Need for speed — Raceway lets young, old put pedal to the metal

LAYTON — There is a place here where people young and old can defy the local traffic laws. A place where there are no stop signs, stoplights or lane violations. A place where a group of friends can put the pedal to the metal to finally find out who really is the fastest, most able driver of the bunch.

That place is the Speed Street Indoor Raceway at 421 N. Marshall Way.

"It's awesome, it's a good environment," Camille Schwed, manager of the raceway said of the indoor driving arena. "It's fun. It's a fun place to be."

For three years the indoor track has been testing the cruising capabilities of racers from all across Utah. It is owned by Jeff Hall, who is in the process of helping others build a larger track in New York.

Hall built the Utah raceway with a state-of-the-art track that is 1,200 feet long and 20 feet wide and is lined with a tire barrier.

Schwed said most people who come to the raceway say it compares pretty well with others.

"Most of them say that ours is pretty much one of the top picks," she said. "The only problem that they usually have with the other tracks is that their karts break down a lot. We keep really good maintenance on our karts so they don't break down."

The raceway has 15 Sodi karts, European racing karts that are built to perform and equipped with Honda racing motors.

When racing, the karts average 22 mph and top out at 35 mph. But Schwed said it feels like they are going much faster.

"Because you're so close to the ground it seems like you are going so fast. . . . It's kind of like when you are in a truck you don't seem like you are going very fast, but when you are in a small little sports car (it feels like) you're quick," she said.

The raceway recently bought a smaller children's kart, and Schwed said a lot of younger riders have been coming to race. She said employees usually only let friends and family ride on the track with the younger drivers.

"We don't want to have some big old guy come in there and run them off the track," Schwed said.

Speed Street doesn't have any age restrictions, but to jump in the driver's seat of the smaller kart riders must be 48 inches tall, and to drive an adult kart they must be 54 inches tall.