Indoor Karting centers, a cure for the winter blues Story & photos by Joe Brittin For those living in a northern climate, winter used to equate to no kart racing for several months. But with the growth of indoor karting centers, kart racing can now be a year round activity. And you do not even need to own or maintain any equipment at these arrive and drive facilities. Some centers offer racing leagues, much like a traditional bowling league. Most centers are also available for private parties and corporate rewards programs. One of the most impressive indoor karting centers I have visited is the Andretti Speed Lab located north of Atlanta. This center was established by John Andretti to be the premier indoor karting and entertainment center in the U.S. This 4.5 million-dollar facility includes two indoor kart tracks, a Fuddruckers restaurant, two bars, a climbing wall, zip lines, billiards, arcades/simulators and a 10,000 square foot conference facility. (see Figure A). One of the features that attracted me to the Andretti Speed Lab was that they have Junior karts available for kids who are at least 48" tall. This way the whole family can enjoy a night out at the karting center. This is also an inexpensive way to test karts to see if it is the right hobby for your family before investing in a new racing kart for junior. The karts at the Speed Lab are 6.5 HP 4-Cycle powered karts that are very similar to your standard Briggs sprint racing kart. They have more safety features installed such as a roll bar hoop, seat belts, full width front and rear bumpers, and enclosed rear wheels. They are quick enough for the confines of an indoor course and were quite fun to drive. The tires were not made of as hard of a compound as other karting centers use, so they handled pretty well. Practice sessions cost $18 for an eight-minute heat for adults, and $12 for a 6 minute heat for the junior karts. The price drops if you purchase multiple sessions. I was able to get in about 15 laps in one session, so the price comes out to around one dollar per lap. The adults and juniors run in separate sessions. The Junior karts have a restricted motor and are not quite as fast as the adult karts. As with most centers, you are required to purchase a license ($6.), which is valid for one year. The Andretti Speed Lab provides the driving suits, helmets, and helmet sock, and you are required to watch an orientation video before participating. Each kart is provided with an onboard timing system so you can monitor your lap times during your heat. A flag man controls the heats by giving move-over flags to participants who are holding up faster karts. At the completion of your heat, you are given a print out of your lap times for everyone in your heat. Lap times are also posted on a giant screen during each heat for spectators. A wide screen in the registration area also posts the quick lap times for the month. To my surprise, after not having raced a sprint kart for almost seven years, I turned in the second quick time of the day and won my heat. My son, who has some kid kart racing experience, adapted quickly to the 4-cycle power and also won his heat race. So if you find yourself looking for a kart racing fix in the middle of the off-season, head to your local indoor karting center. Or better yet, reserve a track for an hour and stage a team race. The Andretti Speed Lab will even host birthday parties for kids (little and big!). For more information, see www.andrettispeedlab.com .