The words people use at the fence, alphabetically.
Arrive and drive — They supply the kart; you show up and race. No trailer, no tools.
Cadet — The 7–12 age band and the smaller chassis that goes with it (Kid Kart is younger, Junior is older).
Club / regional / national — Club is local and cheap (Tri-C, AMP). Regional is a few tracks across the West (SKUSA ProKart Challenge). National travels (COTF America, SKUSA Pro Tour). Each step is a lot more money and a lot faster.
COTF — Champions of the Future America, the IAME national series that runs its West rounds at K1 Circuit.
Driver package — At COTF, the per-round fee that includes your race tires and fuel allotment, paid on top of registration.
Final — The race that counts. Heats and the super heat set the grid for it.
Heat — A short race, usually three on Saturday, that sets your grid position. Points from heats decide the super heat grid.
KA100 — IAME’s 100cc air-cooled 2-stroke; the engine in Junior, Senior and Masters classes across SoCal.
Lead / follow — A coaching session where the coach drives ahead of the kid (or behind) so the kid learns the line by copying.
Mini Swift / Micro Swift — IAME’s 60cc 2-stroke for 7–12-year-olds. Micro is the restricted version for the younger end.
MyChron — The AiM dash on the steering wheel that logs GPS, RPM, temps and lap times. Race Studio is the PC software that reads it. PC, not Mac.
Pit pass — The wristband anyone in the paddock needs, driver or not. $10–22 a day.
Pushback bumper — The front bumper on a pushback mount. Hit someone hard enough and it shoves back and stays there; cross the line like that and it is an automatic time penalty. It can happen on the grid.
Rebuild — Taking a 2-stroke apart and replacing the piston, bearings and seals. A KA100 or Mini Swift needs one every few months of regular use; budget $1,200–1,600 all-in.
Hour meter — The little counter on the engine that decides when it gets rebuilt. A race engine gets 6–8 hours between rebuilds, a practice engine 20–30.
Rental engine — A race-prepped engine the team supplies for the weekend, separate from the one you own. About $475 for a club weekend, $765 for a national one (what a race weekend costs).
Rib protector — The carbon or foam vest under the suit. Not optional after your first bruised rib.
Stop / stab / lift / flat — Our shorthand for what you do with the brake in a corner: a real stop, a quick stab, a lift off the throttle, or nothing at all.
Super heat — Sunday morning’s longer race that sets the grid for the final.
Tech — Technical inspection: weight, fuel, tires, bumper, before and after sessions. Where penalties get found.
Tent — A team program where your kart lives under the team’s awning for the weekend with their mechanics. What “under the tent” means.
Transponder — The little timing box on the kart. Rent it ($10–25) or buy one. Without it you do not exist on the timing screen.
Track walk — Walking the lap on foot before the gates open to pick brake points and apexes. The cheapest lap you will ever do. Also what this site is.