During our high school days on Friday nights, we’d pile in to one or two cars and head down to Burnsville to the go cart place. We never bothered to learn the actual name of the business. We just called it The Go Cart Place which was located west of I35 on Highway 13. The place had a go cart track, bumper boats and I think mini golf. I’m not sure. We only went later in the evenings to go cart. We’d buy tickets and stand in line waiting to race. We would pay close attention to see which were the faster carts. Then as it was our turn, we’d run toward to cart we picked out. More often than not, someone else took our targeted cart before we could get there.
The track had only one straight away where the pit was to get seated in the cart. It had only a few overhead lights to illuminate the track. Once the attendant moved out of the way and said go; we were off! Turn one was 90 degrees to the left. A short straightaway led to turn 2, about 180 degrees turn. Then another 180 degrees turn, It was more or less an “S” shape curve back there. Then a 90 degree turn to the left followed by another leading to the long straightaway with the pit. Early on, the blacktop track was lined with old tires on the dirt as some sort of makeshift guard rail to keep us on the track. But, quite often, the attendants had to run onto the track and replace the wayward tires after being bumped into the track. The carts were low to the ground with a 5-horsepower gasoline engine behind the seat. The carts reeked of burnt oil, exhaust, and gasoline. These were set up for smaller kids. Us that were taller felt cramped. Obviously, there was a gas and brake pedal. But we only used the brakes for stopping in the pit when our race was done. Usually, we’d get back in line to buy another ticket and race again.
We learned the hard way to only purchase one ticket at a time. Occasionally we would get kicked out of there and not allowed to race the rest of the evening. And yes, we did get kicked out a few times for such infractions as too much bumping or flat out causing an accident. No, these carts weren’t all that fast. Thus, we never used the brakes. We’d jamb our foot down on the accelerator pedal and wedge our toe up under the front frame rail bending the bracket to get a little more speed. Also, so we wouldn’t lose full open throttle. The accidents usually happened in the “S” curve. We were all bunched up at the start of the race and nobody broke away until after this “S” curve. More spin outs happened there than the rest of the track. With ten competitive people racing into the “S” curve chaos always ensued. That’s where the tires lining the track managed to bounce onto the track. One of the guys somehow got his cart on top of the tire unable to proceed. The attendants had to help the airlifted cart off the tire and restart the engine.
We’d jockey for position on the straightway, usually cutting or bumping into each other for the best line into the first turn. Somehow, I got bumped and delayed bouncing off the tires watching the group serge ahead. A buddy got bumped between turns 2 and 3, into and through the tires, he cut a clear straight path over the dirt mound pushing tires out of the way eliminating turns 3 and 4 setting himself up nicely ahead of the pack. A few others spun out facing me as I zipped by them. The attendants ran out to replace the tires and help the others get their stalled carts started again and going in the right way yelling at us, “no bumping!” Of course, we ignored their warnings. Yet too much bumping caused us to get kicked out. One of the guys was reprimanded for taking an extra lap.
The next autumn school year The Go Cart Place got rid of the tires and installed metal guard rails lining both sides of the track. No doubt it was the tire misplacement shenanigans of our group that prompted the decision. Of course this metal guard rail led to other difficulties. Somehow a few of us managed to get the cart stuck up on top of this ten inch tall guard rail. Which again led to us getting yelled at by the attendants. They also installed a drag strip of go cart drag races. We tried it once. The carts were slower than the other track. And there was not enough attendants to keep that going.
Despite helmets not being available, and all our crashing, nobody got hurt. Well, except perhaps for our thwarted teenage NASCAR ego. Fun times! We just don’t see this type of activity anymore. I guess everyone is racing on video games and cell phones, now.
