KTM Racing released a bunch of racing jackets, helmets, accessories, and other racing duds–a product line dubbed as the “KTM Powerwear 2009.” The catalog includes to-die-for accessories that will make any amateur driver look and feel like a pro. Some of the Powerwear products include the HJC Racing Helmet and the Thor Force knee guard.

HJC helmet

Thor Force knee guards

The HJC Racing helmet is, according to the catalog, gives better ventilation, more lightweight, and has improved visibility. It can also remove moisture from the skin, so the racer can be a lot more comfortable while zooming around the track. The Thor Force knee guard, on the other hand, which are more anatomically correct than conventional knee guards. This reduces chafing and is more comfortable to use.

There are plenty of other nifty goodies in the Powerwear line. Check out the rest of their items here.

By now, we’re pretty sure you’re raring to send your child off to this amazing racing camp (or perhaps to go yourself, haha!). So, here are a few last bits of info that you need to know before deciding to enroll your kid in Motorsport Camp.

Aerial view of VIRginia International Raceway, home of Motorsport Camp

Camp address: 1245 Pine Tree Rd, Alton VA 24520
Located at Virginia International Raceway,12 miles East of Danville, VA, 20 miles West of South Boston VA, and just North of Milton NC and the North Carolina state line.

FEES AND PROGRAM DATES FOR 2009

1-WEEK & 2-WEEK SESSIONS
Boys & Girls, Ages 9*-16 (*Age 9 and completed 4th grade by camp session start)
Sessions begin on Sunday afternoons and end on Friday mornings.
FEES:
1-WEEK SESSION: $1,275.00 Per Week
2-WEEK SESSIONS: $2,550.00 Per 2 Weeks

2009 Session Dates
1-WEEK:
Session 1: July 5-10
Session 2: July 12-17
Session 3: July 19-24
Session 4: July 26-31
Session 5: August 2-7

2-WEEK:
Session A: July 12-24
Session B: July 26-August 7

GIRL RACING POWER: 1-WEEK SESSIONS
Girls, ages 9-16. For girls who want to learn to drive in a girls-only team environment. Camp is still co-ed, but driving and motorsports instructional activities are done in a girls-only team placement.
FEE: $1,275.00 Per Week

2009 Session Dates
1-WEEK:
Session 1: July 5-10
Session 2: July 12-17
Session 3: July 19-24
Session 4: July 26-31
Session 5: August 2-7

ADVANCED DRIVER DEVELOPMENT: 1-WEEK SESSIONS
Open for returning campers only. Co-ed, ages 13-16. For experienced teen campers who are serious about driver development and racing education. Program builds on skills taught in prior summer.
FEE: $1,275.00 Per Week

2009 Dates
Session 1: July 5-10
Session 3: July 19-24

SHORT TRACK TRY-IT: 1/2 WEEK SESSIONS
Co-ed, ages 8-11 (*8 and completed 3rd grade by camp session start)
Shorter sessions for younger campers to try out the overnight camp experience
Sessions are Sunday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon
FEE: $875 per session.

2009 Dates
Session S1: July 5-8
Session S2: July 12-15
Session S4: July 26-29

ADULT/CHILD CAMP SAMPLER WEEKENDS
Adult with Child. Child ages 8-12.
Weekend sessions begin on Friday afternoon and end on Sunday morning.
Adult must attend with a child; child must attend with an adult.
FEES:
Basic standard program with garage-dorm housing: $325.00 per person, per weekend ($650 Per Adult/Child pair per weekend).
With housing in VIR on-site hotel room: $475 per person, per weekend
($950 Per Adult/Child pair per weekend. Additional camper child in same room is $325)

2009 Dates
Weekend A: July 10-12
Weekend B: July 17-19
Weekend C: July 31-August 2

Now, you have all the information you need to get some first-hand racing experience for your future NASCAR and F1 champ. Enroll your kid in this camp and within a week or two, your child can finally share in your enthusiasm for cars and racing–something, we’re sure, you’ve always wanted.

