 Pole Position Raceway Announces Two New Tracks
Syracuse, NY
Pole Position Raceway, the leading indoor electric go-cart franchiser in the United States, is joining the lineup of entertainment venues at Destiny USA, the expansion of Carousel Center mall that is to open sometime in the spring.
Representatives of Destiny USA and New Jersey-based Pole Position Raceway Jersey City, the franchisee of the 40,000-square-foot venue at Destiny, made the announcement this in the small, serpentine section of Destiny USA that opened in November.
"Destiny USA is an ideal site for Pole Position and we are thrilled to bring our authentic, high-performance racing experience to this strategically located area,'' said Karen Davis-Farage, co-owner and general manager of Pole Position Raceway of Jersey City, N.J.
Pole Position Raceway, a growing company founded by racers and other professionals, joins other entertainment venues previously announced for Destiny USA, the 1.3-million-square-foot expansion of Carousel Center mall scheduled to begin fully opening in the spring.
The family entertainment venue features adult and children's go-carts. Participants can race individually or in groups of 10. The carts are Italian-made and designed to be energy efficient and eco-friendly, representatives of Pole Position Raceway say. The carts are odor-free, unlike the gasoline-powered go-carts found at outdoor venues.
"It's not a state fair go-cart raceway,'' said Mark Congel of Destiny USA. "This is really pretty amazing. These cars go up to 45-miles-per-hour and the car times are recorded through GPS devices. It's not just a matter of how fast you drive, but how well you drive. It's a really cool concept and they're good operators."
In addition to the go-carts, Pole Position Raceway has an arcade, a section for billiards and party facilities. The go-cart racing offers different varieties of competition and the tracks are switched around every six weeks, said Davis-Farage.
Davis-Farage couldn't put a price tag on the new Pole Position Raceway.
"This is the first time for us in an indoor mall, but as far as the cost, it's under several million dollars," said Davis-Farage. "Probably the biggest expense is the carts. They are European carts. We buy adult carts, for those over 56-inches tall and we buy children's carts."
While the facility is designed for families, the average age of racers is in the 30s, said Davis-Farage. Pole Position Raceways entertain party groups as well as teams, clubs and leagues. Leagues run in four-week segments.
Prices to race at the Destiny facility have not been set, but memberships -- currently $55, which includes one race and other amenities -- are usually required on top of daily racing fees, which at the New Jersey facility, are $20 for adults and $18 for children, said Davis-Farage.
Los Angeles-based Pole Position Raceway has seven other locations around the United States and while this is the eighth it announced today for Destiny, more announcements will be forth comimg. Its concept was engineered by professionals, athletes and racers, including 2004 NASCAR champion Kurt Busch, who is an investor. The Pole Position Raceway at Destiny is a franchise.
The third level of Carousel Center's expansion was designed to focus on entertainment and dining.
Similar tenants announced so far for that level include Revolutions, a high-tech, state-of-the-art bowling alley, AJA (pronounced "Asia"), a nightclub, and Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill, which will offer dining, a sports bar and live entertainment.
Regal also recently announced it will be adding two new movie screens to the third-level, entertainment-themed section of Destiny. Regal Cinemas said it would put a large-screen Regal Premium Experience theater and an IMAX theater inside the expansion, on the third level, which will be connected to the Destiny expansion by a pedestrian bridge (the entire mall will be renamed "Destiny USA" this summer).
Pole Position Raceway will be located next to the Regal theaters, said David Aitken of Destiny USA.
Destiny USA, the expansion, will have dining, entertainment, high-end retail outlets and other retailers, its handlers say. So far, three full-time retail tenants have opened in Destiny USA, on the first level. They include Lenox China, Hartmann Luggage, which opened in November; and Michael Kors, which opened April 5.
St. Louis, Mo Expansion
Pole Position Raceway and P2R Karting, Inc. are proud to announce that an all-new state-of-the-art high-performance indoor kart track is coming to St. Louis. The new entertainment facility is expected to open later this year.
The world-class facility is an independently operated franchise created by Mike Johnson, a former professional race car driver, television commentator and current race team manager.
"I have been racing in one form or another for over 20 years, and it feels great to bring all those experiences to my hometown,” said Johnson. “There is such great racing history here in Saint Louis with IndyCar, NASCAR, drag racing and even Formula 1 boats, and we expect Pole Position Raceway St. Louis to be another great form of racing entertainment."
Mike Johnson was born and raised in St. Louis and has been running race teams in the NASCAR owned Grand-Am Rolex Series since 2000. His teams have won four Championships and Johnson has led his teams to class wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He is currently the team manager of Stevenson Motorsports which campaigns the Chevrolet Camaro in Grand-Am.
Indoor kart racing is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing forms of recreation in the United States and the St. Louis facility will be Pole Position Raceway’s ninth location, with several more planned in the next 12 months. In addition to side-by-side race action on a giant ¼ mile track, each location also features authentic racing memorabilia, video games, concessions, V.I.P. room, and more.
“This is the ultimate hands-on racing experience,” said co-founder Jason Williams, CEO of P2R Karting, Inc. which franchises the Pole Position Raceway brand. “Aside from those who just show up and race in our arrive and drive races, we will offer a wide variety of programs including corporate team building events, birthday parties, group races and more. Up to 12 people will be able to race on the St. Louis track at one time, and we have some other plans that will be announced in the coming months in regards to this facility.”
“This is a track for racers by racers, and anyone can join in on the action,” said co-founder and P2R Karting, Inc. President Ken Faught. “We have high-performance electric karts that have twice the horsepower of the karts found at most facilities around the country. At 45mph these are certainly not the karts you remember driving as a kid. They accelerate harder, are more evenly matched, and provide the closest racing found anywhere in the state.”
Those behind the Pole Position Raceway brand also include AMA Supercross Champs Jeremy McGrath and Chad Reed, 2004 NASCAR Champ Kurt Busch, X-Games Gold Medalist Mike Metzger, NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little, Freestyle MX hero Kenny Bartram, off-road legends Randy Hawkins, Steve Hatch, Barry Hawk and Dick Burleson, F.I.M Motocross World Champs Greg Albertyn and Grant Langston, among others.
The all-new Pole Position Raceway is expected to open later this year. Pole Position Raceway also has locations in Las Vegas, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Jersey City, Summerlin, NV and two in the California cities of Corona and Murrieta.
For more information on Pole Position please visit their web site at www.PolePositionRaceway.com
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