The St. Louis Karting Association opens its new track to competition By Skip Wiese (V.P. SLKA) The weekend of August 17th and 18th marked a milestone in the history of the St. Louis Karting Association as their new track at the I-55 Raceway complex was opened to competition karts. Roughly 150 karts arrived Saturday morning to take part in the opening day of practice. In a ceremony crowning "First on the Track", winner Tom Mueller took his kart around the 9 turn, half-mile road course at a cautious, but aggressive pace. At the end of his session, he held the official "fastest lap of the day"; at least until the SKUSA shifters went out. When drivers were asked about the track, the most common response was how smooth and flowing the track is. Bloomsdale Excavation, combined with Laritz Paving did a fantastic job creating a track that was both challenging and fun. The biggest complaint was how green or slick the track was. The shifters were really having a problem putting the power to the ground. But this is a problem that will soon go away after a few races are run and some rubber gets down in the groves. Even with the slick conditions that all of the karters were fighting, many of the shifters were still topping the 70 MPH plus mark at the speed trap that had been set up on the front straight. At the end of the day, most drivers agreed that the track was coming in and everyone was ready for Sundayıs races. Sunday brought a whole new look to the track as rain rolled in and all the racers could do was wait, wait, and wait some more. Several of the karters that race other series used the wet track to get some practice laps with their rain tires. Those drivers put on quite a show for the rest of us to watch as we waited to run. But racing was not to be, as the rain and lighting created a condition deemed unsafe, and the races were cancelled. If you missed last weekend, and would like to see what all the excitement is about, the St. Louis Karting Association will be racing at the I-55 complex through October. For schedule information, times, dates, and karting information in general, visit our web site at www.slka.net.