And now for the coolest part—Motorsport Camp’s Vexton Mark 1 ride cars! These are two-seater, Indy-style race cars. Your kid sits up front, where he can get a taste of what it’s like to zoom though twists and straightaways in a ride car—yes, in a real, full-course race track!

A camper in a ride car and a professional driver at the back

But don’t worry. A professional driver sits at the back of the ride car and drives it from there. Your child, sitting up front, has his own steering wheel and can watch the vehicle’s fuel, speed, and whatnots on their own gauge set.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for your kid to experience riding safely in a ride car, because this vehicle is made specially for Motorsport Camp. That’s right, this is the only place that campers can use these ride cars. And the best thing about it is that the driver and your kid can communicate using radios in their helmets. This way, the driver can stop, speed up, or slow down, any time your child wants him to. With vehicles such as this, your child will surely have a fun learning experience without compromising his safety.

Take a look at some of the Vexton Mark 1 ride car’s very impressive specs:
• Powered by a Dodge racing V6 24 valve
• Fuel-injected, high-performance 3.5 liter engine (capable of 150 miles per hour)
• Fully independent coil-over suspension at all four corners
• Cobra seats and detachable steering wheels in both the driver and passenger seats
• Safety features: steel roll bars, and a 5-point team tech racing harness system

Excited to send your kid off to camp? In our next post (the last in our Motorsport Camp series), you’ll find out the most important details of sending your kid to this camp: the enroll dates, and the costs for the camp’s programs.

The mini-cup cars, we admit, is ten kinds of awesome. Using those, your kid can drive an actual working vehicle that looks exactly like NASCAR race cars—like a real amateur racer! How cool is that?? But if he (or you) prefers a more rugged and exciting vehicle, or maybe he just wants to try out other kinds of driving applications, he can also drive one of the camp’s rally off-road dirt tracks. Your child will drive these babies through real off-road terrains in the camp, and he can experience an excitement from a different kind of driving entirely. With these karts, he’ll realize that the fun of racing is not confined to a NASCAR car and a flat, oval track.

Campers driving dirt karts

Don’t worry, though. These karts have the same top-class security features that the mini-cup cars use, and will drive with a staff member. If he displays appropriate skill, he can progress to driving the kart on his own.

Check out the rally off-road kart’s full specs:
RALLY DIRT KARTS TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
ENGINE: 150 cc 4 stroke motorcycle type engine (based on the Honda GYG engine design), single cylinder, electric start
DISPLACEMENT: 150 cc
DRIVE: Rear, 2-wheel
TRANSMISSION: Full automatic CVT transmission, forward & reverse
BODY: Heavy duty steel welded frame, brush guard, roll cage, fenders
DIMENSIONS: 54” wide, 87” long, 56” tall, weight 415, 6.7” ground clearance
SUSPENSION: Front: duel A-arm, hydraulic coil spring shocks on both sides. Rear: swing arm, hydraulic coil spring shocks on both sides.
STEERING: Rack & pinion steering, adjustable steering column
WHEELS & TIRES: Aggressive ATV-type tires, polished steel, front tires
19 x 7-8, rear tires 22 x 10-10
BRAKES: Hydraulic disk brakes in front & rear
SEATS: Adjustable padded seats
SAFETY: 5-point safety harness, tubular roll cage

You might be thinking right now that being a kid your self can’t be any cooler with these vehicles. But yes, it can still get cooler, as you will find out when you read our next post: Motorsport Camp’s Vexton Mark 1 ride cars.

Of course, even the most daredevil amateur racer parent would never risk sending his kid off to a racing camp when he isn’t sure of his/her safety. Definitely you want your child to learn to drive, but you don’t want him/her to get hurt before he/she even steps foot in a real race track. Naturally, you want to know whether the cars that are used in camp are safe enough for your future racing champ. So here’s what you folks need to know about the vehicles that would be used by your camper, in which they will spend most of their time in Motorsport Camp.

