Mike and Kelley Engstrom started their kart racing business (KAM Karting Supply) the first of 1996 after months of planning. Starting out of their garage and heading to the local race track with a fully equipped parts trailer every weekend, they soon established their first home on Handley Ederville in Ft Worth, Tx.
KAM Karting Supply was entirely Sprint Kart sales and service and our home track was North Texas Kartway where the Engstroms have been members since 1992. Mike served as a Board of Director for over 9 years and Kelley was Newsletter/Communications Chair and Membership Chair for a number of years each.
Soon KAM Karting Supply secured the US Importer Distributorship of the VMT Chassis line out of Italy, and had 8 Kart Dealers throughout the America.
In late 2001, while scouting out locations to purchase for a new shop/store front location the family took a wrong turn on Hwy 51 and ended up driving by our current location. There was a little yard for-sale sign barely visible because of the overgrown grass…..but it was fate – or destiny. Actually it was a total Blessing!
Initially the extra land was going to be used to build a small asphalt track so potential customers could test drive our VMT karts and tuning purposes. At this time, KAM was the North Texas Rotax Max Service Center and we owned a Rotax Max Challenge Series. But the economy turned and there was no longer a market for $4k kart motors and brand new Sprint Kart chassis. That and the bids for building an asphalt kart track were more than the entire property cost. *Another Blessing*
That’s when Mike looked to his first motorsports love – Dirt Racing. He borrowed a blade from a construction site down the street and KAM Kartway was born. We became a QRC Kart dealer in 2002 and started racing at other tracks to meet our niche market. Ron Clark at Texoma Motor Speedway was incredible! Instead of viewing us as the dreaded “competition”, he took us under his wing and mentored us for at least the first couple of years. (Heck, he’s still giving us advice to this day!)
With our experience running a major national series, working races at NTK and 6 years in the kart racing business it didn’t take long to carve out our place on map in the world of Dirt Karting. The economy may have put a dent in asphalt karting but the dirt racers where die hard competitors, and after a year our car count was higher than the average sprint kart race programs.
We had a lot of help building our track and the facilities. Lots of trees to be removed, spectator stands to build, a catch fence to put up and safety barriers to put in place. Special thanks to our pioneering customers who gave a lot to KAM in the beginning: Mike Melton, Phil Cox, Phillip & Garron Brimmer, Mark Sorenson, Wesley Forman, and several who I know I’m forgetting but will add when they email me.
2018 will be KAM Kartway’s 13th Points Season which runs from April to October.
More about “K” “A” “M”:
KAM is the first initial of our three daughter’s names: Kaley, Amber and Megan. All 3 girls had successful racing careers when they were younger with Amber leaving to join the Coast Guard and Megan leaving to get married and start her family. While Megan does help out with races as score keeper from time to time, Kaley is still in the game with a race team and side business as well as being our Flagman on race days. [Kaley Engstrom Racing will feature Kaley in the Open Outlaw class driving the number 61 when the schedule allows, and she runs K&K Race Services offering private one-on-one Driver Coaching, Crew Chief training, Driver Clinics, and Kart Maintenance services. *See Kaley’s website for more information >> Click Here.]
Our middle daughter, Amber, followed in Dad’s footsteps and raced flat karts on asphalt at NTK. She won a KART Triad in 2003 and qualified 3rd out of Texas for the Red Bull Driver Search. [Scott Speed ended up winning that and went on to race NASCAR for Red Bull.] Amber quit after graduating high school and joined the Coast Guard where she is still currently enlisted.
Megan was only one to move up to Sport Mod Class.