Newly opened Buckeye Raceway

[ImUrOBGYN]

Noticed this place opened a couple weeks ago when driving by. Don't recall seeing much posted here about it previously so here goes. BTW, these are electric karts. If you've never driven one, they are not exactly quiet (sound kinda cool. At least the ones I've driven elsewhere.), and very torquey. Nice for guys like myself who aren't 150lbs.

 

"Welcome to Buckeye Raceway Indoor Karting 4050 West Broad St.

Buckeye Raceway is your place for speed.

Ride the newest, high performance european electric karts in Ohio. When driving our "clean-green", electric karts on our challenging road course, you'll experience a rush like never before. SODI karts are capable of speeds of up to 45 mph. Combine that with being only a couple of inches off the ground on our ¼ mile road course and you're getting a racing experience that will get your heart pumping!"

 

http://www.buckeyeraceway.com/

[Green Bastard]

Been there, it's a good time.

[Robochan]

Had a blast. I went there friday and i set the 5th fast lap they have had. (maybe 150lb guys do have an advantage) Cheaper and the flaggers actually have a clue what they are doing compared to GP.

[Green Bastard]

Had a blast. I went there friday and i set the 5th fast lap they have had. (maybe 150lb guys do have an advantage) Cheaper and the flaggers actually have a clue what they are doing compared to GP.

 

They may as well not even have the flaggers, nobody pays attention to them anyways (pisses me off because I actually pay attention to the rules).

[AudiOn19s]

(maybe 150lb guys do have an advantage) .

 

Eat something and give the rest of us a chance!!!

 

maybe I should park my fat ass on a treadmill and do something about it on my end? ...nah

[Stretch]

Never heard of the place.. Looks pretty sweet

[Robochan]

Eat something and give the rest of us a chance!!!

 

maybe I should park my fat ass on a treadmill and do something about it on my end? ...nah

 

The more money i spend on food the less i can spend karting.

[greg1647545532]

Bump because I finally got a chance to check this place out last week. Went to GPK last Monday and they were closed, zipped on over to the west side and BR was open for business. It was dead, though. Random thoughts --

 

- Electric karts are the future. I think I've had one unforced spin at GPK, and that was the first time I hit the unsanded back section. At BR, my friend and I both spun multiple times trying to make sense of the power delivery. With instant torque you really need good throttle control. GPK will hide a lot of foot stomping, BR won't. You might think spinning is annoying, but by our 3rd session when we'd finally gotten the hang of it, there's a real feeling of satisfaction in taming the throttle-on oversteer. The downside of the electric karts is that they have no top end, so the tracks can't ever have really long straights. But it's a worthwhile trade-off, IMO.

 

- The karts are consistent. I don't know if this is just an age thing (BR's karts are all brand new) or if the electric karts help in this matter, but at GPK part of the challenge is re-learning how to drive every kart you get in. We did 3 sessions at BR and I feel like each kart felt exactly the same.

 

- The track layout was good. One of the track workers said it was their 3rd layout. They're basically just messing around with trial and error. He said he was brought in to do some construction on the place and ended up getting a job. He has no racing experience. None of the guys had any racing experience, and it seems like the owners leaves the track configuration up to them. So they've sort of stumbled on a decent layout, but they're expanding as they go (they're up to around a 35 second lap for a good driver, and they said it will get longer soon) so the quality may change. He also said they plan on changing it every few months just to keep it interesting, which I don't really like.

 

- The workers were sorta clueless about racing. Like I said, it was dead, but there was one other guy there, some salty old guy who apparently is a sprint car racer. They were like, "He's going to be way faster than you guys, so be prepared to get out of the way." Sure, he was faster, but I'm not going to give him the pass. He's got to earn it, right? Otherwise it's not even fun for him. But after half a lap of me doing a good job of covering my lines, they killed power to my kart remotely so he could go by. Booooooo.

 

- The track surface blows. And not because it's too slick. I'm 100% ok with an indoor kart track being slick, that's part of the charm. I also think figuring out track surface is a fun part of racing. But it's inconsistent, and it's obnoxiously inconsistent. Like, you go 6" wider into a corner and instead of solid grip you get 0 grip and understeer into the wall. Inches matter on this surface. After a while it gets annoying. "Oh no, I went a hair too deep, now I need to slide for 5 feet and do a power drift for 4 seconds to get the kart pointing the right way again while the guy behind me takes off and I'll never see him again." This happened a lot, and my friend and I basically took turns stopping on the track to let the other one catch up. I'm sure this will get better with time, but I wouldn't want to do league racing there yet. Too unforgiving of mistakes.

 

 

Overall, I give it a thumbs up. It's about the same price, the racing is good, the karts are good, the staff is nice. I think if you and your buddies are all into racing, you can go to either one and have a good time. If you and your buddies are all clueless and just want to drift around and giggle, BR might be slightly better. If you and your buddies represent a wide range of talent, you might want to stick with GPK.

