In 2012 karting is returning to Norther California in a major way. Infineon Raceway will host the Red Line Karting Championship as well as the Molecule Karting Championship and Sanzaru Games NorCal Rotax Challenge. All three series will be held same weekend making for great action for spectators. Red Line has also teamed up with USAC to give one luck winning driver a chance for a test in a Midget.

“We are excited to announce that one of our Junior Drivers will be awarded a test drive in a USAC Norcal Focus Midget” said Steve Cameron. “This is yet another great opportunity for drivers in our series to move up the racing ladder.”

Its been a strange winter with lots of clear days to test, so I hope you’re ready cuase the season starts in March!

http://www.redlineoilkarting.com/

Ever have that feeling of being followed by Satellites? Well it turns out you are. There are a bunch of shiny things up there in space feeding you TV, Radio, Phone calls, soviet secrets and the precise time of a atomic clock which is how this tiny little GPS device knows exactly where you are and how fast your moving. All nerdy stuff aside, GPS has changed the way many of us do things. Just a few years ago we were getting lost every day never asking for directions, now we just run into things staring at their GPS device. GPS has been used in professional racing organizations for years, and has been available to the private racer in large heavy and expensive data recorders for a couple years. Well now there is a product made by AiM for the rest of us who wish to know just a little bit more about why we suck so bad on the track.

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Winter. What else is there to do then sit at home, play some video games, and warm up next to a fire with your loved one. Oh I don’t know, maybe go ice karting with some big players? Massa, Hayden, Stoner ring any bells?

Ah, Labor day. A day to celebrate not working by burning meat like cavemen right before winter sets in. Most tracks are closed, and everyone is slacking off (including ourselves), so this video is the best I could do. It has Karts, propane fires, and the possibility of burnt meat! Enjoy.

While Oakley is best known for their innovative eyewear, they are also gaining popularity with their Shoes, Clothing, and Alien heads. What’s lesser known is their growing interest in Motorsports. You’ve probably seen their logo on a few race cars here and there, and now you’ll start to see it on a few karts. Thats becuase Oakley has now joined up as the newest series sponsor of the SuperKarts USA. 

“Having Oakley on board is tremendous,” stated SKUSA CEO Tom Kutscher. “Their brand is synonymous with precision and excellence, and their worldwide recognition is a terrific step in elevating kart racing to the next level. It’s an honor for the SKUSA organization and an honor for karting in general.” 

What comes of this partnership is still to be seen, but for now the racer-priced sunglasses discounts will do just fine for me. Check the link for more information.

[Source: ProKart Challenge ] 

If you’ve ever spent any time in front of the pack defending your position you know how great it would be if you could see what’s going on behind you. Well there is a company located in the north of England that just might have the answer you’ve been seeking.

The Reevu helmet is a moto helmet with a built in rear view mirror that allows you to simply look up in your helmet to see behind you. This amazing feat is not accomplished with a video camera and LCD discplay as one would expect in the year 2000, but instead there is a very simple three angled mirror which works just like one of those periscopes you’ve made back when you were younger.

[Source: reevu.com]

Where were the $5 karting sessions when I was a kid? Maybe this is all it would have taken to get my parents interested in my development into the next David Hobbs.*

* Yes, I could have gone for Lauda or Fittipaldi, but really now … I’m not that quick, and there’s no amount of early childhood experience that could make me that quick. Plus, Hobbs is god.

Unless your last name is Force you probably would like to get that race suit you live in every weekend washed every once in a while, and I’m sure your friends and family wished you would a little more often than that! With dry cleaning charges topping $60 to get your suit looking good again, most of us will forgo the look of our suits in favor of a cheap wash in old washer. Well now there is a new pre-wash treatment from Molecule that is claimed to get your racing suit as clean as new. Just spray on, wait five minutes, and then wash! They even have a after spray that’s supposed to suppress bacteria and keep your suit, gloves, and helmet smelling fresh all weekend so you won’t scare off any umbrella girls.

[ Source: Molecule Labs ]

Not much going on this weekend, but oh wait, a birthday for one of our esteem editors! Happy birthday Dave. Now get back to correcting my grammatical and spelling errors!

It’s not particularly clear what a Norse god has to do with brakes, but the Thor Brake is at least a novel approach to one of the more important areas of racing. Along with its smaller counterpart, the front axle Odin Brake (making it seem like they have their naming conventions a bit backwards), the new system is supposed to offer:

1. Shorter braking distances
2. Less frame torquing due to braking
3. More stability under braking
4. Better acceleration due to less rotating weight
5. A more responsive pedal “feel”
6. Tune-ability for different classes and tracks

I’ll be following up to see if I can get more technical details on the system, such as why does the picture make it look like it’s made from two pieces of wood and a bunch of red plastic. The system is supposed to see its official launch at the 2008 PRI Show in Orlando, Florida.