Pole Position Racing

by Jim LaMonica

How fast do you want to go? How much money do you have to spend? That was always the phrase that stuck with me when it came to racing. Driving skill does have a lot to do with your racing success, and don’t get me wrong, but money is also a huge contributing factor.

For the weekend club racer….. by the time you pay the entry fee, buy new tires, trailer your car to the event, get a hotel, eat, buy gas, fix a few things on your car, hope that nothing breaks or blows up, and worst case, you hit something or something hits you, you have spent a lot of money. That is why on March 15th Dave Andrews organized the Riverside Region PCA’s race day at the Pole Position Raceway after the monthly breakfast at Killarney’s.

Twenty-two Riversiders wanted to test our driving skills, but none of us had much money to spend. The Pole Position Raceway is a ¼ mile indoor “euro-style” road course. The cars are electric powered karts that can reach speeds up to 45mph. Equal cars, unequal drivers, wheel to wheel racing in a controlled safe environment. We ran a 12 lap practice session, followed by a 14 lap qualifier race, and then it was a Grand Prix start to a 16 lap main event race. There was nurfing, spinning, a little crashing and maybe even some swearing. We all had a blast!!!

In the end, when the time sheets were printed out, the only PCA member left standing was Clive Manser taking second place. Third place went to Matt Andrews, son of member Dave Andrews. First place went to Alex, a guest of one of the members and obviously a “Ringer.”

After the race, I walked outside to my Porsche in the parking lot. The tires were still in great shape, there was still gas in the tank, there were no dents or rock chips, nothing was broken, and I had only spent $60. Not bad for a race day.

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