Last week my family and I had the distinct pleasure of being invited to Pole Position Raceway in Jersey City. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this franchise, Pole Position Raceway is America’s #1 chain of indoor kart tracks. It is the largest Go Kart attraction in the United States. It’s karts are battery operated from Italy and release no emissions into the environment. The best part is that both kids and adults over 48 inches tall can race the karts.
Pole Position Raceway in Jersey City, located at 99 Caven Point Road, is truly a family-run business. Karen Davis-Farage and her husband, Eyal Farage licensed the right to bring Pole Position Raceway to the northeast. Along with their three children, they run a business that is focused on customer service and the 3 word motto of Pole Position Raceway which is, “authenticity, exhilaration, and safety.”
We had the pleasure of meeting Karen who discussed with us how the idea for opening the Raceway occurred to her son and her husband upon embarking on a cross-country trip before their son left for college. Karen had recently been laid off from her position at the Hilton Hotel due to the recent economic decline. Her son and husband actually attended a Pole Position Raceway during their trip and quickly decided this would be their next venture.
The Jersey City facility is located just miles from Manhattan, right next to Liberty State Park. It boasts an 80,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility featuring two quarter-mile tracks. Additionally, their indoor karts are not only environmentally friendly but they also have the ability to reach speeds of 45 MPH. Families can also enjoy arcade games and retain space for private parties or corporate events.
As a parent, my major concern was whether this was going to be a safe activity for my son to engage in. I already knew in advance that my six year old would not be able to race because he did not meet the height requirement for the children’s karts. It was definitely impressive to see how many precautions are taken to make sure that all children and adults have a wonderful and safe time during their races.
Before being allowed on the racetrack, all racers are required to watch a safety video which teaches you safety techniques along with what the different signals and flags mean while you are racing. All racers much wear a head sock for hygienic purposes under their helmets. Also, all of the helmets had visors to protect your eyes and racers had to have their visors down the entire time or else be flagged out of the race. The Controllers on the track can start and stop every car for safety reasons and warn racers about infractions by warning them with a flag.
Karen was kind enough to give us a full tour of the entire facility. My husband and I were in awe of all of the memorabilia hanging on the walls from famous NASCAR, Motocross and Grand Prix legends. We also loved that the facility contained a full arcade which kept our six year old content while the rest of us raced. They really have something enjoyable for every member of your family, regardless of their age.
Racers at the Jersey City facility have raced over 450,000 miles which is like driving from New York City to Los Angeles over 160 times! They have hosted over 110,000 racers in one year. My sons were very excited to learn that some of their favorite celebrities and entertainers including Miranda Cosgrove, Mark Sanchez, and 50 Cent have raced in Jersey City.
My family and I definitely recommend that you take your family to enjoy a day at Pole Position Raceway in Jersey City! We really had an amazing time and couldn’t stop smiling, as you can see from all the photos. My nine year old is already planning to have his birthday party there next June and his father and I are just as excited as he is about it.
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So seriously certain that this would be an awesome place to visit with the family!! I like that they have you watch a safety video first too, that has to be a good idea!
We have a place like this just outside of Boston, but my little guy doesn’t reach the height requirement yet, so we haven’t gone…yet.
This looks like so much fun! My husband went to a place like this for a bachelor party and had a blast. I’d love to go one day, too!
There’s one in Chicago that we’ve been meaning to try. It looks like TONS of fun!
That looks like it would be so much fun, I wonder how close it is to our new location – I am a bit out of sorts figuring out where anything is at the moment. My boys would love to go race around the tracks and try (note I said try) to beat me!
Looks like you guys had an amazing time. We’ve never been to a place like this but my boys would go nuts.
I hate to sound like everyone else, but MY boys would love, love love this place. It was nice that you were given a tour too. Looks like you all had a great experience at this raceway.
This looks like a blast. I have two boys that would love this.
Nice place to root for your driver as a spectator 🙂
My son would think he was in heaven … his latest thing is he wants to go see a “real race”. One more thing on the ever growing to-do list. lol
I wish we had places like this closer to Southern Illinois.
Oh my goodness, that place looks so amazing! I would have so much fun! We had a place similar to that in Germany and it was so much fun; we literally spent hours and felt like we had hardly been there at all. I love driving those cars!
This looks like a lot of fun! Too bad we’re not closer so we could go! I’ll put it on my list for if we ever make it up that way.
A birthday party there would be awesome! Looks like so much fun!
Now hubby and son would love this place all about face cars.
Now that looks like such fun, I remember going to see my Dad race in that sort of thing as a child I always wanted to join in x
Looks like a very fun, family-friendly place. I imagine that would be a super fun place for a party.
If I am ever in Jersey City, I am definitely going to take my boys there. My hub would enjoy this for sure.
You pretty much had me at emission-free. That is a big difference from where I’ve seen them before.
My son went to one of these places, it was a blast! He really loved it but only did it once. We can’t seem to get him back there. I think he was upset that others drove better,
I want to have a place like this to go to. The closest thing we have here is craigs cruisers.
That looks like such a fun place! Jersey City is only about an hour from my house, maybe I’ll check it out sometime!
Always taking your kids out on adventures huh? 🙂 I love kart racing myself – I’ve only done it twice but it was loads of fun both times.
For the racecar enthusiast in me, this would be fabulous… I’d love to go.
I’ve always been curious about this-it sounds so exciting! Sadly for me I’m still limited to bump cars in carnivals, but I hope to ride one like this someday!
Looks like a fun place to go! Tire out the kids and the mama!