This was the opening race of the 2019-2020 Full Throttle Indoor Karting enduro season, held on Sunday, October 27. It was a one-hour race on the Rush (forward) track. Most teams consisted of only one driver, but there were a couple of teams that appeared to have two. In total, there were only eight teams which wasn't too bad considering Rush is a smaller track with laptimes averaging in the sub-20 second range, but a full grid of 10 would have probably been more exciting.
To preface: I have no intent of returning for any more of the enduros this season since I can't dedicate any time/money to do the entire season like I have in the past, and since I happened to be in the Cincinnati area for the weekend, this was 100% just for fun. That being said, I know there were teams present that will likely return to finish out the season, so my goal here was to be as competitive as possible without ruining anyone else's race. Well, that wasn't very hard for me to do considering my only two kart options throughout lacked the top end of the more experienced teams' karts, so I kept my battles with what appeared to be lesser-experienced drivers and/or karts that were on equal footing. As a reference, I usually run nearly identical times to my buddy Luis (sometimes he's faster, sometimes I am) and he was a full half second quicker both in qualifying and the race and he only finished third, so that goes to show how pointless it would have been to try and compete for a podium. Although my karts would have been just fine and very competitive for regular heats, in this enduro setting and with the drivers that were on track that day, they just weren't up to the task.
0:00 We begin the race with the usual Le Mans-style start. Considering how poorly I fared in qualifying, I honestly just wanted to walk to the kart but I thought the race could still be interesting so I put in a little effort. I somehow managed to get buckled in and off the line quicker than Luis in kart 27 but I knew his kart was so much quicker so I immediately let him by.
2:15 Luis had told me before the start of the race that kart 19 wasn't a quick one and, of course, it had to be the first one in line for me to switch to. As far as I know, you could switch karts as much as you wanted during the race, but I noticed that when I hopped out of kart 23 it was then pushed to the front of the line. So I was initially thinking I didn't care how I placed as long as I could put up a good fight, but that just wasn't in the cards for me.
2:44 This guy in kart 12 was so frustrating to be behind. He had a really bad habit of stabbing the brake and cutting the steering wheel, so whether it was because he wasn't telegraphing what the person in front of him was going to do or realizing he was going to miss an apex, he made it very difficult at times to stay as close as I could. Not to mention, that kind of driving tends to cause cautions due to catching drivers behind off-guard and creating a slinky effect with everyone else having to jam on their brakes, so if there were faster people behind me I'd immediately let them pass so as to reduce the chances of a re-start.
8:41 Thanks for the pit warning...
25:14 A pretty ambitious pass by Luis, but at the same time, you just can't leave the door open like that following a re-start and not expect that to happen. Sometimes I wonder if people even bother to check their peripherals in those situations...
26:04 I tried to go two-wide through this turn and stay to the outside on the exit, so while I expected for there to be some contact I wasn't expecting to practically get T-boned. Hell, considering how we were lined up going into the turn initially, I didn't necessarily have to give him ANY room.
29:02 Checking my watch after the previous re-start, I knew I had to leave soon so I made it a personal goal to pass kart 18 before I headed to the pit. I had been watching people tangle with him throughout the race, struggling to make a pass simply because they were going for every single little gap, when all they had to do was bide their time for a lap or two and go for the easy opening. He was really cool about it too; he wouldn't push and shove like everyone else had been with him. Maybe he was in the same situation I was in and was just doing as much as he could with what he had been given.
31:00 This guy was probably so confused as to what the hell I was doing. The truth was I had to check out of my hotel on time, and since the race had gotten started a lot later than I had anticipated, I didn't have much of a choice but to make an early exit. I made sure to thank Connor for putting on the event and headed out.
For more information on Full Throttle Indoor Karting and their enduro series visit
source
Nice driving. Some lacking karts ruined your overall race in this rental endurance event.
I found indoor karting in the early 2000's in Columbus Ohio. I believe the place was called Speed (or maybe Speeds). I know GoPro cameras we're around back then but I still can't believe I can't find any pics, footage, or news about it. I also forget what brand the karts were but I do remember they were propane powered engines. That place was sick I can't believe it doesn't exist anymore. Have you ever heard of it?