The Checkered Chick

A blog dedicated to the fast paced life of karting and racing.

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The Unforgettable Season: Grand Prix 1976

     In sports there are always rival teams – like the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox or the New York Rangers vs. the Boston Bruins. But in racing, there may be teams but each person drives for himself, representing their name, in the hopes of being a chamption. No strategies are shared. It’s one man versus another. It’s every man for himself. The documentary film Hunt vs. Lauda: F1’s Greatest Racing Rivals shows the complexity of a real rivalry. But it also shows true sportsmanship, and friendship. Niki Lauda and James Hunt’s story is complicated. They worked together to try to make their sport better, they socialized together, they laughed and trained together. But once the green flag dropped, it was racing in its purest form – competition.

     Why watch this documentary? It shows the raw aspects of completion and rivalry and how that can shape a sport. Hunt vs. Lauda tells the story of the incredible 1976 Gran Prix season when these two drivers competed to become world champion of the Gran Prix. Lauda, with Ferrari, had won the championship in 1975 and had every hope of re-claiming his crown. Hunt joined McLaren, a British racing company that had been Ferrari’s arch rival, for the 1976 season to turn things around – to put McLaren back on the map and to prove to people that he wasn’t just a playboy.  British cars and British drivers had dropped off and McLaren and the British people were hoping Hunt would bring the British back to the top of racing. “James didn’t have a team, and we didn’t have a driver so we were thrown into bed with him,” said Alaisdar Caldwell, McLaren team manager at the time. It was like fate; McLaren had to take a leap of faith and run with it.

     According to the narration in the film, this was the most extraordinary season in the history of Formula One. It was sixteen races over ten months from January to October held at locations all around the world. History was being made in racing with the rivalry, and it went back and forth through the whole season. The film is constructed through archived footage of the 1976 Formula One season and told through the footage and interviews with family members, team managers, sports announcers, magazine editors, and Niki Lauda himself (James Hunt died before the film was made in 2013). People who witnessed the rivalry and were around at the same time in the field offer their opinions. The reason why the season is so important is not only because of the rivalry, but because it changed racing: It turned it into a worldwide television event followed around the world.

     The men’s different personalities reflected on the kind of drivers they were. The two drivers were the polar opposite. Hunt “was a fast, flamboyant showman who partied as hard as he raced,” said the narrator. The team manager of Lauda’s Ferrari team, Daniel Oudetta, said Hunt had “the natural talent to go fast in a car.” The narrator described Hunt’s rival Lauda as a steely Austrian who drove with cold, hard logic. “Niki was the scientist, the counterpoint, he was the ultimate, the first really, really technical driver,” said Autocar Sports Editor (1975-1984) Peter Windsor. James Hunt, for example, never played team sports but excelled at individual sports like tennis, and came to racing later on and Lauda came up in the traditional way, through karting.

    Everything throughout was archived footage from the time the event was taking place, and that footage was fused with new material, which were interviews with the people involved. The documentarians also used a lot of pictures, conveyed in Ken Burns-like effects – narrative slide shows with voiceovers.  The visual and the voiceovers made the viewer get a greater picture of actually what happened. You didn’t just hear about it, you saw it. For example, when Niki Lauda was injured badly on the track, you didn’t just hear about it – you saw him in the hospital and you saw his burned face. After his accident, when he was at the final Gran Prix even event of the year, you even saw him pulling off the track in his car, saying “I can’t do it, I can’t do it.”

     The documentarians also brought in a lot of pop culture and news about the era to show how the racing was a distraction for people from the things happening in the outside world. Hunt was a free spirit that people were attracted to in England while so much was changing in their country. The film also captures how racing changed, with new advertisers and promoters and product placement.

     Normally it’s just one person who changes a sport. Derek Jeter, Mohammad Ali, and even the horse Secretariat stand out. There’s always one exceptional player, or sportsman. But in this case, it was two men that made an unforgettable and unbelievable season of racing – the 1976 Gran Prix season, Niki Lauda vs. James Hunt. Both of them got into those cars not to get paid, but because they loved it. In the car they felt most alive. And Hunt raced like he had nothing to lose and nothing to live for, and Niki Lauda raced in the opposite way, cautiously and carefully as if he had everything to live for and everything to lose. The documentary provides pictures of these two complimentary characters.

