CHAPTER 3
The next afternoon, Austin stood outside the window of the go-kart store. He looked at the karts on the showroom floor.
One of them, a dark green kart, looked a lot like the kart he’d left behind in Virginia. Austin knew that if he had his old kart, he could have beat Ryan the day before.
A shadow appeared on the window beside him. It was Nicole, the girl Austin had met at the track.
“Still want your own kart?” Nicole asked.
“Sure, who doesn’t?” Austin said.
Nicole shrugged. “I don’t think it’s that important,” she said.
Austin looked at her as if she’d grown a second head. “Of course it is!” he exclaimed. “The kart is half the battle. Without a good kart, you can’t win.”
Nicole shook her head. Then she began to walk away.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Austin called after her.
Nicole turned around. “Do you really want to see what good driving is all about?” she asked. “Then come with me.”
Austin looked at the karts in the window one more time. Then he followed Nicole.
She walked around the corner. She headed down an alley between two buildings. For a moment, she disappeared, and Austin had to rush to catch up.
Then he heard it. Go-kart engines.
At the end of the alley there was a door, and through the door was a large practice track. The track seemed to be behind the go-kart shop.
The track was an oval. It had dips and curves, but basically just went around and around. About a dozen karts were whizzing around the track.
“What is this place?” Austin shouted above the motors.
“This is GKC,” Nicole replied. “Go-Kart Central. It’s the go-kart school I was telling you about.”
Austin looked more closely. He noticed a few adults standing around, talking into microphones.
“Those are the instructors,” Nicole told him. “They’re talking to some of the drivers through special earphones in their helmets.”
Austin continued to watch. Suddenly, a red kart rolled onto the track. Austin recognized Ryan’s kart right away. He watched as Ryan pulled up to an instructor, nodded, and then took off.
Austin didn’t want to stare at Ryan’s kart, but he couldn’t help it. The kart flew around the track, much more smoothly than the other karts did. It slid through turns and swirled through dips. It dashed between other karts and always came away free.
Ryan’s kart was more than a go-kart, Austin realized. It was a perfect machine.
“Ryan comes out here almost every day to practice,” Nicole said.
“You can practice,” Austin said. “But you still need the right equipment.”
One of the adult instructors walked up to them. “Hey, Nicole,” the man said. “Are you here for a practice session?”
“Not for me today, Mike,” Nicole said. “My friend Austin might be, though. He just moved here from Virginia. He used to race there.”
“Virginia has some good kart schools,” Mike said. “Which school did you go to?”
Austin smiled. “I didn’t have to go to school to learn how to race,” he told the instructor. “I picked it up on my own.”
“Good for you,” Mike said. “If you change your mind, though, come on back. We’re always looking for new students. And new talent.”
Austin watched the drivers and go-karts for a few more minutes. Then he said, “Well, I better get going.”
“See you later,” Nicole said.
In front of the go-kart shop, Austin looked in the window a final time. The karts all gleamed.
Austin kicked the ground and turned away. There was another race on Saturday. It would be his second time on the Hammerside track. Now that he was more familiar with the track, he was sure he could come out on top.
Rental or no rental.