The Woodbridge Kart Club (WKC) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to organize and sanction kart competition activities. Its primary concerns are to provide participants with a safe, well organized racing program with adequate insurance protection and a wholesome family environment for the sport of karting. WKC’s goals are to promote the sport, encourage young people to pursue their mechanical interests, and provide a place for the proper use of racing karts while emphasizing safety, fun, close competition, sportsmanship and fair play.
The history of the club is somewhat vague. There are only a few people who are currently members of the club who were members when the club was first organized. To their best recollection, the club was established in 1960. Records show the club was incorporated in 1969 making it one of the oldest kart clubs in the U.S. According to an article in Summit Point Magazine in the September 1983 issue written by Bob Grenier, in the early ’60s WKC members competed in the Virginia State Championships at Ellerson, Va., and raced at Marlboro Speedway in Maryland. Sometime in late 1960, WKC decided to begin a search for property to facilitate the construction of a home track. In 1961, suitable property was located on Smoketown Road in Woodbridge Va., and was leased from the owner for $500 per year. A dirt track was constructed and racing was held at the track on Sunday afternoons.
Members were able to find racing available on Friday nights at the kart track in Lake Jackson, Va. owned by Scott Winfield and on Saturday nights at the Prince William County (Va.) Fairgrounds. The first asphalt track in the area was constructed in Woodbridge, Va. in late 1961. It was a 1/8-mile oval with banked turns. The flagman for WKC then and until his retirement in 1994 was Arnold Heflin. Arnold is a Life member of WKC and was inducted into the World Karting Association Karting Hall of Fame.
It was in 1965 that many of WKC’s members raced at Virginia International Raceway in Danville for the first time on a road course and WKC’s enduro program was born. During the late ’60s, enduro racing was conducted at Marlboro Speedway. It was in 1970 that the WKC decided to establish Summit Point Raceway located in West Virginia as their home track. The track, owned and operated by Bill Scott, proved to be quite suitable for enduro as well as sprint karting. WKC has been hosting club races as well as national level races at Summit Point from 1970 to the present.
For the past several years, Woodbridge has been the preeminent enduro club in the nation, averaging between 350 and 400 entries for each race weekend. The club and Summit Point are known nationwide for innovation in karting programs, seriousness about racing, and as a nice place to visit.
No one knows for sure what is in store for WKC in this millennium, but one thing is certain, as long as there are people who love the sport of karting as much as do the Woodbridge Kart Club members, there will always be a place to enjoy the best kept secret in motor sports – KARTING!
Click here to read the official WKC By-Laws.