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Twenty-Five Years of Racing -- and Helping

There’s no one with more passion and excitement for the sport of karting that Chris Guimarra, my new mechanic. Chris is a multiple-time national karting champion. Along with racing, Chris has started coaching and working on cars, spreading his knowledge to other younger drivers. Chris is an intense guy but is so friendly and enthusiastic about the sport that people are drawn to him right away. That’s what a lot of people want in a coach. He wakes something up in young drivers that make them want to work harder and push themselves on the track. I know this first hand. Chris is a very well known and respected driver in the sport, he has now taken on a role of being a coach in the sport. He’s mentoring and helping me, always telling me, “Trust me, calm down. It will all work out.” I used to be a hothead on the track and Chris has helped me calm down and think behind the wheel.  When I lost, I would get mad, blame it on the kart, blame on the other drivers, or I just wouldn’t be giving it my all, looking for excuses, or I would be overdriving, tired, not taking care of myself. Chris has helped me get things into perspective, made me a calmer driver, and a better driver.

As Chris gets ready to suit up for the SKUSA SuperNationals in Las Vegas this week, he took the time to talk to me about his twenty-five years of experience in the sport of kart racing. SKUSA, SuperKarts USA, is one of the many sanctioning bodies in karting today. Chris has won just about every race possible throughout the US and Canada, winning many national titles and being a national champion.  Many drivers walk away from racing once they have succeeded, but Chris has the drive to do more, and win more during his career.

Chris, who is famous around the track for always having his hat on with a custom made number six, his number, is extremely excited for Supernationals. The intensity is so high. It’s the biggest race in the world, and it is the only race that Chris has not done or won, yet. According to e-karting news, Chris is prepping to make his SuperNational debut in a matter of two days.  Chris describes his feelings, tells about it in his own words, saying, “I’m like a kid on Christmas morning right now, I’m like very anxious, I can’t wait to get there, get my area set up, just want to get everything ready to go.” Chris goes on to say that once all of his equipment is set up, he focuses on the matter at hand and how he will strategize.  When asked if he gets nervous, Chris responds, “When the first practice starts, a lot of the jitters go away, but right now the best way to put it is it’s Christmas Eve night and you’re ready to go to bed and Santa Claus is coming.”

This excitement is what’s important to Gamirra, along with spending time with his teammates and most importantly his father, who introduced him to the sport in August 1986 when he was only five and is going to Vegas with him. Gamirra said, “My dad was very involved with the sport, since he was a young boy and he pretty much was doing it full time while I was young. Around five years old he bought me my first go-kart, in August of 1986. I still have the picture.” Chris explains that he was hooked right from the beginning, he started competing when he was eight years old, and he has never waivered from his love of the sport.

Chris is willing to help anyone, whether he’s responsible for them or not. Chris said, “Coaching is just a different type feeling, it’s just…you get that same type of, ‘if they’re doing well then you’re doing well’ the same thing if you’re driving the go-kart, too. It’s a little bit different, that’s all. It’s a really cool experience as well, I definitely enjoy doing that.” Over this past summer, Chris and I were in the pits when another driver lost a part of her kart. Chris saw this and sprinted across the track to get a new part for her when he saw how nervous her mechanic was. I couldn’t believe he was helping my opponent, but when I said, “What are you doing?” he said, “I wouldn’t want that to happen to me, or to you, either.” This made me open up my eyes. Just helping someone goes a long way in the sport, it shows what kind of character you have as a person and as a competitor. People notice that.

           Guys like Chris are very rare in this sport. Most people are always out for themselves and only care about winning. However, in Chris Guimarra case, it’s all about the sport and about spending time around the track with the people he loves and with the people who love what he loves. He’s a winner, and he’s a champion but both of those things come second.  Helping others and seeing people’s enjoyment is what he’s all about.          

If you would like to know a little bit more about Chris Guimarra, and his love or racing, there is a transcript below of our interview that took place this autumn.

Nicole: I’m here with Chris. Chris, what made you want to start racing?

