My brother-in-law and sister-in-law are in town this week. My brother-in-law works in the automotive industry and it’s been nice to have some very technical discussions about cars. It’s really been great since most of my friends here don’t seem to like cars as much as I do (I am from Detroit, afterall).

Today we went to the F1 Race Factory here in Phoenix to drive go-kart’s that go 45 MPH. We were told by track employees that the track is scaled down so it’s supposed to feel like you’re driving 200 MPH on a real race course. To me, it felt like driving a Go-Kart inside a building going 45 MPH (which granted, is not slow). I guess my brother-in-law has been to a place similar to this in Michigan a few times, but it was a first for me. I’ve ridden other types of go-karts many times before; Malibu Grand Prix and such. I took a half-day introduction course at The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving which was pretty interesting, and I had a go-kart while growing up that would go about forty. I used to like to play “Dukes of Hazzard” (God help me that I admitted that) in it and therefore got a lot of practice drifting which as a teenager used in cars.

My brother-in-law didn’t say much about his go-karting experience on the ride down to the track (it’s about 35 minutes away, down by the airport), but I could tell that it was on. We’re both very competitive and we were both ready to beat the other one. The place was really nice. They had four computers for computerized check-in before you listened to a short safety briefing and watched a five minute safety and instructional video. They have two tracks but one was in use for corporate events today. After the safety instruction, we went and changed into our “F1 race suit” which was really just an inexpensive driving suit. At least it was clean.

Out of all the people we saw there, we were the only two that chose to wear neck protection (provided free of charge). It seemed like a no-brainer to both of us and it didn’t restrict your movement or anything. Instead of using one of the supplied racing helmets and having to smell someone elses sweat for two 24-lap races, I chose to bring my own.

I don’t know if it was due to the added comfort of having my own helmet, but out of ten racers in the first race, I came in second place. My brother-in-law came in third. The guy who beat me was bragging about winning and loudly announced that he visits and drives here at least two times each week. The door was opened and I walked through it. I exclaimed, “Wow! This is my first time here ever!” Funny enough, after that we didn’t see him again.

In the second race, I started in 10th position and noticed that the front wheels of my kart had some serious negative camber (the tops were toed-in). During this race, I was starting to get used to how the kart drove and was learning the right lines to take around the course. I ended up in second place (a distant second to the winner) and my brother-in-law was a close third. I was disheartened until my brother-in-law pointed out that the winner of the race also held the record for the second fastest lap of the week. I immediately felt better.

When we go home my sister-in-law was surprised that I’d won. Jamey didn’t seem surprised at all. I think she understands my connection with motor vehicles (okay, not Motorcycles).