Ever want to feel like A.J., or Parnelli, or maybe Danica? Former 500 and IRL driver and winner of the 1993 24 Hours of Daytona Mark Dismore has developed New Castle Motorsports Park, which is the perfect place to feed your racing desires.
So it was this weekend when I traveled to the go-cart track with my 16-year-old son, my 14-year-old daughter -- and our church pastor, who claims that if he moves, he'll race it.
The Motorsports Park provides rental go-carts that are available for individual rental when not being used for corporate outings. These aren't your little amusement park carts. They hit a top speed of about 50 miles per hour, purportedly the fastest rental carts in the United States. Unlike indoor carting, you race on a 1-mile asphalt road coarse that feels like real racing.
And as all of us discovered, if you make the wrong move through a turn, you can find your self spinning through the grass. Just so there is no dispute about who is fastest, the carts have an electronic scoring system that displays your lap times in the center of the steering wheel.
Also, when the track is open, you're likely to find yourself running with real racing carts hitting speeds of 75 mph. So it was when we were there Saturday. With a go-cart event set for Sunday, many of the competitors were getting in practice. For my 14-year-old, who had never driven a go cart, it was quite an experience. But by our second 10-minute stint, she was following the groove, drifting wide down the straight, then swinging low to the apex of the turn, then drifting back wide on the exit.
The New Castle MotorSports Park is located just 30 miles east of Indianapolis at the 123 Exit on I-70. It's $18 for the first 10 minutes, but only $1 a minute after that. Give it a try!
By the way, I had the best time from out group. Let me know if you beat my best lap: 1:23.99
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