my experiences of reentering the sport of kart racing. I plan to share some of the things I've done right and some of my mistakes (and what I should have done). I also want to show how I found that some things in karting are done, and how I feel that they should be done.

After a career change and relocation 3 years ago, I felt it was time to get back in racing. After a couple trips to the local dirt track to watch the IMCA modifieds, and sending for a truckfull of literature, I just wasn't real keen on the cost, maintenance, or general appeal of that form of racing. Remembering what I could of my past kart racing experience, the cost, ease of care, and portability appealed to me. I also would enjoy the left and right turns of sprint racing, plus it was something the whole family could get into.

Last winter I made the decision to get back into kart racing, and that's where this adventure begins. I hadn't seen any kart racing in 20 years, and didn't even know if it still existed. Where would I find out about kart racing today?

The first step was the yellow pages - no help there, no local kart shops listed. Next in order was a trip to the book store for a karting magazine. Better make that book stores. I searched high and low in every bookstore in about a two hour radius, and this included the big name stores with a selection of thousands of magazines. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch - even a computer search from some helpful clerks turned up nothing on karting even available. Sounds like kart racing doesn't exist.

I was stumbling around the Net one evening, when out of boredom, I typed "karting" in a Yahoo search. WOW! Kart racing must exist! A trip to the Karting Web Site and I was on my way. Hey, there's a club listed in Joplin, MO, only a little over two hours from here. A phone call later, and plans were made to go watch a race. Since then I've found out about a half dozen place even closer.

I also found out about a few kart racing publications, that I immediately subscribed to. Now, my question is, why weren't these mags available on the bookstore shelves? Sure, it cost more to print more, and what doesn't sell is waste. But for every issue sold, there's another potential new racer (plus exposure to all their friends). And that means besides more subscriptions sold, there will be more memberships sold, more karts and related equipment sold, higher purses in some cases, and most important to me - more karts on the track. Maybe the big sanctioning bodies should get together, and cooperate in a plan to promote the sport of kart racing. After all, it's done in every other form of auto racing with great success.

While waiting for these magazines to arrive, I visited several karting web pages, especially the dealers, and started learning about what's available in karts and equipment today. Some information from the Karting Web Site, got me thinking about classes I might be interested in running. A trip to the Joplin races, and about a thousand questions, got my juices flowing. I knew it wouldn't be long until a purchase was made.

I feel that the steps I've taken so far are pretty much the steps any newbie should take. Get some magazines, find a local kart shop, watch some races, ask lots of questions, and use the resources available on the Net. Interested parties with access to the Net have a large advantage over the people that have to find info on their own. While we have people on the Net making web pages, mailing lists, and karting forums available, noone in racing is doing anything, on a large scale, for John Q Public in the non-electronic world.

Next time I would like to talk about how I picked the class I race in and the equipment I use. I would appreciate any comments you may have and I am just an e-mail away.