4 OF THE RECENT MERIDIAN SPEEDWAY CLASS CHAMPIONS GOT THEIR START IN OUTLAWKARTING...DO YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE??

OUTLAW KARTING NEWS:

Outlaw Kart racing a sport for families.

I.C. Murrell
imurrell@idahopress.com 

Friday, June 20th, 2008 

When Justin Segura turned 6, his father Ignacio bought him a motorcycle he could race on one of the Treasure Valley’s short tracks.

Then, someone told Ignacio about an indoor facility in Caldwell where Justin could continue to race during the winter. That place, the O’Connor Field House, featured Outlaw Kart racing, and Justin made a solid transition from two handles to a steering wheel.  

“A lot of practice,” Justin, who’ll turn 9 in August, said about getting used to his red winged kart while going around Boise’s Owyhee Motorcycle Club track. “I like to be in first and go fast.”

In Caldwell, Justin has won a different class of karting each of the past three years. And his dad said he paid about $400 less for the kart, a $2,600 used machine, than for the motorcycle.

“The good thing about it being used is that the kart’s already been on the track,” Ignacio said. “The lady I bought it from, her son outgrew it, and she gave Justin the helmet and suit to go with it.”

Outlaw Karts are named after the World of Outlaws because the framework on each machine is similar to those in the sprint-car series.

Some of today’s NASCAR and Indy Racing League drivers got their start in karts. But Justin isn’t thinking about doing that for a career. He says he’s just going along for the ride now.

“We push racing, but we try to push it as a family sport,” said Ron Ratterree, promoter for Sandhollow Raceway Park and the Winged Outlaws of Idaho, a sanctioning body. “It’s not about racing, it’s about being with your family and friends.”

However, Idaho Outlaw Kart Association promoter Brian Lev said Outlaw Kart racing can be a steeping stone to racing at Meridian Speedway, noting five of the 2007 Meridian champions raced go-karts.

Kart racing is open to people of all ages. But OMC vice-president of short-track racing John Foster, Lev and Ratterree say the kids are the top priority.

“There are a lot of older guys who race the outlaw classes,” Foster said. “And they’re there mixing it up with the 18-year-olds and feeding them.”

Ratterree introduced Outlaw Karts to Idaho in 1996, having three karts race at OMC before starting his track 10 miles west of Caldwell. WOI sanctions races at Sandhollow and at Pleasant Valley Raceway, 10 miles south of the Boise Airport.

Lev, whose Caldwell-based IOKA sanctions OMC races, has noticed the growth of kart racing in the Treasure Valley.

“In the 10 years I’ve been here, it’s grown from 15 Outlaw karts to, ... we’re approaching 175,” he said.

Outlaw Kart racing in the valley is held from April to September, with indoor action in Caldwell held from November-February.