Go-karts roar at Lancaster Event Center
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Take the cacophony of 16 chain-saw engines revving to the max.
Add in the flavor of dirt on your clothes, your tongue and your nose.
Toss in a touch of methanol, mixed in some gasoline, with the overwhelming smell of paint thinner-scented tire prep and you’ve got the idea of indoor go-kart racing.
“This is so much fun and it’s such a part of the family,” said Matt Gropp, who races throughout the summer. “It brings the family together and we all get a charge out of it.”
While Matt is one of the top racers in the Animal Cage division, his 6-year-old son, Trey is one of the best in his classification, too.
“Trey wanted to get in a car when he was 3,” said Matt Gropp, whose father, Rik Gropp, races cars at Eagle Raceway in the summer. “I said he’d have to wait a bit. Then, we got him in a car and he’s been winning ever since.”
Prior to the three-day event at the third annual Turkey Chase at the Lancaster Event Center, Trey had competed in 17 races. He won 15 and finished second in two others.
“I think I’m faster,” Trey Gropp said. “Sometimes I go high and sometimes I go low. If somebody is in front of me, I want to pass them.”
That was the same motivation for world-famous drivers Jeff Gordon, Michael Schumacher, Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart, who all started racing in karts.
Kart racing for the Gropps is a weekly event. Trey and his father, along with Matt’s father-in-law, Kevin Kruse, and others prep the cars.
Even Trey gets into the careful work in the pits. He bent down and pointed up to the sprocket he helped change on his go-kart.
“I wanted to go faster,” said Trey, a kindergarten student at Humann Elementary. “Faster is better.”
The Gropps, along with some 260 other racers are churning up the 420-foot dirt oval inside the Lancaster Event Center.
Andrew Kosiski, son of Joe and nephew of Ed, who organized the event, helps direct traffic from one building for the pits to the racing building.
“I try to get the heat races lined up and get them past the karts coming in from the last race,” he said. “It’s looks crazy, but it’s pretty orderly. Everybody wants to race. There’s a hothead here and there, but for the most part, everybody gets along.”
The Gropps compete in the “cage” racers, go-karts with full roll cages, a five-point safety harness, 5½-horsepower engines and treaded tires.
More than half of the competitors race in the “flat,” cars that run on engines with 5½ horsepower up to 20 horsepower and more. “Flat” cars have no cage, smooth-slick tires and some of the drivers straddle the fuel tank. The small cars are wrapped in steel tubes and fiberglass bodies for safety and can reach up to 60 mph on a short oval track.
The difference in the size and age of the racers is easy to spot. The bigger drivers have their knees intersecting their elbows as they steer.
“You can put as much as you want into your racing,” Matt Gropp said. “You can get started for about $1,500 and take it from there.”
Some racing teams have full trailers, carrying dozens of special racing tires, extra parts and multi-ple karts. Locally, they race at Waverly and at Little Sunset at the I-80 Speedway.
“They come from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas, and all over Nebraska,” said Donnie Jones, who helps run the event this weekend.
“We’ve got little kids, girls, boys, adults, even a guy who is 70, racing every week in the summer,” he said. “It seems like every pit has a grandpa, dad, cousin or a family friend involved.”
Matt Gropp sees kart racing as a family affair, too.
“I have as much fun racing as I do watching Trey go,” said Matt Gropp. “He’s still a little kid. He’ll race, use strategy, drive like crazy. Then, after the race, he’ll be playing in the dirt with his Matchbox cars, or playing flag football or T-ball.”
Will Brinton, 19, and his father prep their flat racer in a pit next to the Gropps.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 4 and I’ll probably be doing it as long as I can,” he said, wiping the oil and tire prep from his hands.
Will won the points championship in his class at the Waverly track lasts summer. He’s a student at Southeast Community College when not racing. His sister, Emily, is a twirler for the Nebraska marching band.
“It’s safe to race, but you are going fast, getting bumped, run into the wall sometimes, and there’s a lot of banging around in some races,” Brinton said. “I’ve cracked my seat and bent the frame a couple of times. But if you love it, you love it and there’s nothing to replace it.”
Racing continues Sunday at 11 a.m.
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.