Indoor racing track opens in Murrieta

By: BRIAN ECKHOUSE - Staff Writer | Monday, August 6, 2007 10:33 PM PDT ∞

MURRIETA -- A recreational alternative to golfing, bowling or skating now exists within city limits.

Pole Position Raceway, which opened its 33,000-square-foot indoor Murrieta facility last week, has attracted both inexperienced racers and veterans of all types -- kart, quad and motocross, among others -- seeking a speed fix.

"There's not much to do down here," said Pole Position's president, Ken Faught, 38.

At the Pole Position track, there are no lanes, just a winding track bordered by plastic, air-filled barriers that weaves through turns alternatively wide and narrow. Karts stay grounded even in the sharpest of maneuvers -- and at speeds approaching 45 miles per hour. Turns aboard the $10,000 karts are swift yet smooth.

Before Pole Position expanded into Murrieta, the closest indoor track was a 51,000-square-foot facility in Corona, Faught's hometown. The company also operates a track in Oklahoma City, and is building a fourth in Las Vegas about a mile from the center of The Strip.

Faught anticipated operating just one facility, the original one in Corona. But its appeal exceeded expectations, prompting the expansion into the untapped Southwest County market.

One customer said the wait time to be one of the 12 racers on the Corona track can reach 2 1/2 hours on weekends. Faught said such waits are rare and unheard of during the week -- especially in the slow midday hours. He believes the Murrieta track, which accommodates eight racers at a time, will lighten the load in Corona.

Just a month ago, the Murrieta Planning Commission enthusiastically granted Pole Position a permit needed to operate the facility after Faught assuaged commissioners' fears of too many karts being on the track at once. Faught promised them that only eight of the 40 on-site karts would be used at a time.

"If we tried to put all of our karts on the track, it'd be a traffic jam," Faught said Monday. "It'd be no fun."

Monday morning, about a dozen people were preparing to race when the doors at the McAlby Court warehouse opened at 11 a.m.

"This is not Disneyland," Faught said. "This is something where you don't need high volumes of people. That's what makes it fun. It's like when you go out on a golf course with a bunch of guys."

That was indeed the case Monday. Two families -- one a father with his two young children, the other two adult brothers and one of their wives -- waited for their turns on the 900-foot track. A race consists of 14 laps, and is monitored by a controller, who can electronically slow or quicken the battery-powered karts' speeds to ensure safety in the event a driver spins out. That way, there would be no pile-up -- or even bumping of karts.

"People think because they have bumpers, they're bumper cars," Faught said. "They're not."

He anticipates the Murrieta track will pull in "a couple million" dollars in its first year, but won't reap a profit until its second year. Overhead is high for such a facility, of which there are only about 60 nationwide, he said. One considerable expense is the electronic sensors on the concrete surface that mark racer position -- shown throughout a race on a large screen, which is viewable to drivers -- as well as average lap time and RPM.

Faught, though, doesn't seem worried about the track's future -- probably because he counts as investors NASCAR star Kurt Busch (who claimed first place Sunday at Pocono Raceway), motocross icons Jeremy McGrath of Encinitas and Mike Metzger of Canyon Lake, and actress Kathryn Morris of CBS' drama "Cold Case."

The likenesses of McGrath and Metzger are on display throughout the Murrieta indoor track. A frame-by-frame photograph of Metzger's 125-foot motorcycle backflip over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas -- the longest backflip in history, achieved in May 2006 -- greets visitors upon entering Pole Position. Jerseys of other stars hang from the warehouse rafters, as well as flatscreen HDTV televisions that show the SpeedVision channel.

Although the business only opened last week, the Gladu family of Menifee has already been there twice.

"My whole family's into racing, so this is some good family fun," said Don Gladu, 35, who is the father of two preteen boys. "It could be a little pricey, though."

For most races, nonmember adults are charged $24; a kids' race costs $21 each. Kids' karts top out at 20 miles per hour.

Southwest Airlines pilot Derek Reeves, 40, of Phoenix, snuck away from his abbreviated vacation to Disneyland on Monday to try out the cherry red karts and get his speed fix.

"When you're (commanding a plane) on the runway ... you typically are on the ground for 20 seconds," Reeves said. "When you're in the air, you typically don't feel the speed, unless you're going through clouds, and we don't do that often. My Subaru WRX, that's where I usually get my rush."

-- Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or beckhouse@californian.com.

If you want to race...

What: Indoor kart racing at Pole Position Raceway

Where: 41810 McAlby Court

When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday

How much: $24 for most adult races; $21 for children

Contact: (951) 461-1600 or MurrietaInfo@racep2r.com

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