Chris:My dad was very involved with the sport, since he was a young boy and he pretty much was doing it full time while I was young. Around five years old he bought me my first go-kart, in August of 1986. I still have the picture. That’s pretty much it. Once I started doing it I was pretty much hooked right from the beginning. But it took awhile to get good. At eight years old I started racing in competition and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Nicole: What do you love most about racing?

Chris: What do I love most about racing? Well, it’s a few things. There’s the competitiveness, there’s the spending time with my dad still after twenty-five years of doing it together. I love the aspect of building the kart, prepping it, and probably one of the best things about it is actually being at the racetrack and just trying to get it perfect, getting the perfect setup before the race weekend actually hits so you’re practice day, your warm up sessions, everything, getting the kart perfect, I think that’s the little bit of the challenge for me, getting everything perfect before the race actually starts.

Nicole: I know you just spoke about your dad and how you share it with him. Can you give me a little bit more of how you guys both share this passion for racing, and some memories that you share together?

Chris: Oh, well, I mean, from traveling all over the place, you’re always together. The biggest thing is how to learn about how to work as a team together because a lot of people can go to the races with their parents and stuff but a lot of people can’t work well with their dad. We’ve hit it off, we’ve been very good together, very successful in many types of races all over the country, even when I was racing for teams, he would come out and support me. He wasn’t working for me, but he was there, and I think the memories of that is probably the biggest thing. Everybody obviously says the wins are the biggest things but wins are just second to none when you get to spend time with your father and do it the right way.

Nicole: What are some of the titles you have won over the years?

Chris: There’s a bunch of sanctioning bodies in the United States, just like in baseball, there’s MLB, you have the NFL. In go-kart racing you have sanctioning bodies like that. You have the WKA, which is the World Karting Association. I’ve won pretty much everything in there that you can possibly win. There’s also another sanctioning body called the IKF, which is the International Kart Federation. And I’ve won all their trophies you can possibly win. And there’s other series in the country which I’m doing right now, which is SKUSA, which is SuperKarts USA, which is probably the biggest sanctioning body right now in the United States and actually I’m leaving in two days to go to the biggest event probably in the world. Everybody all over the world is going to this. It’s in Las Vegas, it’s a week-long race, and there’s a lot involved with it. I haven’t won that race yet  because I haven’t done it yet but even after racing for 25 years, this is still a first for me so I’m really excited for that. I’ve won from here to California all the way in the north up to Canada, down to Florida. I’ve pretty much won multiple national championships and I’ve done a lot of stuff around the Northeast lately. I’ve done pretty much everything I can do in a go-kart, multiple times.

Nicole: Can you tell me a little bit about the team that you’re with and who you race for, and what’s it like being on a team?

Chris: Sure. Well, the team I’m racing for now, they’re out of Girard, Ohio. The team is Checkered Motorsports, and Checkered Motorsports imports a go-kart from Italy called PCR, and the first owner of the team is called Chubba Pajosa, and he is the first one I drive for right now.

What else was the question, I’m sorry?

Nicole: The team, and how do you like the people you work with on the team?

Chris: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. I’ve been with them now, this is going on the second year. It was kind of, I kind of just crossed them one time. I was leaving another team about two years ago and I love this team. We’ve meshed really well. We’ve done really well together. We’ve won a Northeast Gear Up Series Championship last year with them. We finished second out of Phoenix for the first SKUSA national race in April, and we won both races in Newcastle, Indiana at the Summer Nationals. And now we’re headed to the supernationals, and we’ve meshed really well. All my teammates get along really well. We have fun when we’re not at the track. We have fun when we’re at the track, and the team itself is a big part of it because if you don’t get along with the people under the tent there’s going to be problems. When it meshes it’s fun, and it just adds to the enjoyment of the sport.

Nicole: What does it feel like to race for you? What are the feelings that come over you when you race?

Chris: Well, the feelings, well, perfect example: Right now I leave in two days to go to a race I’ve never been to and I’ve always heard good things about it and there’s a lot of anticipation heading up to this race and like right now the best way to put it, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning right now, I’m like very anxious, I can’t wait to get there, get my area set up, just want to get everything ready to go, and when Wednesday hits, well after two days to get set up, when Wednesday hits, it’s time to go to practice. When the first practice starts, a lot of the jitters go away, but right now the best way to put it is it’s Christmas Eve night and you’re ready to go to bed and Santa Claus is coming. That’s how you feel. That’s probably the best way to put it right now.

