Interview: F1 Boston
We recently reviewed F1 Boston the gas powered indoor racing track in Braintree, MA giving it a full 5 stars. We sat down with Karen Quast and Jeff Loucks to discuss the ins and outs of racing.
Events INSIDER: What’s your main target audience? Is it for everyone or is it for NASCAR enthusiasts mostly?
Karen Quast: No, it’s for everyone. Anybody that’s got any, you know, any adrenaline junkies or anybody that’s interested in racing.
Events INSIDER: F1 Boston, I hear that you appeal to bachelor parties?
Karen Quast: We do a lot of bachelor parties.
Events INSIDER: Not for kids, though, it’s got real gas powered cars, right?
Karen Quast: Correct, yeah. The carts are too fast for kids. We do have a junior program that we run, but the junior program runs through a school with instructors so we don’t … The carts are too fast to just have open racing available for young kids.
Events INSIDER: There are people who keep statistics, who keep coming back and trying to improve their times, right?
Karen Quast: Always trying to get a little bit faster time your next time here. We have people that have kept their race results every time they’ve been here since day one. Always just trying to shave a second or two off their lap time.
Events INSIDER: Any tips for the racing track?
Karen Quast: Best way to drive is slow into a turn, fast out of a turn. When you’re turning in through the turn, that’s when you want to be on the accelerator because of course, power will carry you through the turn.
Events INSIDER: How far in advance should people schedule? I know you get pretty booked sometimes.
Karen Quast: We do, yeah. We do get pretty booked, especially on weekends. Saturdays, Sundays are very busy. Friday nights are busy but we do have open racing every day. We do have availability so it really depends on the time of day and what day of the week, but you can call a couple of days ahead of time and you can book a time. Event-wise, like if we do groups, you can book ahead. We have events booked for the summer, now. So, you can book way out, but if you’re just coming in to do an arrive and drive with one or two people, you can book a couple of days ahead of time.
Events INSIDER: And a group can spend an entire evening here?
Karen Quast: Yes, we’ve got the restaurant, we’ve got the bar for after driving. We’ve got a great billiards room. It’s a beautiful room.
Karen Quast: We have private lounges and function rooms, conference rooms, and the billiards room, which is a great outing for groups. A lot of the bachelor parties will come in and race and use the billiards room afterwards. On a cold day like this, we’ve got a working fireplace in there. It’s a pretty nice room.
Events INSIDER: What’s your headline statement? What you use to zing people with to get them to come to F1 Boston?
Karen Quast: We make fun happen.
Events INSIDER: Ah. What’s the top speed of the car, or the top safe speed of the car?
Karen Quast: 35, 40 miles per hour. The track is a tight track with tight turns so, you’ll feel it when you get down there.
Events INSIDER: This is a real step up from the usual amusement park type racing, then?
Karen Quast: Yes. Definitely. This is not a place where you can just come in and put the gas pedal down and not lift your foot. It’s definitely a race.
Events INSIDER: I guess the next step up would be the Seekonk Speedway?
Karen Quast: Next step up is our outdoor track in east Bridgewater. Those go even faster.
Karen Quast: We’ve got a great track, it’s a 1.3 mile road course in east Bridgewater. Here, you’re going to be running 35, 40 miles an hour indoors, and at the outdoor track, you’re going to be running 55, you know, 50, 55 miles an hour at the outdoor track.
Events INSIDER: But, outdoors, I’m guess it’s much longer?
Karen Quast: Yeah, much longer and you carry much faster speeds, but the track is wider. It’s a beautiful track, there’s a beautiful fountain in the middle. That’s seasonal, so we run at the outdoor track mid-May through the end of October.
Read my full F1 Boston review and see f1boston.com.