Raceway Park, located in Englishtown NJ is one of my favorite kart racing tracks. I think the facility as a whole is pretty awesome. The first thing we see as we drive our kart trailer thru the gate is dirt motorcross bikers jumping over the hills on the motorcross course. Sometimes we pull over and watch a few minutes of the action before continuing on to the kart track entrance. On the opposite side of the road is the recently-built, paved, sportscar road-course. A few times a year the karts race on that course. I haven't had a chance to do that yet but I hear its fun.
Sunday road-course kart course I usually run on is really a parking lot behind one of the dragstrip's grandstands. In between races, karters often go up in the stands to watch the bracket-racers roar down the drag strip. Twice a year the NHRA national drag racers take over and karting takes a break. Raceway Park is a motorsports venue that is unique in NJ. More than one type of racing calls Raceway Park home.
The kart road-course is created out of 2-foot high, 4-foot long plastic rectangular blocks. A definite improvement over safety cones that were hard to see when the sun was setting. I love racing on that course because it is so challenging. A driver has to be really on top of the wheel. There is only one straightaway and 10 corners. Most of the corners are very tight curves. It's like sharp left, sharp right, carousel turn lap after lap.
The only problem I have with racing there is I need to do weight lifting for a couple months before the season begins in order to race there. Before I started lifting weights, I would be in such pain. My arms would be soo sore that I would have trouble just driving in the feature race. Being competitive was out of the question. The first two 8-lap heat races would just pound me flat. The exhilaration only lasts so long. Then arm fatigue overcomes the adrenalin.
After I started lifting weights pre-season, I didn't fell any soreness until after the feature race. Whats more, when the next morning came, my arms didn't throb. The highest I've finished so far is second place but I am happy to say I am racing with the pack at the front of the field. That's a big improvement from how I raced when I started 4 years ago.
The only downpoint I have about Raceway Park is their food. Their food stand couldn't cook a burger to save their lives. They are always burnt, even if you ask them to start from scratch and cook a new burger. it always turns out black. So we just pick up a couple subs and chips from a deli on the way to the track.
On the whole, we always have a great time racing here.
Fantastic blog post here. Wording, tone, expert voice and layout. The link at the end. Great work. One point - the opening sentence is a little awkward - mention the name of the park even though you included the logo above.
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