First of all, thanks for being a part of our inaugural "Night at the Races"! We look forward to seeing you all there! We've put together this detail sheet just as a friendly guide so you'll have an idea of how the night will go
Schedule:
- 7:00 PM-7:30- Meet and Greet- Dunlop Conference Room. Pizza/Snacks/Beverages will be available! For any reserved drivers who will need final registration we will assist.
- 7:45- Drivers Meeting
- 8:00- Preliminary Races (4)
- 8:30- (Five to 10 Minute Intermission To Line Up Feature Races)
- 4 Feature Races
- 9 PM (ish) Anyone who would like to join us at Rivertowne for food and drinks
Getting There:
The good news is, there's not any sort of road construction on the Parkway I-376 in the general vicinity. But, depending on where you're coming from, you may want to allow extra time as there could still be normal traffic delays, especially if you have to take the Parkway from Fort Pitt Tunnel. We'll have some of our staff on site by 6 PM and our conference room (Dunlop) open if you'd like to come early and hang out or perhaps do some shopping in the Monroeville Mall. So monitor the traffic situation closely Thursday evening! We'll need to see all drivers there by 7:30, if for some reason you're running a little late, please give us a direct message on our twitter or facebook page!
The Racing:
Upon checking in, drivers will be sorted out randomly into 4 qualifying time trial sessions. These races will be 10 laps, allowing drivers to perhaps take a lap or two to get familiar with the course. All laps will be timed, and we will rank all drivers into four final races. The feature races will be 12 laps in length and will have a grid-F1 type start where all karts will be placed together at a start/finish line in rows of two and then will be given the green flag! Races will feature either 7 or 8 drivers each depending on final turnout.
What To Bring/Wear:
Honestly, just yourselves! You may want to bring a favorite driver hoody, but outside of that, plan on being comfortable and if you're driving, wear things that aren't too loose. IMPORTANT: Closed toed shoes only!! No sandals, pumps, stilettos, or even black flats! Best practice, your most comfortable pair of tennis shoes! It might be wise to not wear anything too bulky as these karts will be comfortable but snug. Helmets and clean head socks will be available. Drivers may bring their own if they wish. Though it should be from a safety approved purveyor.
The Karts:
Hang on to your hats, you're going for a ride. The course at Steel City may consist of a lot of turns, but you'll be hitting them with an extremely responsive and torquey 20 HP electric kart, from SODI, a worldwide leader in karting technology. The progressive torque can even sense and adjust for different body weights to add a little more power for larger folks! You'll have slide glide synthetic all around your kart, no corners or hard edges, you simply slide off things. They're very easy to drive and completely safe!! Here's more on them here: SODI RTX Electric Kart Be sure to check out the video!
The Surface
It's an indoor road course which will be challenging to be sure. You'll find hairpins, esses and some straights along the way. Unlike some traditional karting places, you won't find "the black" so to speak as the karts, tires and surface don't lend themselves to the laying down of rubber! However, we will be the fourth special event of the day on Thursday! This means, there'll be some momentum (heat) built into the surface. Best practice, take your first two laps in qualifying and test different corners to see if you're over or under driving, remember if you slide too much, you're pretty much scrubbing off time.
Coming Out To Watch
If you're not into racing with us and would like to come out to watch, we'd LOVE to see you out there. We'll be setup in our own conference room where you can mingle with other drivers, and there's plenty of on track seating. It's totally free of charge and we'll have snacks and door prizes and lots of social media going on.
Drivers- What To Expect
This is our first attempt at doing something like this, so expect a few hiccups. We're not race officials, we're not promoters, and we're really doing this so everyone can have fun and we can say thank you to everybody! Did we mention this should be FUN? We realize that we all have a competitive nature, we're racing folks and part of DIRT Nation. You can expect a challenging race course, state of the art karts, and a safe night of racing. With that being said, please watch out for each other. We're fairly certain that all of us understand this, but just wanted to let everyone know that any kind of rough driving will not be tolerated. If a driver is clearly faster, especially in the qualifying round, please do the right thing and allow them to pass. It will help everybody get better times! And in the features, we want a great race, but a safe race. This is for you, our gift and we'd love to be doing this here at Steel City EVERY year going forward. We can do that, if we treat the facility's karts and each other with recpect! Other than that, we can say that it's a bit tight, but during the features, if you work for a pass, you can find them. Both the inside and outside lanes work here.
After the Races
We'll be going to Rivertowne Pour House for a couple of beers (their selection of crafts is great!) and maybe an appetizer and some more socialization. This is completely your decision and please know that we're not yet allowed to pick up anybody's tab. Hey, maybe one year, who knows. lol But we'd still like to see you all there if you'd like to come out. If you do, please be responsible and limit yourself or have a designated driver!
Rivertowne Pour House is located at 312 Center Road, Monroeville, PA 15146, it is approximately 7 minutes from Steel City Karting!
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