THREE ESSENTIAL TIPS WE LEARNED FROM MY SON’S FIRST GO KART RACE

Your first go kart outing is a defining moment in the parent/child relationship. Or, if it isn’t, it should be. In fact, when you elect me your president, my first and only promise will be that every father and mother must guide their son or daughter through just such an experience before they can officially claim them as dependents on their taxes.

Go karting builds character; requiring intense focus, strong forearms, and mental stamina. Every lap around the track offers the opportunity to take the next one even faster—to brake later, corner more sharply, or mash the throttle earlier. It’s a crippling addiction if left unchecked.

And I was about to introduce my 10-year-old son to it, at Xtreme Action Park.

Xtreme is our go-to for karting—not just because it’s the longest indoor track in the area, or because you’re ripping down actual asphalt, or because the karts are still gas powered rather than numb and electric…actually, those pretty much sum up all of the reasons.

Ever hear how Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton cut their teeth in karting? This is about as close as 99.5% of us can get to living out our F1 fantasies.

The idea was to bring him over one evening after school and teach him a few basics. However, by the end of his session behind the wheel, it was I who learned a few new lessons. Here are the three most important things parents need to know when taking their kids go karting for the first time:

CONSISTENCY IS KEY

When he first took to the track, Xander reminded me of a newborn doe attempting to walk. He went slowly, staying wide around the corners so as to give the safety barriers ample space. Had anyone been watching and judging him (me), it would have been painfully obvious that this was his first time. However, after a couple of feeler laps, he began to find a rhythm. I glanced at the large screen over the front straightaway and noticed his lap times stayed about the same. Despite not taking the best race line, he was a machine.

I asked him afterward if he had any idea how he’d been able to do that. His answer:

“I just floored it after that one corner every time.”

When they’re starting out, encourage your kid to be consistent rather than fast. Once they find a comfortable, repeatable pace, they can start to improve. They can choose the same corner each lap to try and get through quicker. Then another. And so on. They’ll learn what they can do better, and their lap times will come down as a result.

PLAY MORE FORTNITE

After his two sessions, Xander told me that his hands and forearms were a bit sore from gripping the wheel. He said it was similar to the feeling he’d experience after a marathon Fortnite match. I thought back to my younger days, giving up hour upon hour of my own life to Mario Kart, and realized he was right—my emphatic button mashing usually preceded some rather tender hand muscles. After enough time however, they became stronger.

Or, perhaps I just built up a tolerance. In any case, have your child increase their go karting fitness by sitting stationary in front of a TV and playing more video games.

IT’S NOT A COMPETITION – EXCEPT WHEN IT IS

When we got home, I asked Xander what his advice would be for other kids his age trying this for the first time. Like anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in an organized team activity, he said having fun was the most important thing.

Pause for “Aaawwwwww”s.

However, he quickly pivoted to analyze what he personally could have done differently. He pointed out mistakes that I hadn’t even known he’d made. He was obsessed with figuring out how he could tighten his turns or how he could use the brakes more. He concluded with a wistful statement about getting old enough one day to try the pro karts.

And then went upstairs to fire up Fortnite. Team #nodaysoff.

He couldn’t—and didn’t want to—turn off his competitive nature. Sure he wanted to have fun, but he also wanted to win. After all, what’s more fun than that?

I know I can inadvertently ask both of my boys to bury that ambitious instinct in the name of “having fun.” I do believe they can find a productive outlet for it in a safe, controlled setting, though. He can’t wait to go back, and I can’t wait to see what he decides to try in order to get better.

He’s still got a long way to go to beat me, of course. I’ll still be the one in our house having the most fun on the track for awhile longer.

Welcome Our New Fleet Karts

Introducing the NG1 Gas Powered go kart by BIZ Karts…  The NG1 is a brand new model, designed and manufactured at the BIZ Karts factory, featuring fantastic advancements in both design and technology. The team have placed a strong focus on the driver experience.  The rubber mounted seat isolates the vibration from the driver, allowing for a more comfortable ride. The adjustable 3 position flip over pedal system comes as standard offering you full flexibility for different driver heights. The NG1 is the most compact kart on the commercial market today!

The NG1 Karts are replacing our Bowman Arrow Pro Karts.  The BIZ Kart Junior Cadet Karts are here for our younger drivers!

