Photo License Flickr Creative Commons, Owner - Olivander
Twice in a week I've been able to partake in some classic motorsport, although no one calls it that. For both sports the roots go back over 100 years. And in both cases everyone involved was still having a blast and I walked away with a smile on my face. But unlike vintage Ferrari racing, which you won't touch for under $100k, these were events shared with the "unwashed masses" (probably why I was there). Let's talk about some vintage racing you can enjoy for pennies, if it's a big jar.
Photo License Flickr Creative Commons, Owner - Rwoan
On Monday, my buddy Andrew and I headed over to the local indoor go-kart racing track, Sykart, for their endurance race night. On endurance race night, for $30 you get 30 minutes of racing in one shot.
For a half hour 9 karts battled around the track. We bumped more than the track manager would have preferred and we got warned. We slid through corners as we tried to figure out apexes. We brushed up against walls and even bounced off them when we exited corners too high. We tried to cut off the one guy driving the "special membership" kart repeatedly. And we got out of the karts laughing, adrenalin pumping, talking in that loud obnoxious guy voice (that society has told us we are supposed to kill for a life of office work and emasculation), making fighter jet pilot gestures with our hands as we talked about our superior performances. The printed lap time sheets told us 12 year old girls were faster earlier in the day but we ignored that.
It was a total blast. I can't recommend it more. As always, I wish it was even cheaper, but it's hard to argue with $30 dollars. If it was $15 I'd be there every Monday night!
Photo from Library of Congress
True, the girl's kart probably falls into the category of soap-box racer, but we'll talk about those in a couple minutes. Based on the sprocket and handle, I do believe the boys kart was powered, even if it was human arm pumping power.
In racing, you're wearing a helmet and gloves, so racism is impossible. When your done and leaving the track it seems as if you're all in the same club, even if it's a go-kart race. Of course that's a silly concept, only the love of Christ truly defeats hatred in the end, but God created us with the ability to have fun and we might as well enjoy it. And doing fun things more than one culture can enjoy ain't going to hurt anything. I don't think... lets say yodeling, will ever have the same cross-cultural appeal.
Watching the (so called) History channel, when Rick Dale and his team on American Restorations restored an old 1960's Mcculloch go-kart (Season 2, Episode 12) they told us it was one of the earliest go-karts made. In typical History Channel fashion this seems to be an exaggeration for the sake of drama. At the following link witness a girl circa 1935 riding on an electric go-kart.
The antique go-kart website tells us that the below was the first go-kart advertisement in 1958. I have a hard time accepting that the above kart was sold without marketing but maybe.
In researching this blog one of the more interesting karting stories I came across was Walt Disney. Did you know that in 1956, when Tomorrowland opened up, Walt Disney included a road course for young men and women to learn how to drive? Walt had a vision that this course would help prepare youth for their future driving endeavors.
Photo License Flickr Creative Commons, Owner - Olivander
As the track aged, lessons were learned, and the world got more boring, Disney put in tracks that didn't allow freedom of movement and true autonomy of the young driver. Turns out 7 year olds aren't the best drivers and not only don't mind slamming into things but love smashing into things!
A version of Autopia still exists at Disneyland to this day. Not aware of its history, I skipped it during my one visit to the park and now I'm a little bummed. Not sure why but if something is boring a little history can make it more interesting. I'm pretty sure that's how the show Pawn Stars stays on the air.
USC released a 1956 aerial photograph of Disneyland and in the Upper East end you can see the shape of the original track.
USC public domain photograph
Some of the photos on the web show that it was popular with all ages of visitors. Just don't ask what the man in the picture below is doing with his pants.
JSpence Photo Marked for Reuse in Google Images
Photo Marked for Reuse in Google Images
Looking back at my own life I can say that go-karting has helped inform at least one of my larger life decisions, (insert adjective) as that may be. Several of my wife Kellie and I's first dates included go-karting experiences.
I can't find the Sykart photos from our first date (yes, I'm that cool), but the below photos from Oaks Park amusement park show a big smile. For you single guys, I'd suggest that if you take a girl karting and she frowns the whole time, it's an ominous sign of an inability to have fun! I've already shown you that for a 100 years all manner of people have been getting a smile out of go-karting. There's probably something wrong with her if she can't enjoy karting. Or you forgot to tell her that you were going go-karting and she did her hair and is wearing a dress. Then it's probably your fault.
Saturday of the same week I went go-karting, I took my family and some friends to the Mt. Tabor Portland Adult Soap Box Derby. The soap box concept is the same as when you're a kid, but the karts are a little more impressive. Take for example my favorite from this year, Mr Potato Head in a Radio Flyer below. It sure beats the monstrosity my friends and I welded together, at 12 years old, from several different motorcycles and pushed to the top of a local hill before blowing through several four way intersections (not a sanctioned event).
Before I show you too much of Portland's Derby, lets first look at the history of soap box type racers. From what I see, they seem to have been around as long as carriages. It makes sense. Little boys are going to race things with wheels. Always have, always will.
One of my favorite historical soapbox derby notes is during the depression artists were put to work (through the federal Works Progress Administration) on such illustrious assignments as advertisements for soap box derbies. Your grandfathers taxes hard at work!
1939 WPA Art Project
The Library of Congress has some excellent photos from a 1940 Maryland 4th of July soapbox derby.
Library of Congress - 1940 Maryland 4th of July
Library of Congress - 1940 Maryland 4th of July
Back to Portland in 2014. If the above pictures remind you of the town where It's a Wonderful Life was filmed, A lot of Pottersville has snuck into Portland. You remember Pottersville right? The evil parallel dimension where Mr Potter had taken over the town?
In Portland in 2014, many of the contestants are so drunk you wonder how they'll make it to the bottom; and some don't, the last year we went the ambulance carted a team of them off after a spectacular crash.
And then there was some weird kart that had a giant head with a mullet booming out a recording from a 70s sci-fi film talking about fallic symbols which were all over the kart.
Possibly not the best event to take your impressionable child to, but I think at 7 months ours can't quite be influenced by these people yet. Hopefully it's not in the water.
But fallic symbol kart aside, there were some other great designs in the pits! Walking through the pits gives you a chance to see the derby karts up-close and also to judge how drunk the drivers/riders are. This is important because you'll want to watch the more hammered participants go down because 1. they may crash (and who doesn't want to see that?), and 2. you don't want to be near the track when they are crashing.
At the staging area there's the typical pre-race pep talks. They take it very serious.
The ghosts of Lewis and Clark made an appearance. They've adapted well to modern Portland thanks to ghost beer.
The derby karts get a push start at the top.
The first hill is a little slow but it's a good spot for spectators.
Mt Tabor itself is a good sized hill and they've got lots of time to come up to speed!
By the bottom they're flat out booking it.
Video
So there it is. Two ways you can have a blast racing without having the last name Vanderbilt. You can even call it vintage racing if it's makes you feel more special because normal guys like us have been doing these styles of racing for over a century. I don't know about you though, but when my parents called me special, the reference wasn't that great. If you tell your friends you're going vintage racing when you're really heading to the go-kart track, you may have rode that short bus.
