STOXKARTs
biggest race of the year...
Saturday 28th September
STARTRAXs Annual GOLD TOP race at
Stokes Loomer Road Raceway, Chesterton.
Huge turnout of kart’s
(With the unpredictability of the shale - is set to be one of the
season’s most spectacular race meetings.
Short Oval Racing with ‘IMPACT’
meeting’ whereby ‘Father and Son’ teams of
F1 drivers downsized and took part in a preWorld Final race using borrowed Stoxkarts.
The result was a slick programme of events
that went down well with the majority of F1
Fans. Some of the ‘die-hard fans’ admitted
they’d been pleasantly surprised by the
‘entertainment-value’ of the Stoxkarts. Now
is the time to look at what Stoxkarts have to
offer.
It’s the future ...
In the beginning there were just a few karts
at each meeting, and then the formula was
taken over by ex-BriSCA F1 drivers Ian and
Paul Higgins in 2010. There are now more
than 60 karts in existence, with 30 to 40
racing at most meetings. As they say on TV,
‘You do the Maths!’ With 30+ race fees and
each driver bringing one or two friends or
family members who pay normal admission
prices to watch, plus a small but growing fan
base, means that more and more promoters
are keen to have StoXkarts on their
programme.
Add the race fees from the ever-growing
number of juniors who kart-share with the
seniors and race at the same meeting, and
you can see where the promoters are
coming from. If you’re going to have support
formulas, you might as well go for those that
bring in the most money. A formula that
always provides a good turn-out of cars
makes sound commercial sense as well as
providing the paying customers with action
packed racing. The more cars there are on
track the more sensational the action is
likely to be.
Money plus action aren’t the only things that
make Stoxkarts attractive to promoters. The
formula has a very comprehensive rule book
that prevents any kind of modification to the
kart, which helps to keep the costs down. It
also adds to the discipline, both on and off
the track, which cannot be faulted. The
formula even has its own modified recovery
vehicle which ensures a quick turnaround at
the end of each race and makes for a
smooth running programme.
For shale track promoters there are even a
couple of added bonuses. First and
foremost Stoxkarts do not tear up and
damage the track surface, which is of
particular importance where they also run
speedway, and no matter how hard they hit
the fence they don’t damage it. It is
therefore little wonder that the only reason
that Stoxkarts don’t race at all tracks is due
to the fact that they have a policy of keeping
the number of meetings at which they
appear in any one season down to 25 and
that they can’t race at stadiums that have
post and wire fences due to the fact that
they are small enough to go through the
wires.
Size Doesn’t Matter! ...
Don’t be fooled by the size of these tough
little machines. The action, with a total of
five roll-overs in their last five meetings, is
fast and furious and belies their size. What
is more, with the cost of parts and repairs
being just a fraction of what they are in other
formulas, Stoxkarts drivers aren’t afraid to
get stuck in, hence the action packed
spectacle that they provide. Even when
they roll or collect other damage the drivers
still come off the track with big smiles on
their faces because they know that,
whatever the damage, repairing it isn’t going
to break the bank.
More importantly they, like all of the other
Photos (six) by: James Bowes
support formulas who generate extra income
for the promoter by paying to race, are part
of the reason that we still have a few
stadiums left where we can go to watch F1s
race. So, the next time that you are at a
meeting where they are running with the F1s
don’t just sit on your hands, give them a
grateful and well deserved clap or cheer as
they come round on their lap of honour!
Every driver in every formula deserves our
support.
And finally who races Stoxkarts? Well
drivers come from all walks of life and all
areas of the country. Many have raced ot