Xtreme Action Park is proud to offer our guests the latest in European Kart design and comfort.  The new fleet has already landed at the track this month and you can catch a sneak peek of the them in action in the next few weeks as we break them in for public use.

Follow us for updates and be the first to drive our exciting new fleet of the fastest indoor gas powered go karts in South Florida!!

Some exciting improvements include Adjustable Foot Pedals and Seats, improved Impact and Bumper Protection System, Electrical Safety Headlights & Taillights plus a Super Silent Exhaust System.

Action Park Targets Corporate And Family Markets

If you are looking for a fun venue for team building, Xtreme Action Park awaits. Want an adrenaline rush? Compete with your coworkers on a half-mile go-kart track. Want something intellectually challenging? Try solving puzzles to get out of an escape room.

There are also bowling, a ropes course and a bar where you can banter about the experience. There’s plenty of event space, ranging from conference rooms to a roller rink that can transform into a 2,000-person gathering place.

Xtreme’s location is strong for corporate events since the Fort Lauderdale Uptown area employs 70,000 people. Xtreme is a pioneer in what’s called the “Envision Uptown” movement. A 2014 Urban Land Institute study says the area near Commercial Boulevard and Cypress Road has a good population density but needs to transform into more of a live/work/play neighborhood. Xtreme definitely fits the definition of play.

Behind Xtreme are three partners who each brought something to the table:

• Michael Dezer calls himself the real estate guy. He started collecting buildings in New York and found great success in Sunny Isles Beach by doing projects with Donald Trump and collaborating with The Related Group. He’s also a notable car collector, which is reflected in his family’s new Porsche Design Tower in Sunny Isles Beach.

• Aaron Parkinson is a technology guru and serial entrepreneur who found success in the wastewater treatment field and has developed the electric Golf Skate Caddy and Fiik Skateboards.

• David Goldfarb is literally the fun guy, as he owns PrimeTime Amusements. He started out with a couple of pool tables in his fraternity house and now operates more than 2,000 arcade games, including cutting-edge models found at Xtreme.

So how did they

come together?

Goldfarb’s company was a supplier to Xtreme Go Kart before the latter closed and also had provided games for Dezer’s Miami Auto Museum in North Miami. He told Dezer about the 340,000-square-foot building going on the auction block back in 2014 and Dezer won the bid.

They converted part of the building into office condominiums. Bekins Van Lines took 110,000 square feet and Goldfarb took 20,000 square feet for his business. Then Goldfarb became involved in the roughly 125,000-square-foot first phase of Xtreme, which kept and overhauled the go-kart track. Dezer owns about 80,000 more square feet, which includes the museum with his cars and a trampoline park, which is a tenant.

This month, Goldfarb was scheduled to open a 24,000-square-foot sports performance training center called Hard Knocks 365 Inside Xtreme Action Park.

He expects many mixed martial arts and professional athletes to use the gym and has lined up three trainers, who will be owner-operators: Henri Hooft, a top professional trainer for martial arts fighters; Mario Sperry, a top jiujitsu coach; and Tony Villani, whose XPE Sports in Boca Raton is a top performance-training site for NFL players and collegians preparing for the draft.

There’s synergy among Xtreme’s individual elements. For example, Goldfarb expects Xtreme to get exposure when sports networks cover big-name athletes training there. There also will be some crossover activity because some football players enjoy mixed martial arts and some MMA players want performance training.

“What’s unique is it will fall under one roof here,” Goldfarb says.

The partners were encouraged by the success of the first phase of Xtreme, which included the go-kart track, bowling, the arcade, a ropes course and Bazooka Ball, a combat game with elements of laser tag and paintball. They managed to double their initial forecast for revenue. The second phase included leasing out space for the trampoline park, doubling the arcade space and opening the museum, roller-skating rink and the escape rooms.

Dezer said he was attracted to the building by its sheer size. “Everything I do, I like to do big,” Dezer says. He needs a lot of space for his growing car collection. However, the attractions part of the business has done so well that Dezer says his attitude is less about car museum space and more about games.

Dezer, who also owns 15 acres of land in Las Vegas, said his love of cars goes back to when he was a teenager in Israel and he got into trouble once for taking a spin in a car that wasn’t his. Among his earliest purchases were a Vespa scooter, a Harley Davidson motorcycle and a 1949 Plymouth. After being a paratrooper in the Israeli armed forces, he moved to Queens.