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Hunter Bates Has The Drive

photo by Mike Cameron

photo by Mike Cameron

Tuesday December 11, 2007

By Mike Cameron

    Go-Kart Racing was very popular in Central Vermont back in the 1960’s.  The drivers were local legends.  

    Hot-Shot competitors, mostly adults, would keep fans on the edge of the ropes as they raced their small, dual chain saw engine powered, machines on dirt tracks around the region.  

    Motorsports enthusiast’s fascination with these mimi-mechanical-marvels outside Vermont however continued to grow.

    Today Go-Karting remains popular with its devoted followers and in some divisions the drivers are as young as 8 years old.   

    Kids are just the right size to feel the full physical impact of Go-Kart racing. Not that adults don’t love the larger Karts; they do.  On and off-road Karting is a booming business in many parts of the country.

    Racing Go-Karts today in their unique mini-motorsports environment is another story and like it is in all truly competitive racing, a co-ordinated effort between drivers and mechanics must be put forth every time out to be successful.  

    You have to be a team member to be consistently successful.

    Hunter Bates, age 12 of Middlebury is a Go-Kart racer. .  

    Recently we sat down with Hunter and his Dad Mark also his mechanic, backer and coach.  His Mom Karen is also a big part of Hunter’s success .  After all, when you have Mom in your corner that’s a huge plus especially in racing when all days on the track are not always good.  Racing isn’t easy on any level no matter how good you are there will always be someone to challenge you.   Hunter likes a challenge.

    You have to have the “drive to drive,” NASCAR great Bobby Allison once told this reporter during an interview here in Vermont years ago.

    Hunter started driving the little machines when he was 8.  His father is an engineer with General Electric’s Aircraft Engine Group in Rutland. He was experienced with the machines and kart competition before Hunter was born.  

    Bate’s thought it would be a cool way to spend some quality time with his son.  Hunter was all for it and four years and dozens of races later they are a closely bonded duo.

    Now father and son travel all over the Eastern USA seeking out the challenges, competition, and camaraderie that serious Go-Kart racing has to offer.

    Hunter took to the sport quickly and began racing in the Junior 1 Division, at Turkey Trott Raceway near the village of Argyle New York.  

    This 12 year old is focused and articulate and endured a 65 minute interview filled with technical jargon and facts without “glazing over.”  

    Focus might be Hunter’s biggest asset as he grows in his sport.  He can concentrate and stay focused.  It is the number one asset that any competitive driver must have in any vehicle at any age.

    The Bates father and son duo has a number of wins and top five finishes in their log book.  Hunter was his home track’s 2005 Junior 1 Rookie Track Champion of The Year. He piloted his Coyote Chassis, Briggs 5 HP  #9, machine to an impressive 9 wins and 7 second place finishes.

    Now two years older and two years wiser in the ways of Karting he is continuing to impress those who follow the sport closely.

    The following are some of Hunter’s responses to questions about what he is thinking about while he is preparing for and driving his Go-Kart, in a race.

    We asked about the speed involved what does it feel like?

    “It’s fast. You go around the smaller tracks in a matter of seconds.  You have to be thinking ahead and looking ahead all the time,” Hunter explained adding “sometimes it’s a matter of 12 or 13 seconds, sometimes less for one lap.”

    For those who have never seen a Go-Kart race perhaps this will clear up the speed issue even more. Hunter is pulling  about 6-G’s,  in the corners with his machine now that he has moved up to Junior Division 2 in WKA events.

    WKA stands for World Karting Associating and can be found on the web at www.worldkarting.com.

    Asked about some of the most important driving skills he has acquired, he utters one word “Drafting,”  “I learned how to draft and that was fun.  You can stay close to the Kart in front of you and they will pull you along like a rocket,” he explained.

    The skill is to stay in the draft of the car in front as it pulls you with it and not break the draft by slipping side to side or letting off the gas and dropping out of the draft.  In a short race like Karting this requires serious talent and training.

    Go-Kart Racing is governed by the same laws of physics that the big guys need to heed.  It’s just done on a smaller scale over a much shorter period of time.

    Hunter remembers going to a 1/4 mile track for the first time.  After racing on much smaller lay-outs the 1/4 mile is a big change of pace.  You need the same skills but need to apply them for longer periods of time to maintain speed and position.

    Bigger tracks mean longer trips and  can mean sharper competition.  Windsor Connecticut, Syracuse New York,  and Harrisburg Pennsylvania are some of the new tracks on the Bates Motorsports calender of events in the season just past and Hunter continues to progress on both large and small tracks.  

    And then there are the 1/10 of a mile indoor venues where drivers zip around the track in 6.36 seconds at 61 mph on concrete that has been treated with soda pop syrup to help the tires adhere to the floor..  “I love to go fast ,” Hunter quips and “I hate it when the race is over.”

    Asked if some of the larger tracks are banked, “Oh Yea!” he explains emphatically and that brings even more of the dynamics of racing to bear on the drivers.

    Margaretville North Carolina was a memorable experience this past year. “I looked at the 1/4 mile high bank oval and said, what have I gotten my son into,” Hunter’s father remembers.  This was as big as it gets and Hunter did well in both the Champ and Flat Karts for the first time at this level. He plans to return next year.  No wins or top 5’s but the learning curve was flattening out.

    At the Briggs Junior Nationals, Hunter drove a Kart with a 6-1/2 horsepower  Briggs “Animal” overhead cam engine.  “That’s the fastest that I had ever gone.  When we got there my jaw dropped.  I had never seen that many Karts at a race before.”  He raced and did well again. Hunter continued to picked up some impressive wins in 2007 and suited up in 30 races to date.

    It is important that people reading this understand that strict safety rules are always in place and ready to be inforced by race officials in this sport.  WKA keeps a watchful eye on drivers and mentors.

    Hunter is required to wear a full-face-shield helmet, a NOMEX fire-retardant racing suit, NOMEX gloves, NOMEX racing shoes a neck brace, chest protector, and a seat belt in the Champs Kart. A roll cage is also required.

    The sport is about as green as racing gets with all contestants fueling their Karts with methanol or a methanol/alcohol blend.  

    The rules of the road are also strict.  WKA is very particular about how Karts are prepared and how racing is conducted.  This is Hunter Bate’s world on most weekends during a good part of the year.

    He works hard to learn more every time out.  He’s won some big races and has gained some notoriety in a difficult sport to master.  His future in Go-Karting looks very promising and we wish him safe and successful racing.

 *Mike Cameron has had the privelige to interview some of Motor Racings all time greats and covered MotorSports extensively in his  media career.  His interest was always prompeted by a desire to learn why drivers raced, how they feel behind the wheel and how they think.  He always left the sports technology and statistics to those more qualified to analyze them.

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