Nicole: This leads me to my next question. What is it like to win, when you know you’ve crossed that finish line and you see that checkered flag, and everyone is clapping on the sidelines for you, what does it feel like?

Chris: What does it feel like?

Nicole: What does it feel like to win, when you know you’ve just won?

Chris: Well, it’s kind of like if, I’m trying to explain, let’s see: It’s a feeling of, your adrenaline is so high at the point you cross the finish line that it actually takes a second to actually think about what just happened, like you’re very excited, you’re happy because you’ve worked very hard to get there. Most of the time before we go to a race, we go and test the track, we go and do extra work to make it a perfect weekend. So when it all comes together it’s just a feeling of just the accomplishment of the win, there’s just no explanation for it, you’re just extremely happy, and the joy just lasts for weeks, it’s just great. And it’s good that you can share it with other people as well.

Nicole: This leads me to my last question. What would you say is one of your favorite memories of all time of karting and racing? Out of all these years, what’s your favorite memory?

Chris: My favorite memory, let me see. I’ve had so many memories, and good memories, I’m talking really good ones. My favorite…

Nicole: If you could choose one, what would it be?

Chris: I want to say probably it was 2003. We were at this race in Buttonwell, California, and I was living in California at the time, driving…living with the team I was driving for, and it was this new series that had just started. It was called Stars of Tomorrow and Indy Cars started the series. And there was…big prizes and everyone, there was tons of big names in the field. It was a really, really highly competitive field at that weekend. And we qualified first, and we had the fastest go kart the whole weekend. We were the only American go-kart in the whole field. There’s not usually American go-karts in the field, so it was really an accomplishment to be the fastest kart at the same time.  And we were winning the race about, it was really a long race, 35 plus laps. I remember we were at about six laps to go and this one Canadian driver was catching us and my boss at the time was, I could tell by his hand signals that he was coming and I remember just saying to my helmet, just let him come, there’s nothing I can do about it now. Then, I remember he passed me and it was two laps to go and I remember I did a dive bomb pass with one lap to go, at the bottom of the straightaway which is the highest speed point of the track, obviously, and I remember we touched wheels at the end of the straightaway and I went up and over him, and I drove right over him. I had the corner but he didn’t want to let it up either and we both ended up crashing in the dirt and somehow I kept going and he didn’t but I did. I ended up winning. And I was probably… if there was anybody with Lady Luck on my side, it was definitely that race. It was very exciting to come past the finish line, and see my boss freaking out because everybody thought we were both going to crash out and we didn’t. It was a really good victory. That was probably my biggest win of my career, I would say. And that was probably the biggest feeling of overwhelming joy that I ever had. The only thing is, my Dad wasn’t at that one.

Nicole: He was there in spirit!

Chris: Yup.

Nicole: And also I know you do a little mechanicing on the side. Do you want to tell me a little bit about that?

Chris: Yeah, I mechanic and tune and coach some of these people. I work for this one girl in particular, but no, I enjoy coaching as well. It’s actually a new part of my career you might say. I enjoy doing it. What I like doing is passing on what I’ve learned to other people and you know to see somebody excel, greater than what they were the week before at the track by themselves or against other people and do well and see them happy and see them leave the track with that type of joy that I leave the track with. It just adds to it. And I really enjoy coaching kids and you know I’ve coached some adults but mainly I do the kids because you really get to see that joy in their eyes, I like to help their parents and I think their parents really appreciate the extra help and they want to learn as well. I have a daughter, too, and she’s four. And one day I hope she wants to do it too, so I can do the same thing for her. Coaching is just a different type of feeling, it’s just…you get that same type of, “if they’re doing well then you’re doing well.” It’s almost like the same thing if you’re driving the go-kart, too. It’s a little bit different, that’s all. It’s a really cool experience as well, I definitely enjoy doing that.

