PORTLAND'S FATHER & SON RACE TEAM EXPANDS
Speeding to Victory On & Off the Track.

If you are interested in joining our team, please contact us. Arrive & Drive iKart program available (contingent on kart availability). We also offer track side support for customers who already own their own kart, and we provide individualized coaching for all ages.

A little history on how we first started out

Ethan first drove a kart when he was 6 years old. He earned his racing license, when he was 10 years old. When taking the Kart Racing School at Pat's Acres in 2007, Ethan's instructor said he was one of the fastest kids ever to attend the school (at that age).

In 2010, Ethan moved up from the Cadet class, to the much faster TaG Jr. class. Ethan's Dad (Randy) having previosly worked on a Sports 2000 race car team and also having road raced motorcycles at a semi-pro level, decided to join Ethan on the track and raced a couple of 2010 TaG Sr. events. In 2011, Ethan moved into the TaG Sr. division and now Father & Son are able to race together at the same time as a team, and each captured a Championship, in 2012 - Ethan in the Northwest ProKart Challenge, and Randy in the local OSKCS series.

In 2013 we switched from CRG chassis to the new made in America iKart chassis, and won 1st place in our first race on the new chassis! In addition to the TaG class, we also moved into the Shifter class for 2014, with Hans joining the team as Ethan cut back on track time to attend college full time and work part time. In 2014 Hans won the TaG championship for Oregon, and Randy won the Shifter S2 championship for Oregon, as well as 3rd overall in the national Can-Am series (Shifter S4).

2015 was an exciting year as we had several new people join the team here on the West Coast, and also saw the factory ikart team in Indianapolis win some of the most prestigious kart races in the country - including 1st place both days in TaG Sr at the SKUSA SummerNationals!

2016 saw us traveling, tuning, and coaching upcoming young karter, Graham Trammell, here in the Northwest. We also started a new series called the O2s Championship. 2016 was an exciting year for the iKart Indianapolis factory, too. They focused on R&D and manufacturing of new products that won in 2015 and were further developed in 2016.

2017 saw our Team Coach, Randy Word, back in the seat again - and winning the Open 2-Stroke Championship (O2s Championship) in the TaG Sr. Division (as well as taking 2nd in the Can-Am Karting Challenge). Gregg Hall put his iKart in the top 3 in World Formula, and 1st in TaG Masters. Other notables included Hans Reidy and David Turcic racing in the local OSKCS series. It was also great to see three iKart's in the Can-Am final (TaG Sr) at Pat's Acres.

2018 saw us win another championship and continue to expand our trackside support. In 2019, we are very excited to announce we are adding 3 new drivers! Welcome aboard Vince Berkovich, Jeff Ralph, and Thomas Olson!

2019 saw us take another OSKCS champinship with Thomas Olson in LO206.

2020 actually had some decent racing despite early racings being canceled due to lock downs. It was also another successful year for our team as Mauricio Parada won the Junior OSKCS Championsho.

2021 has been a great year so far with several new drivers joinng us. Mauricio wont Pole Position in the 100cc Juior class at the Saturday Night Shootout in Tri-Cities, while Ethan Barrett went from 20th to 3rd in Senior 100cc to score a podium positon in the main event. Be sure to follow us on facebook.com/WordRacing to see pictures and latest results.

Karting speed facts

A common question, we hear quite often, is how fast do racing Karts go? It depends on the track and the gearing, but 0-60 is about 5 seconds in TaG and about 3 seconds in the Shifter. Top speed is over 70 mph in TaG, and around 80 mph in the Shifter, on Sprint tracks. The shifter can hit speeds over 115 mph on a road course. However, it's in the corners where these Karts are especially impressive, with cornering forces in excess of 3 G's. Most exotic sports cars barely exceed 1 G.

Championships & other tid-bits of info

In 2012, Ethan won the NW Pro Kart Challenge Championship Series, and Randy won the Oregon State Karting Championship Series.

In 2013 as previously mentioned, we switched from CRG's to the new made in America iKart's.

In 2014, we ran an extended schedule of World Formula & LO206 (iKart - Greg Normandin), TaG (Hans Reidy, and Ethan Word), and Shifter (Randy Word) races, in the Northwest. Greg Normandin won the 2014 IKF Grand Nationals "Duffy" in World Formula Heavy. Randy Word moved from 7th to 2nd in the CanAm ProKart Series, but missed the last race of the series due to a rib injury and dropped down to 3rd. Hans dominated the OSKCS TaG Sr. class in 2014, and Randy won the 2014 OSKCS championship in Stock Honda S2.

In 2015 we expanded to full trackside support for our local club and became the go-to place for safety gear, with every size of helmet in stock at the track, as well as rib vests & chest protectors. We also added Randy Naylor as a driver in the World Formula class along with Greg Normandin, coached several kids on various brands of karts, tuned IAME TaG engines for various customers, and recently added the Galanti sisters, Naomi, and Brook to the Junior LO206 class. WORD Racing owner, Randy Word, spent most of the season coaching and tuning, and did not defend his 2014 Shifter Championship. Near the end of 2015 and beginning of 2016 Word Racing owner, Randy, coached Graham to some 1st place finishes at the Salem Indoor Speedway (dirt oval), and also did double duty at one of the races, taking 2nd place in the LO206 class.

In 2016, we were the presenting sponsor & promotoer of the brand new O2S Championship! It was a huge success, and we saw the biggest local Shifter fields in nearly 10 years. In addition to local races and the O2s, we also coached and tuned at the Gold Cup races, and all of the Can-Am races (Oregon, Washington, and Canada).

2017 saw us take the O2s Championship in both TaG Sr, and TaG Masters! ...and again in 2018!

Kids who race karts learn about engineering, mechanics, driving, sportsmanship, competition, hard-work, marketing, aerodynamics, fitness, safety, planning, and organization.

We recently wrote an article about the positive difference racing is making for the environment. Click here to read more. We also posted an article about race fitness, from F1 Technical. Click here to read more.