"Startin' them young"

[Yuki Haneda]

Thanks Jayson and Mako! The SCCA Cal Club News paper came and my mom was just flipping thru it before she threw it away... and goes... HEY THATS LEO!



hehe leo is happy

[Steve Ekstrand]

Leo is Robert's hero!

[Jayson Woodruff]

I figured the JR Kart program could use a little press. This should hit a lot of the road racers and may entice some of them to get their kids (or Grandkids) involved.

I like the idea of what was basically a Jr school. I think we should try to do that annually. We've got a lot of good school ideas that seem to come and go. We should work on making them all an annual affair. Maybe combine the Ladies and Jr in one day, then at the opposite end of the year have a Nov/Inter day or weekend.

In case you don't get the paper (this is what I sent):
-------------------
Starting ‘em Young

SCCA Solo isn’t just for those with a driver’s license
any more. In fact the latest crop of racing rookies
are barely in elementary school.

A few years ago the SCCA introduced the formula junior
class for Solo that allowed juniors down to eight
years old to race in low powered karts. Now a recent
trial program allows some regions to run kids down to
five years old. The CalClub region (CSCC) has jumped
all over this program and as of March ’08 is the first
region in the SoPac division to receive permission to
run the youngest groups offered.

There are two classes outlined in the Solo rule book
for Juniors. All Junior Karts are non-shifter types
and have tire/wheel restrictions to keep the cost
down. FJA (formerly FJ2 and FJ4) is for driver’s age
12 to 18 and allows powerful motors such as the Briggs
& Stratton World Formula, the Briggs & Stratton Raptor
and the Yamaha KT-100 engines. FJB (formerly FJ1 and
FJ3) allows driver’s from 8 to 11 years of age. The
FJB class allows the milder motor the Comer K-80. The
three FJA motors are also allowed in FJB with proper
air flow restriction devices.

Solo has always been a family sport, but with the
Formula Junior classes every member of the family can
participate in the competition. Most of the fastest
young driver’s in the CalClub region picked up years
of Solo experience in Junior Karts for before moving
on to some of the Corvettes, Civics, Miatas and Rally
Cars that dominate the events.

Safety is always the priority at any SCCA event, and
the running of the Junior Karts is no exception.
Events that run Junior Karts are required to have a
licensed Youth Steward that is to watch for the safety
of the younger crowd as well as offer advice and make
rule decisions. As a precaution, when it is time for
the junior karts to run the course is cleared of all
other vehicles. Additionally all of grid and pre-grid
is halted until the Juniors are back into a protected
safe area.

Entry fees for Junior racers are typically heavily
discounted, as low as $10. Ready to race Junior Karts
are often found on the used market for very reasonable
prices. Competition ranges from the local test and
tunes all the way up to the Solo National
Championships.

Consult the Solo rule book for kart and class details.
For more info on junior kart racing in the CalClub
region contact Eric Clements at ewc4@charter.net.

[Damon Tolentino]

that's AWESOME!

i really wish my parents could have gotten me into something like that when i was that age. sometimes having an overprotective mother is not a good thing.

[Rick Brown]

I figured the JR Kart program could use a little press. This should hit a lot of the road racers and may entice some of them to get their kids (or Grandkids) involved.

I like the idea of what was basically a Jr school. I think we should try to do that annually. We've got a lot of good school ideas that seem to come and go. We should work on making them all an annual affair. Maybe combine the Ladies and Jr in one day, then at the opposite end of the year have a Nov/Inter day or weekend.

I actually think it could be offered more often. I pretty much just asked the Jr Karter parents if they wanted it and they did the rest. We just set aside a small portion of the lot, provided some timing lights, John Kestler designed a course and they all (kids included) set up the course and ran everything. And at the end of the day the kids did most of the tear down. Top that with Yuki's excellent job as Youth Steward and you have a success! It was low key and low pressure, didn't start until noon and the kids got lots of runs.

No reason it can't be done an any practice event.

[Mako Koiwai]

I think JK felt it was a lot of work for him ... but of course it is ... taking care of three kids and their individual karts! Now that we've seen how to do it, I think it could be done faster and easier with more sharing. They used a pretty big portion of track. I think they could make a shorter track. Their track seemed to have a lot of "straight" sections.

[Mako Koiwai]

Yuki in Control:

[Yuki Haneda]

haha that was at my emergency meeting when the kids were playing bumper karts scary kids...

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Must have been watching Schenker and I at the awards bang-quet.