Nicole: Would you say in the future, you’d like to open up your own team, your own school? For coaching, for racing?

Chris: I actually have thought about opening up my own school. I like the whole freelance thing. I don’t want to be tied down to one certain team if I don’t have to because coaching is like one of those things where like anyone could use you at any time. Instead of saying I want to stick with Checkered Motorsports and just coach their drivers, that would be silly. Sometimes the people you coach want to try new things, new go-karts, and they want to be able to bring me along with them, you know.

Nicole: And you want to be able not to help just one particular group of people, you want to help many people.

Chris: Yeah! Exactly, exactly.

Nicole: And I feel like you know coming from racing, and I know it’s very hard, a lot of people like to keep to themselves, and keep their secrets, and not give them away but you know with you you seem like you want to show people your tricks up your sleeve and see everybody excel.

Chris: Yeah, of course. Definitely. I want to spread the wealth as much as possible.

Nicole: And that’s a very rare find in this sport, without a doubt. Thank you so much, Chris, for taking the time, and letting me interview you, I think it’s going to be a great piece, and I’d love to send you the link to my blog when it’s all done.

Chris: Sounds good, Nic.

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The Greatest That Ever Lived

“In 1978, I came to Europe for the first time to compete outside Brazil in the World Karting Championship. It was pure driving, pure racing. There wasn’t any politics, no money involved either. It was real racing.” –Ayrton Senna, Three-time Formula One Champion

     Every driver who races karts or cars desires pure, clean racing – real racing. That is where the passion is. But a viewer does not have to know a thing about racing or driven any high-powered race car to be moved by Senna, a powerful, captivating documentary directed by Asif Kapadia. The film captures the greatness of the three-time Formula One racing champion from Brazil who died doing what he loved just before winning a fourth championship on the track at the San Marino Gran Prix in Italy. Ayrton Senna was the best driver who ever lived, and the documentary shows you why. The documentary offers heartpounding thrills as well as heartbreaking emotion and shows the power of one man’s faith.

     This well-constructed archived documentary begins with previously unseen footage of Senna as a young man at his first world karting championship and ends with the same clip. This provides insight into his life and the city and country he loved so much, Sao Paolo, Brazil. Senna was an idol to his country, which was facing an economic crisis and poverty at the time of his career. Senna represented hope and joy to his country and when he died people said, “All joy is lost.” Senna gave so much back to his country, setting up schools and starting organizations to help the community.

     Throughout the documentary Senna talks about the struggle he experienced between the politics of Formula One and the pure racing and driving of karting. The first part of the documentary shows the journey from karting to Formula One. After karting, Senna signs with his first Formula One team, Lotus. The McLaren team approached him, and that’s where he meets his teammate and life-long rival, and Alain Prost.  Viewers experience through archived footage the rivalry between the two. Their actions on the track – taking each other out a couple of times, and Prost’s public humiliation of Senna – shows the hate between each other. Viewers also learn about the rivalry through filmed interviews where you can see and feel the tension and hatred between the two of them.

     Because the film does not have a narrator, viewers learn about Senna through his family and people who knew him well and can vouch for him, like his pit crew and other drivers, the announcers, and sportswriters. These people think of him so highly and they put him so high on a pedestal not because of the things he did, and his accomplishments, trophies, medals, and money, but because of who he was as a person and his caring nature that even tried to change rules and regulations to be sure other drivers were safe.

     One of the most important and emotional parts of the movie, heartrenching and sad is when Proust and Senna are in a Gran Prix final. The two rivals “take each other out” of the race and Proust could not go back in but Senna goes back into the race through the chicanes, an external part of the track (not the normal racing line) and wins the race outright. However, the officials of Formula One say what he did was illegal and he was not the overall winner. To cope with his disappointment about losing and the fact that his teammate Proust deliberately calculated the maneuver so Senna couldn’t win, he finds God as a way to help him understand what had happened. Senna put all his faith in God while he drove, and they say when Senna passed his personal said, “I don’t believe in anything but I saw his spirit leave his body.”

