Each Winter Break for the past 4 years, I’ve built a kart and then driven down to Daytona Beach to race it at Daytona Kart Week. There’s just something about racing at Daytona that is simply unbeatable. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s warm, and I’m coming in from either a cold Kansas location, or a cold Indiana location. Or maybe it’s the thrill of racing a hand-built go-kart at speeds up to 130 miles per hour, sitting only 1” off the ground, and without so much as a seat belt to strap you into these crazy contraptions. I know, I know! CRAZY. But the fact of the matter is that these karts handle like their on rails, and there’s plenty of room out on the track. Collisions happen, and people do get hurt (even killed, as happened my second year there). So I try to pick my lines carefully and stay safe. My parents and grandparents aren’t fans, but I can’t help myself. Gotta race, and gotta go FAST.