By Elizabeth Hashagen

I'm a newbie to the Nascar world.
I have to admit at first I wasn't a fan.
I didn't "get" what was so great about watching men drive in circles for hours--aren't they just making a left turn over and over?
But my husband is a big racing fan and the more I watched the more intrigued I became.
Then we went to Lowes Motor Speedway with a bunch of friends -- and got behind the wheel of a real Nascar car!
Seeing just how hard it is to handle the turns--handle the speed--and get THAT fast and furious.. helped me turn the corner!
Now I'm a fan--and, boy oh boy, I'm not alone!
Did you know there's an estimated 75 million people in America that call themselves Nascar fans?!
No wonder Nextel paid reportedly upwards of $700 million to be the title sponsor for the next decade. That's a whole lot of phone calls.
Well, it was a big fan family that caught my attention earlier this month.
Rene Lutz wrote a letter to my blog letting me know about her family... and most specifically her step son Craig. Craig is a national go kart champion!
Rene filled me in on all the intricacies--I was "on board" with learning about another type of racing--the world of Go Karts.
And who better to teach me then a Suffolk family with 3 kids racing!
(And dad even races cars at Riverhead too, and coaches the kids, and is pretty much the pit crew for them too!)
Racing is a way of life for Lutzs'--and they have to be committed.
There are the divisionals, the regionals, and the nationals!
Here's how it works for the Nationals.
Craig and his dad leave on a Thursday along with another competitor with his father, and they drive to each location.
They have to wake up and get going early in the morning with a trailer with the go-karts.
Typically they meet up on the side of the expressway with other go-karters, and the parts guy with his trailer, and they follow each other to the race.
They get to their location on Thursday, and check into the track and pit their trailers, and go off to check into their hotels.
On Friday morning the gates usually open around 7:00am.
Right away they need to register. Then they practice all day.
Each track is very different--the turns the bumps, the lines... So, it's really important to get a feel for the track before the race starts.
Last year the Craigs only had the day to get used to the type of track it was, whether it was more round or oval, 1/4 mile or 1/3 mile, high banked or flat, etc.
After spending the entire day at the track they finally pack it in somewhere around 8:00pm to get back to the track bright and early.
(7:00am)
But it's the big day--Saturday begins the race day!
It starts with a practice then qualifying with time trials.
Even though it was his first time competing at the national level and away from his home track, Craig set several fast times placing him at pole position for the main feature!!
After qualifying then it is the big race!
Each division is categorized into two divisions - for example - Jr. Sport Champ is the division and each competitor in this division runs Jr. Sport Champ Lite and Jr. Sport Champ Heavy so they get to race twice.
The heavy division gets weight added to it but it is the same go-kart.
When all the racing is over Sunday (win or lose),they pack up and leave for the 12 hour drive home, arriving in just enough time to shower and off to school on Monday morning for Craig and a nap for dad before work.
And look at the schedule for this season:
Nationals:
March 14 - March16 at OCR Action Sports Park in North Carolina
June 20 - June 22 at Chapel Hill Raceway in Humphrey New York
July 18 - July 20 in New Castle Indiana
August 22 - August 24 New Castle Motorsports Park in New Castle Indiana
September 19 - September 21 OCR action Sports Park in North Carolina (The Grand National Race)
Right now Craig is the defending National Championship in his division for 2007 in both lite and heavy!
The regionals are similar with the exception that they leave on Friday to park the trailers and practice all day long on Saturday and race both lite and heavy divisions on Sunday.
That makes for a much more hectic day.
If there are any problems with the go-kart, then you do not have much time to adjust it or any practice time after the adjustment like you might have at the Nationals.
Craig is also the Regional Championship in his division for 2007 in lite.
Regionals:
July 12 - July 13 Route 106 Race Park New Hampshire
August 2 - August 3 Pomfret Conn.
October 11 - October 13
Then there's the divisionals! Are you tired yet?!
Riverhead raceway is the Lutzs' home track for divisionals.
It is called EEKR (East End Kart Racing) and this is run a little different.
EEKR holds 3 practice days before the season begins.
And that starts in early MARCH--hellooo cold!
There are about 16 races depending on the weather.
For these races both the practice and the main race are all on the same day.
There are young kids--full grown men out racing ( not in the same division)
There also aren't lite and heavy divisions, just the class at one certain weight. Race days start April 6.. and we still have race days on June 29, July 27, Sept. 14, Sept. 27, Sept. 28, Oct. 5, Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9 & Nov. 16.
So, if you watch to catch all the action--especially right here at Riverhead--there's still plenty of time for you to get ready for racing!
I have to say the thing that struck me most when doing this story was the bonding. It was so great to see the relationship between this dad and his boys. They work on the Go Karts in their garage at night talking and spending hours together. You could really see how much they all loved each other and were their own "team." Good luck to Craig (& his brothers too). There's still a lot of racing left this season!!