World Karting Association
Encyclopedia
The World Karting Association, or WKA, is the largest sanctioning body
for kart racing
racing in North America
. The WKA was founded in 1971 and is located directly behind Charlotte Motor Speedway
in Concord, North Carolina
. The WKA is believed to currently have approximately 5,000 members. Over 50,000 people have been WKA members since the organization's inception in 1971.
The WKA comprises five national touring series - the Bully Clutches Gold Cup, Bridgestone
/George Kugler Manufacturer's Cup driven by Mazda
, Dunlop Tire
Road Racing driven by Mazda
, Briggs & Stratton
Speedway Dirt
and Rage Karts Speedway Pavement. The WKA sanctions a number of divisional series and tracks, mostly located throughout the eastern half of the United States
.
, New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana
and BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania
. The series competes exclusively on sprint-style road courses and all classes are powered by Briggs & Stratton 4-cycle engines.
and A.J. Allmendinger occasionally compete in the series, which travels to locations such as Daytona International Speedway
, Michiana Raceway Park in Indiana, Road America
in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
, New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Ind., BeaveRun in Wampum, PA and Lowe's Motor Speedway. Like the Gold Cup, the tracks are sprint-style road courses
that are generally around 1 mile (1.6 km) in length. Contrary to Gold Cup, all classes are powered by faster, more powerful 2-cycle engines. TaG, Yamaha, Horstman KPV and Comer Cadet karts compete in the Man Cup Series. Racers from all over America and Canada
race in the Man Cup series.
Unlike the other WKA series, road racing events are raced for a specific amount of time as opposed to number of laps. Sprint and sprint-enduro classes have 30-minute races and laydown-enduro style classes have 45-minute races. Through the mid 1980's, laydown-enduro races were 1 hour in length, hence the name "enduro," short for endurance. Most drivers have a timer mounted on their kart so they know what stage the race is at and when the final lap will be.
Again, unlike the other WKA series, road races begin from a standing start. Most other WKA national series (except shifter karts) begin races with a rolling start. At road racing events, karts line up in a traditional "Le Mans" style starting formation. The race official/starter starts a timer when he or she puts the green flag up and holds the flag in the air until he waves it and the karts take off. Road racing starts - similar to Formula 1 - are very exciting to witness and participate in.
The speeds go-karts reach at Road Racing events is perhaps the most intriguing part of the WKA Road Racing Series. 250cc karts, which look like small Indy cars, and dual-engine enduro karts reach in excess of 130 mph (210 km/h). Most other 2-cycle classes can reach anywhere from 90 to 130 mph (130 to 210 km/h). Even four-cycle powered karts reach top speeds around 80 to 90 mph (130 to 145 km/h) at Road Racing events.
WKA road racers have the opportunity to race on some of America's most historic and reputable road courses. In 2011, the WKA National Road Racing Series visits Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
, Virginia International Raceway
, Roebling Road Raceway, Putnam Park, Carolina Motorsports
Park, and New Jersey Motorsports Park. In the past the series has held events at almost every permanent roadracing facility in the U.S., including:
Watkins Glen,
Pocono Raceway,
Bryar Motosports Park,
New Hampshire Motor Speedway,
Gateway International Raceway
,
Daytona International Speedway,
Indianapolis Raceway Park,
Oak Hill Raceway,
Hallet Oklahoma,
Texas World Speedway,
Summit Point Raceway,
Road America,
Blackhawk Farms,
Rockingham speedway,
Charlotte Motor Speedway (Lowe's),
Nazareth Speedway,
Barber Motorsports Park,
Road Atlanta,
Grattan Speedway.
WKA road racers reside mostly in the midwest, southeastern, and eastern half of the country. WKA road racing is more popular where healthy divisional road racing clubs are located. Several of these strong regional clubs include the Southern Kart Club, Woodbridge Kart Club, and Dart Kart Club. The activity of roadracing karts peaked in the mid 1980's with some events reaching over 1000 entries at a national event. The participants in modern roadrace events are perhaps the most passionate about the sport. Many of these lifelong participants have been active in the sport for over 30 years.
The Speedway Dirt Series has been WKA's best attended series throughout the 2000s; although, recently entry numbers have dropped off due to a difficult economy and other reasons. The series is a five-race tour in 2009. All races are held in the South - specifically Georgia
and the Carolinas in 2009. The tour has traveled to Tennessee
and Florida
in past years. Most speedway dirt competitors reside in the South.
The Speedway Pavement Series is the other WKA national series that competes on oval tracks. The series is a five-race tour in 2009, visiting New Castle, Ind., Chapel Hill Raceway in Humphrey, New York
, Riverhead Raceway
on Long Island
, OCR Action Sports Track in Rougemont, North Carolina
, and BeaveRun in Wampum, Pa. Contrary to the Dirt Series, Speedway Pavement races are held on asphalt tracks.
