Redwood outlaw karts is one of the many subdivisions of motorsports racing. It’s loud, it’s hot, and it’s fun, and here on the north coast the fever for gunning it around the roughly one-sixth mile dirt track has never been stronger.
“I’m all in. There’s no doubt. I’m addicted. This is my addiction,” Marcus Finney, a racer, said. “This is what I like to do .I like the camaraderie. I think Bianca can speak to it as well. Like her family, our family, we all hang out here. We hang out at the other tracks, the food truck. Just the family vibe and being able to hang out and put some smiles on faces.
Redwood Outlaw Kart’s organizers have strived to make this a fun alternative sport for boys and girls. Starting from age five and beyond.
“I’ve been racing for four and a half to five years—about five,” Phoenix Venza, another racer, said. “I first started, I was doing okay. And then now, compared to now, I feel like I’m doing pretty good from this experience.”
Kiana Titus was ten years old.Â
“Because it’s, like, fun. And it’s a new hobby to get into,” Titus said.
“You get to go fast and have fun and just have journeys,” racer Fallon Ludwig said.
“We took her to one to see if that’s what she wanted to do. And she said, yeah. So here we are,” Ludwig’s father, Mike, said.
During the summer months, when the kids get out of school, local families will start their trek to the track on scheduled Saturdays, either here in Eureka at Redwood Acres or travel a circuit that can take them to tracks throughout California’s central valley, up through Oregon, all the way to Washington state. Or as far as the family wants to go.
“So sometimes if you travel three hours away, for example, to lakeport, it’s not that bad, but to Chico or Red Bluff—you don’t want to travel, but when you race, it’s super fun,” Venza said.
“Roseburg is a big one in the winter time. We got Cottage Grove that ran last night. Willamette speedway, they started this year, too. So there’s a handful of them all over,” Mike Ludwig said.
The adage go fast and turn left gets into the bones of these young drivers, and pretty soon mom, dad, and the kids are all competing to take that checkered flag.
“We started running, thunder roadsters and, autocross. And then I started drag racing, and then I used to race over here at Redwood Acres, and my daughter saw how much fun it was and said that she wanted to race, so I bought her a cart. And, this is the second cart that we’ve, owned,” Dusty Titus said. “So, yeah, just a family fun event. She gets excited about it. Plus, it gives her a reason to keep her grades up because she’s an honor student, so she deserves to race.”
“It’s a good sport,” Malachi Johnson, a racer, said. “I think you definitely would want to try it. Rent out carts and just get into the sport and just learn.”
You can try out outlaw kart racing. There are karts for rent at the track. and just by talking to the racers and crews, you can be introduced in the world of outlaw car racing.
The next race is this Saturday, July 13th at Redwood Acres, with the first qualifying heat starting at 1 p.m.
