WASHINGTON 鈥� “I needed to go faster.”
That鈥檚 what Jens Scott said while sitting in the pits of the new Summit Point Karts, D.C.’s newest go-kart track, which just opened the first two of three planned tracks in Lot 8 of RFK Stadium.
Not to say this isn鈥檛 a kid-friendly space but the expectation is that you鈥檒l be driving in ways that would get you ticketed or even arrested on the highway.
The target demo here isn鈥檛 little kids looking to goof around between video games.
鈥淭his is not that whole thing,鈥� said Scott, the president of Summit Point Karts. 鈥淵ou come here to learn to drive, learn to drive fast and learn to compete with other people.鈥�
While you鈥檙e driving around in Go-Karts, Summit Point exudes more of a professional racing vibe.
The first thing you do when you arrive is sign a waiver and you鈥檒l need to listen to some brief instructions before you鈥檒l be given a balaclava, basically a flame retardant hood, and a helmet.
After that, you can hit the track.
Don鈥檛 be fooled: If you鈥檙e going to RFK to try out the go-karts at Summit Point, you鈥檙e going to be treated like a burgeoning race car driver.
The expectations are you鈥檙e going to drive as hard and as fast as you can while honing the skills of a race car driver.
But Scott runs a tight ship and the mythology of bumping and physical racing made famous in various NASCAR related movies won鈥檛 be tolerated.
鈥淚f somebody bumps or spins out or any kind of behavior that鈥檚 not normally OK, in say Formula 1, we don鈥檛 allow that here either,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淲e pull them off the track and say 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not how it鈥檚 done.鈥欌��
If you鈥檙e a first-timer you鈥檒l start on Track A, which is most similar to the kind of tracks your kids might ride on.
Marked by several 180-degree turns and a nice, long straightaway leading into almost a 270-degree turn, you鈥檒l be pushed to drive as fast and aggressively as you can while staying within the lines and the rules. It鈥檚 like competing in the time trials leading up to a race.
鈥淥ne of our target audiences is older guys or girls who want to drive fast and don鈥檛 know exactly how to exercise that,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淪o there鈥檚 the place for that.鈥�
The high expectations that Summit Point has for how you drive is reflected in the Go-Karts you鈥檒l be driving in.
鈥淭hey are the best Go-Karts that you can get,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e French sodikart that are the top of the line when it comes to this sort of thing.鈥�
It took me a few laps of feeling out the track and how the kart handles it before I really felt comfortable going at it, but even then I was told to shave off eight-tenths of a second from my lap time before I could move on to the next level.
With more focus on how I approached each turn, I still finished four-tenths of a second too slow but I had a better understanding of what it鈥檚 like to actually race on a track, which is the point.
In an area with so many people working high-stress jobs, who sit in slow-moving traffic, Lot 8 of RFK Stadium offers a unique outlet for people who can finally press the pedal to the medal.
So how did they get to RFK?
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a bunch of luck was involved,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淚 showed up here one day and I met the guys from Events DC and they鈥檝e been super easy to work with ever since 鈥� I came to them, I said here鈥檚 what I鈥檇 like to do and they were like 鈥榯hat鈥檚 great, let鈥檚 do it.鈥欌��
Scott鈥檚 hope is that as the land around RFK transforms itself in the coming years, Summit Point Karts will be part of that change.
鈥淚鈥檓 amazed with the hospitality that we鈥檝e been greeted with,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淓verybody who stops by has been very friendly and welcoming to us being here. It鈥檚 a real breath of fresh air. It鈥檚 nice.鈥�
