A Weekend in the Life of a Racing Driver

I thought it would be cool to share what it’s like being a racing driver during a race weekend. I race a 125 Rotax in the TAG Senior Lite Class (you can see some of my stats on the Racing tab of my website)

Thursday:

The “race weekend” usually begins on a Thursday, most of the day is spent traveling to the track. The main tracks I race at are: Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and Nelson Ledges Race Course.

Getting there on a Thursday gives us time to set up our garage in preparation for the weekend. At each track we rent out a garage space to work on the karts and hang out during down time.

An advantage of getting there on Thursday is that you can go through “pre-tech”. Tech is something that has to be done before you are allowed on track and after each race. This helps to avoid anyone cheating and checking for safety. The first thing they check is your helmet, helmets expire within a few years. They also check your brake lines, the fuel you’re using and if your engine matches the general specs.

During tech you tell them what class you are racing and the weight you are racing at (another way to avoid cheating, all karts in the same class must weigh the same with the driver in it). A beacon is placed on the kart to track your lap times. Once you get the tech stickers and beacon put on your helmet and kart, you’re ready for Friday practice.

A few tech stickers on the nose of my kart that have the weight I need to weigh in at.

Friday:

Friday is all about practice. There are about 150 racers in the club I race for, Dart Kart/AKRA. To be able to get everyone on track, everyone is separated by class and put into a practice group. There are usually about 4 groups, for example shifter karts and superkarts are put into one group because they are much faster than the other classes.

The groups rotate every 12 minutes for the next 6 hours. This will give you at least an hour of track time in your group to relearn or learn the track. Practice days are important especially if you are at a new track to see where the pit in is to get off of the track and where all of the flagmen are. (Obviously watching the flags is very important to know what is going on throughout the race)

After each practice session my dad and I look over my lap times and how everything feels (tires, engine, etc.), which is why practice is so important!

Saturday:

Saturday is race day #1. There is a quick run through the 4 practice groups twice to get everyone warmed up. Generally most races are 30 minutes, however, the laydown enduro kart races are 45 minutes. Again, the races are grouped by class, so it isn’t who crosses the finish line first exactly because you are racing with other groups on the track. You will know your result once the official results are posted near the tech area.

At the start of each race, each racer and their kart lines up on the grid by class. The flagman announces what classes will go with what wave of the flag. For example, my group, TAG Senior Lite, is always grided first and goes on the first wave of the flag. 15 seconds later the flag is waved again and the next group, TAG Senior Heavy, goes. This creates a gap in between classes to help avoid traffic.

Lined up on the grid, my hand is on the starter, waiting for the flag to drop

Helping my dad on the grid in his 125 shifter kart

Since the race is timed, I keep a stopwatch on my steering wheel so I know how much time is left and what my strategy should be.

Once the race is over and you pass the chequered flag, you complete the lap and come through the pit in. Next is scales, this is where you weigh in to ensure you weren’t cheating by being lighter. A quick roll across the scale with you and your kart, and then an initial on the tech sheet. You are then ready to go through final tech where they check your engine once again.

It’s a long few hours waiting for the results to come in. Once they are in and you made top three, you can go and get your trophy.

My first place trophy from the Nelson Ledges National