     Sports analyst John Bisignano speaks highly of Senna in the documentary, “There’s only one word that describes Ayrton’s style, and that is: Fast. He would take the car beyond its design capabilities. He would brake later, fly into these corners where the car was just over the edge, and show how he could dance and dance with that car to where it stayed on.” Every time it rained, drivers would go twice as slow but Senna would go four times faster. He had no limits. That’s what he’s most known for. The film shows how he is able to win in the rain – he laps every opponent but one. The film combines actual footage plus footage filmed in the car itself, capturing his intensity.

           Another riveting factor of the sports documentary was the original soundtrack. The filmmakers blend the sounds of the racing with their composed soundtrack, and that makes viewers feel like they are in the car with Senna or driving right beside him. The heartfelt and intense music also will bring emotions out in views while they watch the film. For example, right before Senna dies, you hear the impact of him crashing into the wall and there is a moment of silence in the film. Then as you see EMT’s rush over to the scene of the accident, the music picks up again, intensifying the pain in spectators’ faces that the film makers show through the archived footage.

     The way viewers see Senna living his passion is inspiring to others and makes you want to live in the same way. It is sad because people don’t live as passionately as Senna did. The film conveys the idea that if you were to die tomorrow, could you say you had lived a full, fulfilling life? Senna could say he did. It was such a great loss when Senna died, but everyone knew that he died doing what he loved and he did what he loved with extreme passion. Senna could say he did. “With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.” -- Ayrton Senna

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The Olympics of Karting: The Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals

     The biggest event of the karting year is taking place right now in Portimao, Portugal, and there is live reporting from the site provided by ekartingnews.com. Each of these articles covers a different angle about the race. This is the most important and biggest race of the year. If a driver goes to this race, he or she, is incredible.

     The first article Challenge of the Americas Champions Taking on the World, appears on ekarting news.com., and describes the upcoming event and talks about some of the first-time drivers who are representing the United States.

     The second article is called 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Grant Finals – Team USA – Tuesday Report. This article focuses on the 288 drivers who compete in four categories: Junior Max, drivers 13-15 years of age; Senior Max, drivers 15-19 years of age; DD2, drivers from 19-31; and DD2 Masters, drivers older than 31 (Cole, 2015a).  The article talks about the first practice for this event, and how the 20 American drivers took on the track. Each division will be designed to one kart company – all the drivers will have the same motors and same karts. Everything needs to be the same. You can’t bring in your own outside tools or equipment; everything is supplied for you. This is to ensure that no one cheats. The results show how competitive these races are. From all these classes, only a tenth of a second can keep you out of first place. The times are so tight because these are the best drivers from around the world. In order to compete in this race, drivers have to qualify. They have to win a certain number of races. The races they win have to be on the highest competitive level.

     The third article is called 2015 Rotax Max Challenge Grant Finals – Team USA – Wednesday Report. The reporter assigned to the United States team reported on Day Two of the competition completed at the Kartodroma Internacional Algarve in Portimao, Portugal. Today, the qualifying round was completed. Now, all the qualifying drivers are looking towards the final round on Saturday. Two Americans placed “pole”, both in the same division. In each class the United States is dominating and looking forward to racing on Satuday.

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Fast and Furious Family Fun: Dave Davies and F1 Boston

White knuckled with nerves on edge, I am looking through my mirrored shield trying to calm my breath.  Pressing my foot down full throttle, I hit the straightaway as smooth as can be, and prepared for the first turn at the F1 racing track in Boston. Dave Davies’s shares this passion with me for racing, and enthusiastically shares with me his extraordinary insight into kart racing and what it’s like to live and build a career centered on the need for speed. Dave Davies has his arms crossed in the photo.

          “I’ve been a gearhead ever since I can remember,” Dave Davies said, co-owner of F1 racing in Boston. Dave Davies is a mild-mannered man but as I stood in front of him he came alive when he talked.  His voice filled with excitement, his face lit up, and he stood tall and proud while I interviewed him about his establishment.  Like many others, Davies lives for racing but his passion to see other people to enjoy it is more of a thrill for him than racing on the track.

Dave Davies has his arms crossed in the photo.            Dave Davies’s early childhood upbringing was through the 50s and 60s. He grew up in Michigan, and lived in a residential community. He was always interested in mechanics and the way machines worked. He was also interested in building model rockets and airplanes. He always built his own go-kart chasses, welding together pieces of metal to form one complete go-kart – ready for the motor to be put on and ready to be tested on the track.

