Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation

Recorded on December 29th, 2022 as part of the "CalSpeed Last Laps" podcast, Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel sit down with CalSpeed Karting's founder Rob Niles to have a look back on near-20 years it has been in business. Beginning with its origins starting in 2003, and chronicling its rise to be the home of the largest arrive and drive program in the world, and the hub of competition karting in Southern California, this is CalSpeed Karting's story...

Join us for Part 1 of the 'CalSpeed Last Laps' on the Full Caster Podcast!

Recorded on December 29th, 2022 as part of the "CalSpeed Last Laps" podcast, Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel sit down with CalSpeed Karting's founder Rob Niles to have a look back on near-20 years it has been in business. Beginning with its origins starting in 2003, and chronicling its rise to be the home of the largest arrive and drive program in the world, and the hub of competition karting in Southern California, this is CalSpeed Karting's story...

Join us for Part 2 of the 'CalSpeed Last Laps' on the Full Caster Podcast!

Recorded during CalSpeed's send-off event on December 18th, 2022; Mike Smith, Derek Esquibel and several guests share their stories about CalSpeed from the past near-20 years it has been in business...

Join us for Part 4 of the 'CalSpeed Last Laps' on the Full Caster Podcast!

00:00 - Intro
00:20 - Mike Smith & Joe Ponce
13:28 - Mike Smith & Dave Allen
26:11 - Mike Smith, Derek Esquibel, and T.A. La
1:01:31 - Mike Smith with the Niles ladies: Sylvia, Cali, and Lily...

Recorded during CalSpeed's send-off event on December 18th, 2022; Mike Smith, Derek Esquibel and several guests share their stories about CalSpeed from the past near-20 years it has been in business...

Join us for Part 3 of the 'CalSpeed Last Laps' on the Full Caster Podcast!

00:00 - Intro
00:21 - Mike Smith & Sean Buur
11:02 - Mike Smith & Steve Donald
27:28 - Mike Smith, with Steve Donald, and the "Senior Moments" team: Gerry Florez, Hugh Robertson, and David Carlisle
52:39 - Rob Niles, with Steve Donald, and the "Senior Moments" team.

The 50th installment of the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, this is actually the Season Finale for Season 3 of the FCP, getting done on October 4th, 2022. Logan Calvin joins hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel for this episode, and they not only talk about Logan's tenure as the dominant force in sport karting at CalSpeed, but also his rise from indoor karting and into competition  karting. Flat out the name that all other drivers measure against in sport karting, Logan Calvin has proved to not only be a talent in arrive and drive, but a shoe behind the wheel of a competition kart as well.

Join us for Episode 50 of the Full Caster Podcast, Part 1 with Logan Calvin!

The 50th installment of the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, this is actually the Season Finale for Season 3 of the FCP, getting done on October 4th, 2022. Logan Calvin joins hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel for this episode, and they not only talk about Logan's tenure as the dominant force in sport karting at CalSpeed, but also his rise from indoor karting and into competition  karting. Flat out the name that all other drivers measure against in sport karting, Logan Calvin has proved to not only be a talent in arrive and drive, but a shoe behind the wheel of a competition kart as well.

Join us for Episode 50 of the Full Caster Podcast, Part 2 with Logan Calvin!

This installment of the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, was recorded on August 22nd 2022, with hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel interviewing the owner and principal of Forward Direction Motorsports, Greg Welch! many these days know Greg from his FDM team and race shop based out of Colorado, but he has been a part of karting ever since he was a little kid. We chat about his driving career rising through the ranks of Shifter karts, his time working for the family biz at Shockwave karting, and then his transition to owning his own kart shop and team.

Join us for Episode 49 of Full Caster Podcast, Part 1 with Greg Welch!

This installment of the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, was recorded on August 22nd 2022, with hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel interviewing the owner and principal of Forward Direction Motorsports, Greg Welch! many these days know Greg from his FDM team and race shop based out of Colorado, but he has been a part of karting ever since he was a little kid. We chat about his driving career rising through the ranks of Shifter karts, his time working for the family biz at Shockwave karting, and then his transition to owning his own kart shop and team.

Join us for Episode 49 of Full Caster Podcast, Part 2 with Greg Welch!

Recorded on August 1st, episode 48 for the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, sees hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel interview long time sport karter, Sean Fite.  With roots in Sprint Cars watching his dad race as a kid in the late 80's to 90's, Sean actually didn't get his first chance behind a racing car until he did Sprint Car racing schools in his early 20's. Eventually finding indoor karting, and finally outdoor karting with CalSpeed Karting, Fite went from a late start at about 30 years of age, to one of the most successful sport karters at the Fontana, CA facility - including being the only one to win all three of the championships on offer there...

Join us for Episode48 of the Full Caster Podcast with Sean Fite!

This installment of the Full Caster Podcast - A Karting Conversation, was recorded on July 16th 2022, with hosts Mike Smith and Derek Esquibel interviewing someone who is perhaps mostly seen these days behind a camera, Sean Buur.  For episode 47 of the FCP we chat with Sean not only about his current duties as photographer and media lead for the Challenge of the Americas and all the sport karting events at CalSpeed, but also his origins in karting and the founding of one of the most popular karting magazines over the past 30 years, Go Racing magazine. But did you know that Sean used to drive? With more stories than we could possibly fit into a regular episode, listen in for a very entertaining edition of the FCP.

Join us for Episode 47 of Full Caster Podcast, Part 2 with Sean Buur!