While Speedway Dirt teams are located mostly in the South, many Speedway Pavement teams are located in the Northeast. The Southeast also is well represented with Pavement teams.
Speedway Dirt and Pavement racers drive karts built specifically for oval-track kart racing. Unlike sprint-style and enduro-style karts in which the driver sits in the center of the chassis, oval-track karts feature an extreme left driver offset for a high percentage of left-side weight which greatly helps handling on an oval track. Engines are on the right of the kart - reasoning being that the driver weighs more than the engine. This is contrary to race cars, which the engine would greatly outweigh the driver and the oval-kart driver offset theory would not work.
All classes in Speedway Dirt and Pavement are powered by Briggs & Stratton 4-cycle engines. This has not always been true, however. 2-cycle engines (Yamahas and others) were once fairly popular on the Dirt tour.
Sport governing body
A sport governing body is a sports organization that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sport governing bodies come in various forms, and have a variety of regulatory functions. Examples of this can include disciplinary action for rule infractions and deciding on rule changes in the sport...
for kart racing
Kart racing
Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits...
racing in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The WKA was founded in 1971 and is located directly behind Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the Sprint All-Star Race...
in Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
. The WKA is believed to currently have approximately 5,000 members. Over 50,000 people have been WKA members since the organization's inception in 1971.
The WKA comprises five national touring series - the Bully Clutches Gold Cup, Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....
/George Kugler Manufacturer's Cup driven by Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
, Dunlop Tire
Dunlop Tyres
Dunlop Tyres is a British company owned 75% by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and 25% by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which bought the right to sell Dunlop-branded road tyres....
Road Racing driven by Mazda
Mazda
is a Japanese automotive manufacturer based in Fuchū, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.In 2007, Mazda produced almost 1.3 million vehicles for global sales...
, Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs & Stratton is the world's largest manufacturer of air-cooled gasoline engines primarily for outdoor power equipment. Current production averages 11 million engines per year.-History:...
Speedway Dirt
Dirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...
and Rage Karts Speedway Pavement. The WKA sanctions a number of divisional series and tracks, mostly located throughout the eastern half of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Gold Cup Series
The Gold Cup Series is a four-race tour with races at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, G&J Kartway in Camden, OhioCamden, Ohio
Camden is a village in Preble County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,302 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, New Castle Motorsports Park in Indiana
New Castle, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,780 people, 7,462 households, and 4,805 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,987.5 people per square mile . There were 8,042 housing units at an average density of 1,351.3 per square mile...
and BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Wampum, Pennsylvania
Wampum, Pennsylvania
Wampum is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wampum is located at ....
. The series competes exclusively on sprint-style road courses and all classes are powered by Briggs & Stratton 4-cycle engines.
Manufacturer's Cup Series
The Manufacturer's Cup Series may be WKA's most popular and promotable series. Top American race drivers such as Jamie McMurrayJamie McMurray
James Christopher "Jamie" McMurray is a professional American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start, and is one of three drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 in the same year...
and A.J. Allmendinger occasionally compete in the series, which travels to locations such as Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...
, Michiana Raceway Park in Indiana, Road America
Road America
Road America is a road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series , American Le Mans , SCCA Speed World Challenge Series, ASRA, and AMA Superbike series.- Current track and...
in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Elkhart Lake is a village in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States, located within the northwestern part of the county within the Town of Rhine. The population was 1,021 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle, Ind., BeaveRun in Wampum, PA and Lowe's Motor Speedway. Like the Gold Cup, the tracks are sprint-style road courses
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
that are generally around 1 mile (1.6 km) in length. Contrary to Gold Cup, all classes are powered by faster, more powerful 2-cycle engines. TaG, Yamaha, Horstman KPV and Comer Cadet karts compete in the Man Cup Series. Racers from all over America and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
race in the Man Cup series.
Road Racing Series
The Road Racing Series (formally Enduro Series) is different from the other four WKA national touring series. Laydown-enduro and sprint-enduro karts are built specifically for enduro-style road racing. Enduro-style road races are not held on sprint-style courses, but longer road courses typically built for race cars that are between 1.5 and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) in length. Gearbox (shifter) karts and Touch-and-Go (TaG) sit-up style karts also compete at Road Racing events. It is not uncommon for 40 to 50 different classes to compete throughout the course of a Road Racing weekend.Unlike the other WKA series, road racing events are raced for a specific amount of time as opposed to number of laps. Sprint and sprint-enduro classes have 30-minute races and laydown-enduro style classes have 45-minute races. Through the mid 1980's, laydown-enduro races were 1 hour in length, hence the name "enduro," short for endurance. Most drivers have a timer mounted on their kart so they know what stage the race is at and when the final lap will be.
