Strathmore go-kart club on second year around

Andrea Roberts
Times Intern

 

The Calgary Kart Racing Club opened its second season in Strathmore on the weekend and has already seen growth in both membership and the facility since bringing the franchise to the town last year.
“This past year has been awesome,” said Mario Gimenez, a 10-year-long member of the club who had just finished his qualifying lap on April 24, the first race day of the season.
“We have had so much support from the [town] here that we have never experienced anywhere else before and the facility is becoming quite nice probably one of the nicer ones in Canada.”
Officially, the club opened its new headquarters last year, and has already seen a great enthusiasm grow for the sport locally. The club has grown to 130 members. Naomi Hanna is one of the newer members, who has being racing since she joined up last year.
“It’s really fun first of all but you also build up a sense of community with the people here who have the same interests as you and it’s kind of like having a family here.”
John Kwong, the president of the club, mentioned this sentiment, referring to the club as family friendly with racers ranging in age from as young as five to 75 years of age. Many competitors are families with parents and children sharing a love of the sport.
The club is proud of their new headquarters, which was once pastureland and through the hard work of local builders and club volunteers has managed to become the Strathmore Motorsports Park. Kwong explained that the past year was hectic as they were continuously improving the facility. Some of the developments planned for this season include installing their new grandstand, fixing their BBQ shack and improving parking. Kwong said that there would also be a new lighting system for the track that will be installed by mid-season.
For those interested in the go-kart racing, the club hosts “try-a-kart” days that give the interested public a chance to experience how to race competitively. Those that decide to join are responsible for buying and maintaining their own equipment, which can be quite expensive.
“It is not the cheapest hobby,” said Kwong.
“We call it cheap racing but an expensive hobby.”