Black Men Don’t Race Cars

in Blog — 10/12/2011 4:11 pm | 1 comment

With the exception of Tyrese Gibson or Ludacris in those Fast and Furious movies, black men don’t race cars. Ok, relax. I’m just joking . As you may know by now, one of my goals with this blog is to destroy notions like that one. Besides, if you catch me on the Garden State Parkway, bobbing and weaving through traffic on my way to work, you would probably have evidence that black men do indeed race mid-size sedans on the mean streets of New Jersey.

I have never watched an entire car race (or one of those Fast and Furious movies for that matter) but while I was in Florida this month, I came as close to being a NASCAR driver as I may ever get when I went Go Kart Racing.

My buddy, Robert picked me up from the airport and informed me of that afternoon’s plan. We would be meeting up with his friend, Terrell, and then heading over to K-1 Speed Go Kart Racing. I was thrilled. Though I don’t usually crave activities that cause an “adrenaline rush”, flying high, being upside down, or roller coasters, I had wanted to try Go Kart racing for some time now.

When we got to the racing complex there was an assortment of people of all ages, some in the reception area but most behind the glass, where the tracks were. I have to admit, it was looking pretty cool. Inside the racing area, where the tracks were, was pretty loud and races were going on nonstop. There were two tracks, one for younger or less experienced drivers and the big track.

 

We were told that each race lasts about 8 minutes, barring any “incidents” but we would have to wait about 30 to 45 minutes because they were packed. “No problem!” I thought as this would give me a chance to scope out the scene and figure out if I needed to fake an illness to avoid driving. We filled out the necessary paperwork, disclaimers in the event of an accident, etc and went to go watch some races.

While waiting, I noted how organized and well managed everything was. Of course there are huge “Rules of the Track” all over the place but the facility was well staffed by people who seemed to really know what they were doing. Before each group of drivers even gets in a car, they get a “crash course” in safe operation. Crashing into other cars is absolutely frowned upon as an ejected driver found out a few minutes earlier.

Before it was our turn to go, I struck up a conversation with a man, Mike Brown, who was also waiting to race. He was a man in his early 50s who told me that he used to love racing cars but had not done one in about three decades. His race was before mine so I watched Mike go and when he got his score sheet, he came in second place! Not bad for his first race in thirty years!

So with inspiration from Mike and the instructions from the K-1 speed staff, I was ready to burn rubber. I was put in race car number 11 and, one by one they instructed us to drive onto the track from our lineup. They score everyone by time so when they let you onto the track one by one, your clock starts. My goal was simply to not flip over. I hadn’t given too much thought to what place I would finish in the race in.

Before I knew it, I was told to pull up to the entry gate and Vroom! I was off. We were not supposed to take our cars over 40 mph but even that felt like you were going over 100. Hearing Mike Brown’s advice in my head, I was supposed to drive very close to the turns at high speed and just cut my wheel like crazy. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and I was flying! … Or so I thought. One by one, other drivers started zooming by me. CRAP!

At that point, I was going around the track, occasionally hitting the walls (and other drivers). I noticed Robert and Terrell zooming pass me like the rest of the pack as I was doing my best to make up some time. We were supposed to go around the track 11 times but by the seventh lap, my competitive spirit had run out of gas. We were soon flagged in to stop racing and it was time to pick up the score sheets for the race.

Out of eleven racers, I had come in tenth! I WASN’T LAST!!!! – A victory in itself. I checked for Robert and Terrell’s names and I didn’t have to look far. Robert had come in 9^th place while Terrell was in 8^th.  Obviously, we weren’t ready for the pros just yet. We did have a great deal of fun and although we chose not to do another race that day, we certainly enjoyed recounting our time on the track for the entire car ride home.

Now YOU try it!: K-1 Speed has 10 locations across the country for your Go Kart racing pleasure. If they do not have one near you, “Go forth and Google” because Go Kart racing can be found all over. It’s a great change of pace from the movies, bowling or just eating out. For you Northern New Jerseyans, there is a “Multi Million Dollar Entertainment Center” (that’s how they bill themselves) called Velocity-17, that has go kart racing, laser tag, and a whole slew of other adventures for you to try. You might run into your buddy, Jarrod there. I still have yet to try laser tag !

Thanks for stopping by and PLEASE – leave a comment or two or twelve! I would love to hear from you.