BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff Above, Scott Woods gives his son, Zachary, 11, some advice before taking some practice laps at Raceway Park in Old Bridge recently. Below, local racers jockey for position on the highly popular road course at the Old Bridge facility.

You never know — a future motor racing star could be cutting his teeth at Raceway Park.

Karting may not register very high on the motor sports radar screen, however, some of the greatest names in racing — Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Jeff Gordon — all started their careers in karting.

Two years ago, Raceway Park vice-president Alex Napp built a karting road racing circuit and followed it up with an oval track, providing karters with the best of both worlds. They can enjoy the technical challenge of the road course that relies more on the driver, or the sheer speed of oval racing.

Since opening the racetrack made popular by drag racing in 2002, karting has become very big at the Old Bridge facility.

"It’s been quite successful," Napp said. "More and more are coming into the sport all the time. We’ve had gains across the board.

"There are a lot of families getting involved," he added. "They have a good time racing and its a pretty safe thing to do."

Napp pointed out that Raceway Park gets the very serious karters, as well as those not so competitive, who are just looking to drive a few laps around the course and see what it’s all about. Karting is for all ages, Napp said, with competition featuring youth classes (starting at age 8) up to masters (adult).

There is a common thread uniting all karters regardless of age or skill level.

"Once people get in it, they love it," said Napp, a kart driver himself.

On a typical race-day Sunday, there will be 140 karters competing in 14 different classes. The oval track will attract upwards of 40 karters.

"The road course is much more popular," Napp said.

Kart divisions are based on engine size and other restrictions.

Cost has been a factor to karting’s success as well. A driver can get a state-of-the-art helmet and kart for around $5,000. Used karts can be purchased at around $1,500.

Those who are kartless and interested in seeing what the sport is all about, need not worry — there are kart rentals available at the track.

The clientele at Raceway Park isn’t limited to Central Jersey. There is a large contingent of Brazilians who come from New York City and Newark. Karting is huge in Brazil and, once a year, the Brazilians will hold an Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup Race in honor of their late three-time Formula I World Champion.

For the competitive karters, Raceway Park conducts an 18-race points series to determine track champions for the road course and an eight-race series for the oval track. The races are held on Sundays with the track open for practice on Saturdays before the race. When WKA and national events are hosted by Raceway Park, some of the best karters in the nation test their skills on its tracks.

The 11th race of Raceway Park’s Spring Karting Championships’ road course will be held Sunday. On Aug. 7, the karters will race under the lights (4-10 p.m.) in the 12th race of the track championship. The karters will return for a practice session on Aug. 28 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., followed by the 13th race of the season on Aug. 29.

Other points races are Sept. 12, Oct. 17, Oct. 31, Nov. 14 and, the final race of the season, the Turkey Final race, Nov. 21.

The oval championship points race picks up on Aug. 6 with other races on Aug. 28, Sept. 11, and the Grand Finale Oct. 16.

For more information on the karting at Raceway Park, call Napp at (732) 446-7800.