 

eta: One of the nice things about electric karts is that they have a "junior mode" setting that they can turn on, so it's the same karts for kids. Also, these karts have adjustable steering wheels, along with the pedals and seats, so it was easier to get comfortable. They're easier to adjust too, and unlike GPK they don't try to prohibit you from adjusting them yourself. Minimum age is 8, minimum height is 48 inches, same as GPK. GPK has the 4-and-up kiddie karts, so they've got that going for them. BR also has a party room you can rent for birthday parties and some arcade games, again, same as GPK.

[Cordell]

I was there a few weeks ago, and after talking to the guy who maintains the karts I knocked a couple seconds off my time. Here's why: the karts are controlled by a pretty smart ECU and turned down, they realize there is wheelspin and pull power, they realize that when you're heavy and aren't going as fast and add power. They really reward proper driving skill, and are set-up to stay equal.

 

I will definitely be going back.

[ImUrOBGYN]

I was there a few weeks ago, and after talking to the guy who maintains the karts I knocked a couple seconds off my time. Here's why: the karts are controlled by a pretty smart ECU and turned down, they realize there is wheelspin and pull power, they realize that when you're heavy and aren't going as fast and add power. They really reward proper driving skill, and are set-up to stay equal.

 

I will definitely be going back.

Hmm, the ECU thing sounds interesting. Especially, concerning the weight thing. I had no idea. I still haven't had a chance to get there. Had plans a few weeks ago but they fell through after littleguy decided to get sick for his visit.

 

Anyway, I get so tired of properly driving a go kart, only to have some arse brake far too late, more than likely slamming into me, only to then take off and leave me behind becuz he's half my size. haha If the ECU thing is true, it's definitely renewed my interest.

[Robochan]

So you complain about having to learn the track surface and you want to hold up people during what is basically a time trial. You get nothing by being first. It's about having the fastest lap. Have you driven mid ohio in the wet? Not a very consistent surface at all. All part of driving. They do have some employees with racing experience but that doesn't matter to much because their bulk revenue is from family's and events. Not speed racers.

[greg1647545532]

So you complain about having to learn the track surface and you want to hold up people during what is basically a time trial.

 

Time trial? It's people farting around on an indoor go-kart track, nobody was competing for anything. If my friend and I hadn't been out there, then this guy would have been driving around the track by himself. I dunno, maybe that's what he wanted to do, but I figured a real racer would want the guy in front to actually put up something of a fight.

 

Maybe I'm wrong. I like passing people and getting passed. Karting by yourself is dull. YMMV. FWIW, his lap times were around a second faster than mine; a big difference on the one hand, but it's not like I was a rolling road block.

 

Have you driven mid ohio in the wet? Not a very consistent surface at all. All part of driving.

 

I have. I enjoy a little inconsistency, but it's concession karting, you know? I don't want to have to memorize the track surface down to the square foot. "Oh, right, grid K12C is a little slick, try and keep your tires on grid K12D."

 

Is it a minor gripe? Sure. But I'm allowed minor gripes, it's my money

 

They do have some employees with racing experience but that doesn't matter to much because their bulk revenue is from family's and events. Not speed racers.

 

Well that's good. None of them were working that day in any case. Doesn't bother me, really, I just mention it because the guy asked for feedback about the track layout and was happy that I liked it; he explained that they'd tried a few different layouts to get to where they are. By contrast, I feel like GPK started out strong. But I never drove any of those earlier iterations, obviously, so maybe they're just being hard on themselves.

[morabu]

pretty sure i posted this before, but here goes.

i go to Buckeye quite often. if you feel like getting passed by a 300lb guy, let me know when you're going and i'll try to meet up.

the owner is nice and the guys working are sociable. makes for a fun time.

i would much rather race there than GPK personally.

it's fun as hell!

[Robochan]

Time trial? It's people farting around on an indoor go-kart track, nobody was competing for anything.

 

it's concession karting, you know? Is it a minor gripe? Sure. But I'm allowed minor gripes, it's my money

 

 

I am always chasing down that fastest lap and not so much focused on position unless im out with friends. Everyone is allowed a minor gripe but i just didnt feel like it was that much different than GPK but i havent been there for almost 10 months

 

if you feel like getting passed by a 300lb guy, let me know when you're going and i'll try to meet up.

 

Sounds like we need to set a day and get some CR action.

[Bam]

This place is fun, hell both are. We're pretty lucky to have 2 indoor kart tracks locally. I've been to buckeye twice and Grand Prix once. I got a 36.7 last time I went, I like passing people too though. Lol

[Crossle]

I wished they weren't so strict on the whole racing/passing deal. I went with a huge group of pretty competitive people who cared more about who was in front of who and less about lap times. Made for some aggravating moments of getting power shut down.

[Miller]

The more money i spend on food the less i can spend karting.

 

PSH. Chandler come get worked Sunday.