First up, the MINI-CUP CAR:

Camp facilitators inspecting a mini-cup car

Mini-cup cars are built just like NASCAR cup cars, only smaller—just the right size for kids and teens. It has features that will help your kids learn about the fundamentals of a race car’s chassis setup. And of course, this car has excellent safety highlights, like a steel roll cage, a 5-point harness system, a fuel cell, and window netting. Definitely, your young ‘un can drive this by himself without risking a broken neck.

Here a list of the mini-cup cars’ full specs:
ENGINE: 13 horsepower Honda GX 390 4 stroke, OHV single cylinder, air cooled, electric start
DISPLACEMENT: 389 cc
GEARS: Split
DRIVE: Rear wheel
TRANSMISSION: Dry centrifugal clutch, chain drive
BODY: Hand layered fiberglass, Lexan windshield, gelcoat
BODY STYLES: Monte Carlo, Taurus, Grand Prix, Intrepid
DIMENSIONS: 60” wheelbase, 45”w, 110” l, 32” h, weight 410 pounds
CHASSIS: 1 1/8” X .085 steel tubing, MIG welded, upper & lower control arms, caster, camber & toe adjustments, moveable pedals
STEERING: Rack & pinion steering, adjustable coil over shocks, fully adjustable rear suspension, quick release steering wheel
WHEELS & TIRES: 8 X 6.5 polished aluminum 4 bolt wheels, 15 x 7 x 8’s racing slicks
BRAKES: Duel caliper disc brakes
SEATS: Adjustable Kirkey seats, child & adult sizes
SAFETY: 5-point safety harness, window net, steel tubular roll cage, fuel cell

These cars are pretty cool, no doubt. But these are not the only cars that your young racer can drive. In the next post, you’ll learn about another type of vehicle that Motorsport Camp that your kid can enjoy—rally off-road dirt karts.

If you do decide to enroll your son or daughter in any of the camp’s programs, then he/she is surely in for a very enjoyable learning experience! Take a look at what’s in store for your kid:

DRIVING PERIODS
Every camper gets to enjoy quality time behind the wheel everyday! They can drive both the mini-cup cars and the rally off-road rally karts during the week. Daily driving times for each team are rotated. This ensures that everyone gets to experience driving at different times of the day, and that they can participate in other camp activities.

MOTORSPORT ACTIVITIES
There are other racing-related activities that your child can enjoy when he/she is not driving, like racing-technology-based environmental education, wind tunnel & aerodynamics, exploring careers in the racing industry, driver health & wellness driving racing simulator, and many more! So rest assured, every minute of your child in camp is well-spent, even when they aren’t on the track!

Motorsport Camp Kart Racing

CAMP FUN!!
Campers also get to have some non-driving fun by participating in team-building activities. These activities include fishing, swimming, and earning team points for the much-coveted Motorsport Camp Cup. There are also plenty of evening driving activities to participate in!

No need to delay enrolling your child now that you know how much fun he would have while learning about driving and racing. But perhaps you’re a wee bit concerned about your kid’s safety. That’s what we’ll tackle in the next post–the cars that the campers use.

Maybe you’re not too keen on sending your kid to a place you haven’t seen first, or perhaps he/she isn’t ready to be away from home for a long time–or both. But chin up! You both can enroll in the camp’s adult/child Weekend Sampler program. This camp format is not too long that your kid would get homesick, but not too short that the visit is useless–definitely the perfect way to introduce an amateur racer’s love for driving to his child.

Weekend Sampler racing event

In this program you can get a taste of what life is like in camp–you can participate in driving and camp activities (driving lessons, swimming, fishing, etc.) There are highly enjoyable evening activities too, like scavenger hunts and a giant slick-track-slip-n-slide. And is a camp experience complete without the traditional campfire (with smores of, of course!)? Of course not! So it’s great that you will also get to experience that in a Weekend Sampler program.

A Sampler Weekend camper participating in racing-related activities

Wondering what other activities are in store for your child in this super fun racing camp? That is what Zoomer Daily will discuss in the next post. Till then, start psyching up your child for a Motorsport Camp Weekend Sampler!

As soon as your kids are old enough to sit in and operate a vehicle alone, there’s a really cool summer camp you can send them to for a week or two: Camp Motorsport.

