Go-karts on Ice speed around Optimist Arena

JACKSON, Mich. - Most of us have a white knuckle grasp on the steering wheel when our cars hit an icy curve in the winter.

For go-kart drivers this past Saturday at Optimist Ice Arena, it was something they faced over and over again as they completed 140 laps around the rink.

"You just laugh the entire time you are driving or watching," John Lefere, owner of Jackson Speedway, and former track president of Michigan International Speedway said. 

Lefere, who bought the speedway this past January, said that driving on an rink is a very different then a dry road.

"The difference is driving a Corvette in the summer time around a short turn, then doing it in an ice storm."

Lefere has hosted go-kart racing before at Optimist, and hopes to bring more races across the state for arenas looking for extra income.

For the slippery conditions, each go-kart has tires that have 86 screws in each of them to help aid traction. Also, each go-kart is gas powered, but Lefere sees the future of arena racing in battery powered go-karts. Before the feature race he had two prototypes circle around the course.

Both gas and electric have the same top end Lefere said, but an electric has automatic torque. "That's the most fun in a go-cart is that quick automatic speed." 

Drew Westrick, the Chief Technology Officer of EVC Racing, was asked to build the prototype carts. A graduate of Purdue University, Westrick along with a fellow classmate started the company three years ago.

When he was told to build the carts for the event at the ice arena he thought it was for hockey mascots who would do spin outs, but then he was told there was going to be metal screws and he knew it was going to be for racing.

This was the first time that Westrick and his team took to the icy track. They competed in traditional gas go-karts, since battery technology limits the amount of laps they can do, but still it was a thrilling experience.

"Whether you are an advance driver or had never driven before," Westrick said. "It's a ball."

Originally published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on March 23, 2015