Go-Kart racing or “Karting” is growing increasingly popular across the United States, with more and more racing events dotting the map from coast-to-coast. But if you’ve got images in your head of rickety, shaky Go-Karts bumping through a cobbled together track on some back lot somewhere, you’re in for a big surprise.

Karting is a serious endeavor, and counts Danica Patrick, Juan Pablo Montoya, and a host of other top-tier race drivers among its alumni roster. In fact, Karting is essentially a feeder system for a lot of professional motorsports organizations. (But plenty of drivers simply race recreationally too.)

To get the inside scoop on Karting, we sat down with Kevin Williams, President of the World Karting Association—the premier organization for Go-Kart racing.