May 1st 2010

Greg Moore Raceway

Photo gallery below.

es it's fast, no you can't drive it. On Saturday, 52 drivers from Washington to Winnipeg took part in the 2010 season opener at Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack.

The rain-soaked day was marked with a rededication ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the death of KART driver Greg Moore, who was the most successful KART racer to come out of the Lower Mainland, and his father Ric was on hand to unveil a memorial plaque in honor of his son.

Greg Moore started off as a go-kart racer and the age of 19 began his career in the KART circuit, the fastest cars in motor sports, clocking over 200 mph on the straight-aways.

The geeky-looking Maple Ridge kid with glasses and nice manners endeared himself to the public and the KART association. He was easy-going, calm, articulated himself well and could drive like a bat-out-of-hell.

In 1996, he was the youngest racer on the circuit and in his first

year with KART. He was selected runner-up for the Jim Trueman "Rookie of the Year" award, beaten out by Alex Zanardi. When 1997 rolled around, Moore was ready to start winning races and he picked up the "Milwaukee Mile" honors.

During the next two years, Moore won at Rio De Janeiro, the US 500 and the Homestead race. His career was just starting to take off, but sadly he was never to reach his full potential as an KART driver.               Ric Moore unveils his son's memorial plaque.

On October 31, 1999, Moore was running the final race of the season in the California 500.

The overall championship had already been wrapped up by Juan Montoya so there was nothing big at stake in the race that day.

Then on the tenth lap something happened. There was a strong crosswind and as Moore was nearing turn two, he went into a skid and his car suddenly became airborne, slamming  into a retaining wall driver's-side-in.

Past-President of West Coast Kart Club, David

Warner, talks with 895Hawk newsman Tim Amey.

That type of crash is rarely seen in the sport. Moore didn't make it. Officials let the race continue and when it was over, he was pronounced dead and the other drivers were told what happened. Even the toughest drivers were reduced to tears.

After Moore's terrible crash, several changes were made regarding driver safety and tracks were amended. Too little, too late.

KART established the Greg Moore Legacy Award at the end of the 2000 season and each year the award is given to the driver who best personifies Moore's demeanor as an outstanding personality with fans, media and the drivers.

Ric Moore was pleased to see homage paid to his son this way.

"I think he'd be really honoured and I'm honoured that these guys have taken this on," said Moore. "It's a great family deal and walking through the pits you can see a lot of families here, it's nice to see and I think the whole thing is a great idea."

The cars might look like inexpensive toys but they're not. Just a bottom of the line machine is going to cost you about $8000. Plus you've got parts, labour, entry fees and a raft of other costs involved.

It's mostly a male-dominated sport, however at Saturday's event there were at least two girls in the 14-lap heats and 16-lap finals and some girls are actually faster than the guys.

Seattle driver, Stepanova Nakeel, travels to Chilliwack raceway with a friend a few times a year had his car disqualified Saturday due to a technicality and moved to the back of the pack but he took it in stride.

"I won the last race here, but today is a little bit different in the rain but was third so I was close in qualifying," said Nakeel.

Past-President of West Coast Kart Club, David Warner, has been competing in KART races for about eight years, was emcee of ceremonies Saturday.

"In the ceremony, what we are doing is honouring the memory of Greg Moore by dedicating the Greg Moore Raceway to him, so this ceremony will involve the entire membership," said Warner. "We've brought Ric in and we'll be showing him basically how much it means to us to name the facility after the Moore family."

"Greg was somebody we thought embodied the spirit of racing and the professionalism and dedication to his sport that we hope our membership can aspire to," said Warner.

There are two-stroke engines for younger drivers and four-stroke engines for seasoned aficionados. Even the smaller of the two car classes can reach speeds of up to 70 km/h while the larger cars can reach almost 100 km/hr.

Ken Georgeson's son Kyle, (19), is in his fifth year racing two-strokes.

"We do it as a family sport," said Georgeson. "Very few times people get hurt. They're pretty wide, pretty stable and with the back bumpers now they've stopped the cars from being launched."

After the plaque unveiling, the drivers went a lap in honour of the Moore family prior to the start of the races.

For more information visit their website: www.westcoastkartclub.com  and also www.gregmoore.com

See the photo gallery below.

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