      In college, Dave Davies studied mechanical engineering and went to work right afterwards for an automotive prototype company. He stayed there for 33 years. Davies passionately shared that he owned a lot of muscle cars, like Corvettes and big block Chevelles. When he spoke it was like he was rewinding back in time.

      When Davies’s passion for racing first developed, he couldn’t afford to go “real” racing – taking it to the level that he wanted to -- so he took the alternative: competition go-kart racing. This is where Davies got involved and fell in love with karting in 1975. Once he started to get into the sport, he built all of his own karts and worked on other people’s engines within the racing community.

     He left Michigan in 2003 when he accepted an offer to become a partner with Archie Valentine and they opened F1 Boston. Valentine had the money for the business, and Dave had the insight and knowledge of the racing industry and how the overall business worked. It was originally called “RG Enterprises” and then became CRG America. CRG America imported from Italy a kart called CRG.  CRG America was once the second largest karting importer in the United States in 2005-2007. At that time Davies and Valentine created a nationally ranked CRG of America team, representing their F1 Boston track. They competed in all the national races. Davies is still a top-level karting importer, getting people all the materials and the equipment they need for the sport. 

Dave Davies Karting warehouse.

     While Davies talked, he is sitting on one of the barriers placed on Turn One of the F1 Boston track. The black asphalt track is surrounded by beautiful trees changing color at this time of year and has a fountain in the middle. After a race weekend the track is layered with rubber from the tires. A large soundproof wall surrounds half of the track. The grass is very green, and freshly cut. The smell of rubber from the tires, and the gasoline from prior races, remains in the air. For the last four to five years, Davies has been focusing on the local and regional racing series in the North East. He is always trying to get new clientele to be interested in the sport.  

    Dave Davies also knows how important family values are and how racing can help bring families together.  He transitioned from the national level into local racing and Davies and Valentine formed their own program, starting it from the ground up. Dave Davies says it is satisfying to see his hopes for the track come to life when he sees families coming out and enjoying the sport on the weekends for the local races. When interviewing Davies, he brought up the fact that his son also raced. His son’s “ticket” to continuing to race was getting good marks in school. He loved racing so much that it wasn’t a problem for him to keep his marks high. Davies “never had to twist his arm or be on his back.” F1 Boston has an unbelievable family atmosphere to it, bringing people together within this small sport. Davies explained, “It’s the most gratifying thing to see.”

A local race weekend turn out.

     A key factor in racing is “what you want to do.” You can go national or you can go the local or country route. You can have a happy medium, but some families stick to local series and regional levels. The national and world leagues are every expensive. If you want to go national, your budget is going to be two hundred fifty or three hundred thousand dollars a year, he said. “There’s something about the local races that makes you feel like you are in your own community and you learn so much about who you are as a person,” said Davies.      When asking Dave Davies if he had anyone who sponsored and funded their race track, he said, “No, we do not have any sponsors; we only have JR Valentine, who is the owner of the track who writes the check.” Valentine is not in it to make money; he is so passionate about the art of racing. He wants a place for people to be able to race, Davies said, who have passion for this sport. If the track comes up short of money, Valentine writes the check just to give people a place to race.

     On race weekends the excitement is high and people’s adrenaline starts to pump. They know what’s coming. Race weekend begins Saturday with an open practice, which is where you practice on the track and get your times as fast as they can be and your kart tuned to where you want it.  Then, Sunday is race day. Drivers race by age and the horsepower of karts. When asking Dave Davies how he feels about race weekends, he said, “I would say that the thing that’s most gratifying is to see a good turnout one, good clean racing two…and to see the young kids from five to eight years old how puffed up they get when they get their trophy is probably one of the best. They get really fired up”.

     Davies ended by saying, “People don’t realize that famous drivers like Dale Earnhart Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Danica Patrick all started in karting. They all started with a strong family foundation that supported them to follow their passion for racing.” And that’s why Dave Davies loves what he does: He creates this environment so positive for kids and families, and he feels like he is out there, driving with them.