In this camp, they will be exposed to the world of competitive driving through several programs. There are several programs available for kids from 9-16 years old. Each program is formatted to cater to the kids’ varying abilities.

A Motorsport Camp Student in a driving lesson

For example, The Short Track Try-It program is designed for first-time campers, and for kids (ages 8-11) who might not be ready to be away from home for a full week. Girls and boys enrolled in this program experience the same daily programs and driving activities, but shorter: just 3 (instead of 7) days. Groups are kept small to ensure lots of individualized attention for every kid, and to help younger kids adjust to being in a sleep-away camp.

Girls who feel self-conscious racing with other boys have the option for an all-girls program: Racing Girl Power. Girls from ages 9-16 attending one-week sessions can choose this option if they aren’t comfortable learning to drive with a lot of boys around. Daily recreational activities are still co-ed, but kids enrolled in this program are placed in girls-only teams for driving lessons and activities. However, girls can also register for the regular, co-ed programs if they wish.

For teen campers who are serious about racing can sign up for the Advanced Driver Development Program. Teens enrolled in this course will get leadership trainings, in-depth exploration of a possible motorsports career, and most importantly, advanced driving lessons. These lessons put a strong emphasis on defensive driving—something that is valuable for teens preparing to get their learner’s licenses.

Is there a more perfect way to start your kids’ love for driving than to let them experience the thrill of racing themselves? This camp is the perfect way to show your kids exactly why you are into cars so much.

Not sure about the programs and you want to see how the camp works for yourself? In tomorrow’s post, you can learn the details of the camp’s Adult/Child Sampler Weekends. Stay tuned!

So your kid is way past his toddler days, huh? Don’t lose heart! There are still plenty of racing toys that you can give. Or better yet, let him feel the excitement of racing against other vehicles, without actually strapping him in a race car and zooming around the oval. We know you want to, but that would be dangerous. And crazy. And your wife will probably kill you first. So what to do? Here’s a suggestion: why don’t you and your kid join a celebrated rite of passage that are close to the hearts of many Cub Scouts then and now? A tradition that is actually, yes, a car race? That’s right—the Pinewood Derby.

A Cub sets his car carefully before sending it down the track

The Pinewood Derby is a miniature car racing event solely for Cub Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America. A kit is provided to each Cub, which includes a block of pine, 4 plastic wheels, and 4 nails. Parents can help their kids build their cars, so it’s a good way to bond with your budding race champ too.

Every piece of material provided in the kit must be used, and the finished car must not exceed the set weight and length. It must also fit the track that used by the scout pack. The winners (1st, 2nd, and 3rd placers) are given trophies and medals. Special awards (like best car design) are awarded, too.

Pinewood Derby miniature cars in all shapes, sizes, and colors

The first Pinewood Derby was held by Pack 280c, on May 15, 1953 in Manhattan Beach, California. Cubmaster Don Murphy organized the event because his son was too young to participate in Soap Box Derby races.

Even if your kid is not a Cub Scout, you two will surely have a great time making miniature cars. You can even make or rent a track and race against each other. Your son will definitely get a kick out of beating you, and you’ll get some satisfaction seeing him so excited over cars and races—just like you are.

Photos from Eastern Wake News

If you’re a super passionate, true blue racer, then you probably can’t wait till the day you can share your love of speed driving with your young ‘un. Is your kid still a toddler? Well then, you probably know that if you even try to take your kid for a spin, the missus will jump on you faster than you can say “Ready, set, go!” So until the day your kid is old enough to start following in daddy’s footsteps, why not relieve your excitement and anticipation by giving him racing-related toys?

Here’s a cool one: the Spinner Top Race Car. Colorful and filled with bright graphics, this spinner top is a gripping attraction to any child. Push its handle and watch the mini cars inside it zoom around the countryside.

A Race Cars Spinner Top

It may be just a little bit too stage father-ish and a tad too enthusiastic, but hey, if we amateur drivers want to raise future racing champs, we do have to start sparking their interest early, right?