Q. Are your karts gas or electric?

A. They are gas powered. After much research into the differences between gas and electric, we decided that gas was a better choice. While electric karts don’t require a large ventilation system in the building, they do require a complex charging system. They also cost twice as much as gas karts and they don’t allow for longer, “endurance” events. Also, (and this was quite a surprise, considering all the hype on the subject), electric karts are less environmentally friendly over the life of the kart than gas karts are. Finally, customers prefer gas karts over electric. The sound of a real gasoline engine rather than the whine of an electric motor is an important part of the overall racing experience.

Q. How old do you have to be to race?

A. You have to be at least 14 years old to drive the 9HP racing karts. Drivers from 8 to 13 can drive our single seat "Family Karts". Most karting centers require racers to be at least 16 before they will allow you to race. Who knows? They may know something we don’t and we may have to modify our policy in the future, but for now we believe that 14 year olds will do just fine.

Q. Do you have “endurance” type events?

Our "Group Specials" include two different endurance races: "The Apex 20", a 20 minute endurance race where the winner is the driver that completes the most laps in 20 minutes, and "The Iron Man 35", a 35 lap endurance race where the winner is the first driver to complete 35 laps.

Every few months we host 4 hour "Mini Le Mans" endurance events for local, Thurston County, charities. These are team events that are very exciting. With a drivers change every 15 minutes, a fuel stop at the 2 hour mark, and trading of karts between the first and second half, these races are some of the best racing action you'll find. The cost for each team is $500, and teams can have as few as two and as many as eight members.
 

Q. Are you really going to let people drink and drive?

A. Yes and No. We will not allow anyone that appears to be impaired race. Period. It doesn’t matter if you were drinking before you came in, or if you had a couple of beers while you’re here; if you appear to be impaired, you won’t be racing. We require all of our eligible employees to attend the Mandatory Alcohol Server Training course even if they won’t be serving alcohol so they will know the signs of impairment. All of our employees have been told to stop someone from racing if they think that they might be impaired. If you look at the BAC Chart (the one that shows approximate blood alcohol level for different body weights compared to the number of drinks in an hour) you will see that most people are well below the legal limit of .08% after two drinks. We have developed a system for monitoring how many beers a person has had (at least while at Apex Karting) and we will allow someone to race after having two beers. If you buy a third beer, your racing day is over.

Q. Are you going to have birthday parties?

A. Absolutely! We have two party rooms available specifically to host events from birthday parties and bachelor/ette parties to corporate events and training.

Q. How will you be giving back to the community?

A. In addition to our Endurance Charity Races, we have developed fund raising programs that any organization can take advantage of. Non-Profit organizations, sports teams, school groups and clubs, youth groups, church groups, political groups…..almost anyone can use our program to raise money for their organization.