Again, unlike the other WKA series, road races begin from a standing start. Most other WKA national series (except shifter karts) begin races with a rolling start. At road racing events, karts line up in a traditional "Le Mans" style starting formation. The race official/starter starts a timer when he or she puts the green flag up and holds the flag in the air until he waves it and the karts take off. Road racing starts - similar to Formula 1 - are very exciting to witness and participate in.
The speeds go-karts reach at Road Racing events is perhaps the most intriguing part of the WKA Road Racing Series. 250cc karts, which look like small Indy cars, and dual-engine enduro karts reach in excess of 130 mph (210 km/h). Most other 2-cycle classes can reach anywhere from 90 to 130 mph (130 to 210 km/h). Even four-cycle powered karts reach top speeds around 80 to 90 mph (130 to 145 km/h) at Road Racing events.
WKA road racers have the opportunity to race on some of America's most historic and reputable road courses. In 2011, the WKA National Road Racing Series visits Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside of the village of Lexington...
, Virginia International Raceway
Virginia International Raceway
The Virginia International Raceway is a road course located in the community of Alton, Virginia near Danville, Virginia. It is found less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina on the banks of the Dan River...
, Roebling Road Raceway, Putnam Park, Carolina Motorsports
Park, and New Jersey Motorsports Park. In the past the series has held events at almost every permanent roadracing facility in the U.S., including:
Watkins Glen,
Pocono Raceway,
Bryar Motosports Park,
New Hampshire Motor Speedway,
Gateway International Raceway
Gateway International Raceway
Gateway Motorsports Park is a race track in Madison, Illinois, USA, just east of St. Louis, Missouri. After being shuttered by former owner Dover Motorsports Inc., on Nov. 3, 2010, it was announced Sept. 8, 2011, that the facility would re-open and host an NHRA Full Throttle Series event Oct. 5-7,...
,
Daytona International Speedway,
Indianapolis Raceway Park,
Oak Hill Raceway,
Hallet Oklahoma,
Texas World Speedway,
Summit Point Raceway,
Road America,
Blackhawk Farms,
Rockingham speedway,
Charlotte Motor Speedway (Lowe's),
Nazareth Speedway,
Barber Motorsports Park,
Road Atlanta,
Grattan Speedway.
WKA road racers reside mostly in the midwest, southeastern, and eastern half of the country. WKA road racing is more popular where healthy divisional road racing clubs are located. Several of these strong regional clubs include the Southern Kart Club, Woodbridge Kart Club, and Dart Kart Club. The activity of roadracing karts peaked in the mid 1980's with some events reaching over 1000 entries at a national event. The participants in modern roadrace events are perhaps the most passionate about the sport. Many of these lifelong participants have been active in the sport for over 30 years.
Speedway Dirt and Speedway Pavement Series
The Speedway Dirt Series is one of two WKA national series that holds races exclusively on oval tracks. It is the only series that races on dirt tracks. The track sizes range between (approximately) one-eighth-mile to one-quarter-mile.The Speedway Dirt Series has been WKA's best attended series throughout the 2000s; although, recently entry numbers have dropped off due to a difficult economy and other reasons. The series is a five-race tour in 2009. All races are held in the South - specifically Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and the Carolinas in 2009. The tour has traveled to Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in past years. Most speedway dirt competitors reside in the South.
The Speedway Pavement Series is the other WKA national series that competes on oval tracks. The series is a five-race tour in 2009, visiting New Castle, Ind., Chapel Hill Raceway in Humphrey, New York
Humphrey, New York
Humphrey is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 721 at the 2000 census. The town is named after politician Charles Humphrey....
, Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead Raceway is a quarter-mile oval race track with a Figure 8 course, located in Riverhead, New York. It is the only auto racing venue on Long Island since Westhampton Raceway closed down in 2003...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, OCR Action Sports Track in Rougemont, North Carolina
Rougemont, North Carolina
Rougemont is an unincorporated community in Durham, Orange, and Person counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Although the Geographic Names Information System does not list it in any county other than Durham. The population was 6,561 at the 2000 census....
, and BeaveRun in Wampum, Pa. Contrary to the Dirt Series, Speedway Pavement races are held on asphalt tracks.
While Speedway Dirt teams are located mostly in the South, many Speedway Pavement teams are located in the Northeast. The Southeast also is well represented with Pavement teams.
Speedway Dirt and Pavement racers drive karts built specifically for oval-track kart racing. Unlike sprint-style and enduro-style karts in which the driver sits in the center of the chassis, oval-track karts feature an extreme left driver offset for a high percentage of left-side weight which greatly helps handling on an oval track. Engines are on the right of the kart - reasoning being that the driver weighs more than the engine. This is contrary to race cars, which the engine would greatly outweigh the driver and the oval-kart driver offset theory would not work.
All classes in Speedway Dirt and Pavement are powered by Briggs & Stratton 4-cycle engines. This has not always been true, however. 2-cycle engines (Yamahas and others) were once fairly popular on the Dirt tour.