Pole Position Raceway Syracuse, NY Review #visitsyracuse

One of the new major attractions in Destiny USA mall is the Pole Position Raceway located on the most recent addition of the 3rd floor. It’s an awesome giant indoor race track for go karts. The Syracuse Tourism organization gave my family and I four tickets to try out go karting.

As you come in the raceway to the counter, you are greeted by a friendly staff. My first question was what do we need to be able to ride a kart? We must wear closed-toe shoes, the driver needs to be at least 48 inches tall, and that racers under the age of 18 must have a parent sign a minor release liability form. If we don’t have proper footwear, we can rent them. I was concerned about the fumes from the gas powered engines, but realized after talking with the staff that they are actually providing electric karts. Much better for the environment and my health.

She directs us to fill out an online form on the computers provided at the Raceway. Once my husband, son, and daughter are done, we went back to the counter to give our tickets to reserve our spots, and take a seat alongside the race track. Drivers are paired with friends, individuals, or group of drivers. The maximum number of drivers I saw racing together were 10, while my family shared the track with 3 other racers. We waited about 45 minutes before our names were called. We were listed on the screen with the names of the drivers in the group, once we reach first, we are called to head out to the driver reserved area to watch an educational and safety video before we grab our helmets.

I stayed back to take photos and film a video. The time has come for them to have a seat in their kart and wait for the start. One by one, they slowly enter the track, but once they are all driving, the staff at the race track activate the karts, so they can reach maximum speed. Adult kart speed can go as much as 45MPH while a kid kart is up to 25 MPH. The race lasts about 10 minutes as they drive around the track 14 times. Every time a racer gets out of control, dismantles the circuit, or has an accident, a staff slows down all the go karts. Another staff will go to the scene and help the driver(s) or put the guard rail back in place. And they are back racing!

As they head out the race track, they are given a SpeedSheet. Pole Position Raceway uses a high-tech Apple-based timing and scoring system to keep track of race results. The result sheet shows their fastest lap time, average lap time, overall race results, and more.

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Category: Reviews, USA, Venues