The team at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix is always looking to improve products and to enhance the racing experience.  This fall the team has come together to establish, what could be the best league experience in indoor karting.

Competition Director, Ryan Suchon, and Assistant Competition Director, Kyle Lick, have evaluated the programs of the past and have taken their experiences to improve this next round.  Kyle is a new addition to the competition team and is now the director for the Jr Progam.  Kyle’s racing experience, knowledge of the karting facility and enthusiasm are sure to take the program to a new level.  Here is a list of areas that have been focused upon:

• Performance of Jr Karts-  We have torn apart all of the Jr karts to enhance the performance and experience of the drivers.  5 of the 9 karts used for the league racing will have new engines.  All of the karts will have brand new tires.
• Jr League Race Classes-  The fall leagues will now offer Jr league drivers the opportunity to race in adult karts pending they meet one of the 3 requirements.  The requirements are; 34.000 in a jr kart (prior to league start), 14 years of age, 55 inches in height.
• Points System for Adult and Jr Leagues-  The new point system is now heading towards an industry standard in the Sodi World Series.  All drivers are encouraged to register on the Sodi site to gain world wide exposure for their league results.
• Wall of Fame-  The facility will be adding a wall of fame to recognize top drivers in the facility.  League winners will be recognized on the wall for all the customers to see!!

For more information on the fall leagues email competition@lehighvalleygrandprix.com.

Lehigh Valley Grand Prix 3 HOUR ENDURO RULES:

8:00am – 8:30am: Team registration and team weigh in.

8:30am – 8:45am: Drivers Meeting. Kart draw- Each Kart number will be put into a hat and you will pick the kart to start the race with.

8:45am – 8:55am: Team Kart preparation.

9:00am – Race begins.

Race Rules:
Teams of 1 -3 driver(s).

8 Minimum Stops, either driver exchanges or a stop and go in the pits.

No maximum drive time.

No minimum drive time.

Yellow flags- In the event of a caution, we will turn all the yellow lights on. At this time everyone will be required to go half speed. The goal is to not gain any ground or lose any ground from the person in front of you or behind you. If a driver seems as if they are going excessively fast under yellow they will be black flagged and pulled into the pits. Once everyone is at half speed the track marshals will straighten out the karts involved and then the race will go back to green. If the caution was caused due to someone spinning the other out, the driver who spun the other driver will then be black flagged under green flag racing conditions to assess their penalty.  You can NOT do a kart swap under a yellow flag.

Black Flag- The black flag is going to be used heavily in this race. Consider this your warning. If there is any type of contact, whether it be your fault or not you will get a black flag waved at you and then have to pull into the pits. When you receive the black flag you will pull into the pits with in 2 laps of receiving the black flag, and do a stop and go as your penalty.  As the race goes on your black flag penalties will get more sever. First black flag is a stop and go. 2^nd black flag is 3 second penalty, 3^rd black flag and on is a 5 second penalty. You can NOT do a kart swap or driver exchange while serving a black flag penalty.

Individual driver weight for the race is 185 pounds. We have weight provided on the track for those who do not make the 185 pounds.

1 MANDATORY kart change- The kart exchange must be completed between 2:00:00 – 1:00:00 in the race. Meaning in the middle portion of the 3 hour race the pit flag will be green for open kart changes. Then with one hour to go the red flag will close the pits for kart exchanges. Karts may be exchanged before the 2 hour remaining mark, and after the hour left mark, but will not count as a kart exchange. Failure to swap karts within the designated hour window is an automatic disqualification.

No Blue flags will be used throughout the race, using good judgment and sportsman ship is key when not using blue flags.

Since opening the facility in August of 2007, Lehigh Valley Grand Prix has always raced on the same track layout.  Nearing the facilities 4 year anniversary the team has decided to change it up!

The team was extremely hesitant at first due to the fact the original layout was such a success.  The original track offered a great straight away that ended with a big sweeping turn as well as some fun hair pin turns.  The other hesitation came from the fact that it is challenging to create a layout that fits the needs of the facility.  To address the issue LVGP ran a promotion where customers had the opportunity to draw their dream layouts.  The promotion gave the team a lot of ideas to work with and the competition winner received the benefit of a free month of racing.

The change thus far has been a huge success.  The reviews from the staff and customers has been tremendous!!  The team is excited for the new challenge of mastering the track and we hope that the customers find the same thrill.  We hope to see you at the track!!

After nearly 4 years of running the current track layout we have laid out the foundation for building a new challenge.  Early 2011 Lehigh Valley Grand Prix ran a promotion to allow customers to draw their dream track layout for LVGP.  After a great response it has come down to one!  The last day to run our current layout will be Monday, April 25th.  ”It is sad to see such a great track go away but it is also extremely exciting to know that there will be a new challenge to conquer”, Ryan aka Warren Wallace.

