Fast fun a la kart

Tim Wolaver leans against the chain link fence that separates the track from the pit area of the Musselman Honda Circuit on the southeast side of Tucson.

He watches his 9-year-old son, Michael Wolaver, whip around curves in his go-kart. That bright yellow blur looks to him like a Formula One racer in the making, gunning for the checkered flag in his personal Grand Prix.

When Michael hits the final straightaway, he punches the gas and accelerates to more than 65 mph. "That fast enough for ya?" asks Dad.

The whir of the engine cuts through the crisp morning air at this sprint kart haven. Sheets of rain obstruct the view of the Santa Ritas to the south.

Tim Wolaver is a major motor sports guy from way back. For the past five years, he's served as the announcer for the USA Raceway near the Tucson International Airport.

But the father-and-son team just hit the go-kart scene a couple of months ago.

The Old Pueblo is quickly playing catch-up when it comes to karting, a sport that started in California in the 1950s and has since become a significant motor sport, with drivers sponsored by the likes of Honda, Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz.

NASCAR's Jeff Gordon, Formula One's Michael Schumacher and IndyCar's Danica Patrick all got their start in kart racing, which has a huge following in Asia, South America, Europe and some parts of the United States.

The Southern Arizona Kart Club has about 300 members, said its president, Charles Quiroz, a Tucson native who co-owns Musselman Honda Circuit.

The club has grown along with Musselman, which opened in 2005 and remains one of a kind in the Tucson area. It's modeled after Suzuka South, a twisty-turny go-karting track in Suzuka, Japan.

Quiroz, 52, has always been a gearhead. He raced motorcycles in his youth, and his love for motor sports deepened as an adult. He interest idled only for a brief time in the 1980s when he worked as a broker for Shearson Lehman Brothers in New York.

Quiroz started climbing into karts about the time he moved back to Tucson. He had just turned 40, and "it was a little bit easier on my body," he said.

Besides, "all the top drivers in the world started in karting. I knew there had to be something to it."

A passing interest soon turned into a passion. After a few years working as the vice president of his wife's family business, the Sanchez Burrito Company, Quiroz left to pursue his dream of building his own karting facility.

He and fellow sprint kart enthusiast Dr. Douglas Lowell persuaded Pima County officials to lease them some land adjacent to the Pima Motorsports Park, south of the county fairgrounds.

Nine years and $500,000 later, it was a reality.

Today, Musselman boasts an asphalt track for spring karting, criterium cycling, supermoto and ATVs, drifting autos, autocross and driver training.

But it's the karts that keep 'em coming, and three types are available for rent: a kids kart (not unlike those found at Golf N' Stuff and Funtasticks), a 9- horse power kart for ages 11 and older or a high-performance racing kart that can go 120 mph.

The slower karts aren't allowed on the track with faster karts (or any other vehicles for that matter), and drivers are required to wear helmets, helmet supports, gloves, long pants, sleeved shirts and closed-toed shoes.

Because the karts sit so close to the ground, they tend to be safer than some of the other motor sport activities allowed at the track, Quiroz said.

"They are almost square in shape and there is not a lot of weight," he added. "If something happens, their energy dissipates quickly. They tend to just spin into the dirt."

Many of the die-hards bring their own karts.

Ron Foltz, a retired chemical engineer, races there every Thursday afternoon with a rotating, ragtag group of retired professionals.

Foltz, 67, came across Musselman a couple of years back. An avid cyclist, he and a group of his riding buddies thought a day at the go-kart track might be a hoot.

One ride was all it took to hook Foltz.

"It is exhausting and exhilarating," he said. "It is pretty physically demanding, but it is probably more mentally demanding. You are going hard the whole time. It takes a lot of concentration."

He and a few others stuck with it and soon bought their own karts. They included Jay Hirsch, 63, a semi-retired administrator at IBM, and Mel Jordan, 64, a part-time pilot and a former director of marketing with Texas Instruments.

While many of the more serious go-kart enthusiasts were in Las Vegas last week for the SuperNationals - a major karting event - Foltz and his friends were content with their usual Thursday routine at Musselman.

Some of the bigger fish in the local karting pond spend tens of thousands of dollars on their machines and countless hours keeping them in tiptop shape.

Foltz says his biggest expense is replacing the tires two or three times a year (at $200 a set). He puts in maybe an hour of maintenance for every hour he drives, he said.

"We don't want to do the official races," he said. "We just yank them out and play."

"It is not really a competition for us," Jordan added. "It is more about having fun, going out there and chasing each other around."

Construction is ongoing at Musselman, said Quiroz, who hopes to one day open a helipad, a skidpad for the testing of vehicles, and a restaurant.

"That's the European model," he said. "They will have a five-star restaurant next to the track so people can eat and watch while things are going on."

Tim Wolaver remains a go-kart spectator for now, but he hopes to join his son on the track soon.

Until then, he's happy knowing his boy is happy.

"I'm having a ball," he said. "There's something thrilling about seeing him flying out of the corner (on the track). Sometimes, I get more excited coming out here than he does."