Some of the world’s most famous race car drivers got their start in a much smaller, much more affordable, much more kid friendly vehicle: the go kart. Go karts were first made in the late 1950s, by a man named Art Ingels, who lived and worked in Southern California.

Today, kids from all over the world get karts as gifts, or work with their parents to assemble their very own, and spend countless hours driving around (or thinking about driving around when they’re ‘stuck’ inside).

The go kart is a simple machine: a small engine on a light but sturdy frame that sits very low to the ground. Karts made for amusement parks generally are capped at a speed of 15 miles per hour, but karts for competitive use often reach speeds in the mid 80s. The highest recorded speed is reported to be 160 miles per hour.

The slightly faster kart is generally what a young racer will start on (not too fast to be safe, of course). Such big names as Jeff Gordon and many others got their start behind the wheel of the go kart. Now they are racing in DuPont/Pepsi, NASCAR, the Busch Series, the Winston Cup, and other notable competitions.

What makes karting such a good learning tool for eventual competition in larger, faster vehicles? Well for one, it is a manageable size for smaller bodies. This doesn’t mean it cannot be pursued by adults (it can, and often is!), but that it is just a particularly effective avenue for younger drivers to get comfortable in a vehicle before they start getting into larger and faster cars.

Skills that karting helps these young drivers acquire include such things as:

• A sense of turning, steering, and fine tuned control of the wheel

• Confidence in acceleration (and learning when and how much to push the gas pedal)

• A good grip on braking (and learning how to brake effectively without losing control of the vehicle)

• How to ride along side other drivers (to remain competitive without driving dangerously close to another car)

These are basic skills, and ones that ‘stick’ and become more refined when learned at a younger age. Karting is a great way to get kids started out. Of course, most young karters don’t go professional. But they still have a good time.