Change is scary.  Many wonder if the team is capable of designing a track as fun and as challenging as the current layout.  Judging on paper, the new layout looks as though it will be an exciting track with some technical aspects as well as more opportunities for passing.  ”The challenge with designing indoor tracks is to make the track technical but allowing room for passing.  Passing is key for competition!” said Mike McCreary.

Excitement is brewing…be sure to get the last runs in before the major change!!

Whether it is the main event or a way to jump start your night, Go karting facilities are making a large dent in the bachelor party market.  The high speed, adrenaline packed venues are the perfect location to get the group together to compete, trash talk and create excitement for the big day.  Not only are these facilities; clean, fun and exciting but the are also keep the gang out of trouble.

“Many times we will have the bride to be making the arrangements for the bachelor party.  They want the marriage to start off on the right foot and go kart racing is good, clean fun!!” ~ Kristine McCreary, Event Planner at Lehigh Valley Grand Prix

Let the trash talk begin….Book you next bachelor party at the most exciting venue available!  Look into go karting for your next event!

Lehigh Valley Grand Prix is gearing up for it’s biggest race of the year.  The 12hrs of LVGP is a test of speed, endurance and mental toughness.  Teams from all over North America will be arriving in the Lehigh Valley to prove who is the best.  Last year’s event yielded teams from Michigan, Canada, Charlotte, Phoenix and the surrounding regions.  The competition was fierce and one critical tactical error can cost a team the race.

What is perhaps the most amazing part of the race is the fact that some teams will only have 2 drivers!  6 hrs behind the wheel is a long time to be driving on an indoor track.  These drivers tend to have a tremendous amount of time behind the wheel participating in all realms of racing from outdoor karting, sprint cars, indy cars and some even from NASCAR.

These drivers will all be fighting for some big prizes.  The first place team will receive $2,400, 2nd- $1,600 and 3rd place will win free entry to next year’s race.  Teams are starting to confirm for this big event.  The entry is $1,200 and to reserve your team you must put down a deposit of 50%.

Even if you are not racing, it will be a great event to come and watch some of the best drivers from around North America fight it out for 12hrs!!!

The best part of the holidays is that it provides an excuse to sneak away from work and all of the chaos that life brings to spend time with the family.  Personally, I have family that lives coast to coast so we rarely get to spend time together.

The greatest joy brought to our team at LVGP is seeing the families come in to race and have fun in a competitive environment.  We have seen many proud parents come in with their kids back from college.  Watching Dads smile as he steps off the track knowing he just smoked his kid on the track is priceless!!

It is very apparent many families have made racing at LVGP a holiday tradition.  We thank you for your business and want to extend a Happy Holidays to all the families out there!!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Taking a trip down to Charlotte N.C. for the 12hrs of Victory Lane is a great excuse to check out one of the countries most infamous race town.  Yesterday we were able to take advantage of visiting the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

When we first pulled up in front of the museum it made an incredible first impression.  The building is designed with a unique architectural layout and there is a very large screen showing racing footage and really cool clips.

From the moment you walk into the NASCAR Hall of Fame the experience takes you to a new appreciation of the sport and the people who made the sport what it is today.  The staff at the museum was eager to greet and always looking to deliver on a great customer experience.

The main showroom has the feel of being in a race track with vinyl graphics of fans cheering in the stands and a ramp that flows around the perimeter of the building that is angled with different wall degrees to demonstrate the on track experience.  Cars spanning over the history of racing line the track and have descriptions of their place in history.

Once you reach the top of the ramp you go into a room that is dedicated to some of racing’s greats.  They had a Bill France Jr desk, Richard Petty Car, Dale Earnhardt car and some of their gear.

My personal favorite part of the museum was the pit crew challenge.  A station was set up to do tire changes.  The station was timed and designed so you could compete against a friend.  Of course I was victorious ;)

Overall, the museum was very well done.  It was disappointing to see a building that obviously cost the city a tremendous amount of money and energy to have weak traffic.  During our visit the city is hosting the ACC Football Championship Game so I thought there would have been a lot more people roaming the museum.

Holiday Gift Cards are available at the track.  If you are looking to give the gift of excitement and adrenaline a gift card to LVGP would be the winning ticket!  Call the track today to order your gift cards.  610-432-RACE(7223)

The track is fast and the karts are performing at a high level.  On November 22nd Carter Fartuch beat the track record that held been held by Mike Bednar aka “Slowski,” with a time of 29.944.  Mike had held that record for nearly 2 years.  7 days later Andrew Pettijohn took Carter’s record down posting a 29.942.

This past Wednesday night December 2nd Mike Bednar came back to prove he is still the man to beat at LVGP.  After a competitive night of leagues Mike jumped on the track and posted a 29.740!

The evening gave a great deal of momentum for the drivers heading down the Charlotte to make their mark on the indoor karting scene at the 12hrs of Victory Lane.  Be sure to check Racer X’s facebook for live feeds, interviews and updates of the event taking place Sunday, December 5th.