There are tons of go kart tracks around the country. Some are ovals and some are road courses. The WKA is the main sanctioning body of national karting races and is a good start for information about tracks in your area, karting manufacturers, etc.

This is where most all racers start out and at a very young age. Some are starting as young as age 8 and even younger in some cases. There are a number of major championships in karting and then there are levels that are just for fun. 

Racing schools are meant for weekend warriors and aspiring professionals. Most all schools have introductory programs and also advanced racecar driving programs. The goal here is to learn how to drive a racecar and to be in an environment for learning, as opposed to competition. Racing schools are also a great resource for the next levels of racing, as many professional drivers at some point came through their system. Some professional drivers also teach at the schools as well. 

Every Racing school has an in-house race series for graduates of the advanced racing school programs. This is the most economical way to race cars out there. You show up on the dates scheduled, the school provides the car and off you go. Even though this is ONLY a school series, the competition can be tight, as you will be racing against people of your same skill level.

The important thing at this level is that a driver hones their driving abilities and race craft. It is important to learn from your mistakes in a low risk, low cost environment and this is the place. 

At this level, things get more serious. The cars are more advanced than a school car and the competition is much tougher. There are a number of different series at this level and in recent years, they seem to come and go.

At this level, the focus should be on learning to work with a team, understanding setup and continuing to hone your driving skills. Many times, you will see drivers spend two years at this level to build their confidence, win some races and build a racing resume.

Each of the different series has its pros and cons and they can change from year to year. It has always been my philosophy to race against the best group of drivers possible with the best team possible. Some series may have better media coverage, but that does not always mean that you will move up to the next level because of it. Plus, this usually means a higher budget which can affect where you go next.

There are a lot of tough decisions to be made at this level, as well. As you can see from the flow chart, you can go in a few different directions. As I said before, some drivers will stay at this level for two years. From here you can move on to the Level 2 (Professional) open wheel series, or you can move to sports cars. What you do depends on how well you have done, what connections you have made, and honestly, how big your budget is.

Sports cars offer a lot of opportunity and a lot of seat time. The next open wheel level gets way more serious as budgets and speeds are higher, media coverage becomes a big factor and sponsors start to come on board.

Remember, this level is a network so you will always see drivers come and go through this level. You will also see drivers go to sports cars and then move up to the Level 2 open wheel series. Many times you will see drivers go to the lower levels of sports cars and then move up to the bigger cars and stay there for their career. 

This is the last filter before you get into the Elite formula series. Things get very serious here. The media coverage is more prominent, you are dealing with more fans usually, the demands on your life are much higher and you need to have a certain level of maturity to handle all of this.

At the current time this level is a bit shaky. Champ Car just announced that they have closed their doors so what use to be Champ Car Atlantics will take on a new form, but that form is unknown. Atlantics has been around for 35 years and should hopefully continue, but because of the latest developments, the Indy Pro Series has taken a small step ahead of Atlantics.

This level is where you are able to attract sponsors because of the media coverage and the nature of the events. Drivers at this level are usually aspiring professionals and are focused on making it to the top. Many of the drivers have extensive resumes and have a lot of experience. At this point, you should have a wealth of knowledge about setup and should be comfortable working in a team environment.

From this step, many things can happen. Like I said, this is the last filter. Some drivers will stay at this level for two years and sometimes longer until they get a ride at the top. Drivers will also go from here to sports cars, as there are always more opportunities in sports cars for quality, long term rides. 

IndyCar has become the final step in the Open Wheel Racing World. IndyCar’s main event is the Indy 500 on Memorial Day Weekend. The number of teams and cars at this level will determine how many drivers come up from the previous level. Some years there are no open slots and other years there may be many. Sometimes IndyCar drivers get injured and someone needs to fill in, which can give you an opportunity.

There is no preset form that will get you into IndyCar. Lots of things need to be lined up and luck certainly needs to be on your side. That is about all I can say for this, because I have not made it there yet!