There is a place in Reno where a person can have fun and enjoy racing.

RENO (Jan. 7) – For a fun time and a taste of racing Need2Speed is where you want to be. It’s indoor karting that’s out of the weather and runs all year long.

While it’s been open for over a year there was a change of ownership this past summer when Chris Utgaard bought the facility.

As one kart zips past Need2Speed owner Chris Utgaard stands by one of the many electric karts a person can drive on the track.

“I got Need2Speed late July 2015,” he said. “I was actually looking to acquire a company in the Western US, this opportunity came along and I thought it was really attractive. Plus I’ve been an indoor karting enthusiast for a long time.

About 15 years ago is when he discovered and got interested in this. He thinks that’s about when it was first getting going.

“It was a good fit for me personally because it’s something I’m interested in and excited about,” he said.

He explained that indoor karting is big in Europe but that the U.S. is probably the biggest second market. However he doesn’t know if it is big in Asia.

“You know Europe has more of a traditional road-racing culture. So maybe it’s a little bit more of a natural fit over there,” he said. “But it’s been catching on here in the U.S. and it’s growing all the time.”

Utgaard actually lives in Salt Lake City but, “.. I commute out here frequently.”

He added the market there is pretty well saturated as the city has two tracks while Provo and Ogden have one.

“Reno is an interesting market because, obviously we’ve got a good strong local market but we’ve also got a vibrant tourist business. So we’re able to able to kind of use different approaches to appeal to both of those markets. It’s nice being able to have two distinct bases that help drive your business rather as opposed to just relying on one source or the other so that’s been good,” he said.

Now his next effort is to expand indoor karting’s appeal.

“We’re trying to do things to keep it fresh and interesting for the local community. We’ve done a couple of tournaments in the last few months and we’re looking at what we want to do for leagues going forward,” he said.

Drivers in a youth tournament head out on the track for their main event at Need2Speed.

There is a program called “Pro Skill,” that’s already in place. It’s a year long racing series and when the New Year began it was reset.

“All the points are at 1,200 and at the end of the year we’re going to have some special t-shirts, a plaque and prizes for the top Pro Skill racers,” he said. “So if you come here often and go fast, there’ll be prizes at the end of the year. It’s a racing season right here, primarily for the local community since they are the ones that can come here often enough and really compete.”

While there may be two or more karts on the track at the same time the competitors are really racing for the best lap time. In fact there is a leader board keeping track of the times and at the end of a race each driver gets a sheet showing them where they ranked for their session.

It’s go time for the racers during a youth tournament at Need2Speed.

“The single best lap is going to get you to the top of the field,” he said. “A couple of reasons for that is our track is pretty tight and twisty so over taking is pretty difficult unless you’re dramatically faster than the other person. So for the single lap all you need to do is to find a little space. And if you’re bottled up behind someone you can back off, give yourself 20 feet of room then run to try and catch up to them again. So in a 14-lap race, 14-chances to win.”

The track’s first youth tournament was being held on the day of this interview. And in between those sessions, two adults would be on the track.

The awards ceremony for Need2Speed’s first youth tournament.

“One of the adult ones we did a qualifying where we bracketed people out, ran final heats and gave prizes to the heat winners of each. We also had a shoot out tournament, which is more of a bracket tournament where, after each race half would get knocked out and half would advance.”

In the shoot out format he had both a fast and slow half that were used to narrow the field down to the final groups.

The prizes offered are pretty good incentives for competitors to do their best. So far the track has given winners a Go Pro, a gift certificate to Reno Guns and Range and at one tournament the top prize was a camera drone.

“I’ve already got an iPOD lined up for the next tournament, try to make in interesting, a little bit worth while,” he said.

In addition to the tournaments and possible racing leagues Utgaard is looking in other areas. He’s worked with event planning groups so the track can be used for an event kick off.

“We can do groups as small as eight people and as large as 100 plus. For the small groups we just put them into one of our multi race packages so they only run with themselves, get reserve track time and depending on the package they can do a practice, qualifier and a main event. And we give a medal to the top finisher,” he said.

For a large groups the track can be rented by the hour or the entire facility and even bring catering. It can either be a formal set up with qualifying, heats and a main event or just letting people race when they want to.

It’s a great place for someone that is a race fan but might want to test the waters before jumping into competition.

“This is the most cost effective, affordable true experience you’ll find anywhere in Northern Nevada. And I don’t think anyone can argue with that statement,” he said. “It takes a great deal of skill to get a kart around this track quickly, most people when they come in run a 26 second lap, people that are a little more experience run a 25 but our fastest guys that practice here a lot can run down to a 24.1 second lap, which is a huge gap.”

He added one can’t just mash on the gas but they need to run a true racing line to get around fast. At the price of $20 for seat time there isn’t anything that comes close.

Now that winter is here drivers that can’t afford or get track time use the facility for practice or to sharpen their skills.

Looking ahead Utgaard said, “We’re trying new things, tournaments is something we’re getting more involved in and we’re going to re-launch our League Program but I don’t have details as I’m still trying to figure that out.”

When this year ends the Pro Skill champion, besides the prizes, will have a plaque with their name on it displayed at the facility.

Utgaard is always looking to improve his product and welcomes feedback from the local customers.

“We want to know what they think we can do to make it more fun and better,” he said.

He’s also using social media, like Face Book, to let people know what the track is doing. And there is an e-mail list but it’s not used very often so people don’t have to worry about spam and it’s the best way to be notified about leagues, and special events.

“We’re lucky if we get one or two e-mails out a month but whenever we’ve got something important to tell that’s where we like to tell it. That and Face Book,” he said.

For further information please check the track’s website at www.need2speed.com, or they can be called at, 775-851-7223. The track is located at 6895 Sierra Center Parkway, which is at the east end of the building where the south Target store is located.

If you enjoyed this article please “like,” it and share as widely as possible. Comments are welcome

Subscribers have articles posted to their inbox as soon as they are posted to this site.

Here is a video of Need2Speed showing the facility, inside and out, as well as some racing.