Fast, fun and competitive: K1 Speed indoor go-kart track to open in North Myrtle Beach
A decommissioned NASCAR race car at the front entrance will set the tone for customers at the new K1 Speed indoor go-kart track that will soon be opening in North Myrtle Beach.
It will be fun, but it will also be competitive racing.
K1 is being built in a former Bi-Lo grocery store on Main Street, and franchise owner AJ Nardslico hopes to open in mid- to late-February.
The top-end speed of each electric kart can be adjusted, and the NMB track will allow speeds up to about 30 mph. Beginners will start slower and experienced racers will have faster karts.
“I work out and I race and I get off these things and my shoulders are sore, my arms are sore, I’m sweating,” Nardslico said. “It’s an adrenaline rush. It’s a lot of fun. I think a lot of people who are going to come here for the first time and haven’t been to a K1 or anything like that, they’re going to get in these things and be like, ‘Whoa, I was not expecting that.’ ”
Each race will be about $23 and packages and periodic specials will be offered.
The track and offerings
The concrete track is nearly 800 feet, which is more than one-eighth of a mile and has been bead-blasted to provide grit for traction.
The track, which is lined with safety barriers that are supported by springs, will be flat this year. “If we do well after our first year the goal is to add some elevation changes, which will extend the track length,” Nardslico said.
K1 will include a cafe that is being operated by the owners of Cafe Gelato, who happen to be Nardslico’s uncle and father, Al. Cafe Gelato has a Myrtle Beach location at 7901 North Kings Highway.
K1 will offer simple track food such as burgers, hot dogs, nachos and wings. “We’ll keep it simple. You don’t need to overcomplicate food. We’re here for racing,” Nardslico said.
The business will include a small bar serving beer and wine, an arcade featuring a mixture of old-school and new-school games, a billiards table, and a couple party rooms for larger groups. The entire business can also be rented for outings.
Up to 14 people can race at a time. Drivers will congregate before every race in a meeting room, where they will be assigned a locker, choose their helmet and watch a safety video.
Competitive racing at K1
Nardslico got the idea to bring an indoor go-kart track to the Grand Strand in 2019, when he and friends attended Victory Lane Indoor Karting in Charlotte as part of his birthday celebration.
“It was my first time there and on our way back we’re all kind of like, ‘Man, Myrtle Beach really needs one of these,’ ” Nardslico said. “We know Myrtle Beach has the outdoor go-karting, but the indoor is faster and it’s really more race-oriented than a family-fun kind of thing.”
Nardslico, a Syracuse native and recent owner of the GigaTECH smart home technology automation and integration business in Myrtle Beach, has been racing competitively for 13 years, in both drag racing and drifting. He was drifting at Myrtle Beach Speedway prior to the track’s closing in 2020, and he’s rebuilding his car for racing in 2022.
“They sounded like they knew what they were doing when it came to racing and that was my goal from the beginning,” Nardslico said. “. . . They got rid of Myrtle Beach Speedway, and that’s kind of sad for me, but I think this place is going to bring that culture back.”
K1 will have race leagues and will host car shows in its large parking lot. Unlike outdoor tracks, K1 will be open year-round and on rainy days. “It rains like 100 days out of the year here, or more,” Nardslico said.
Nardslico signed a franchise agreement with K1 in February 2020, just prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which pushed back his construction plans.
K1Speed opened its first location in 2003 and now has more than 50 locations worldwide. North Myrtle Beach will be the second K1 location in South Carolina. One opened in Bluffton in September. The only one in North Carolina is outside Charlotte in Concord.
“With what we’re going to be doing here we can kind of give people the tools and the know-how to become a good racer,” Nardslico said. “That’s the culture I want to put out there. I definitely want people to come enjoy themselves but I really want people to kind of challenge themselves to see how well they can do. Everything is fun nowadays but not a lot of things are challenging, and I think if someone wants to come in here and take this stuff serious and get competitive with it, there’s some really cool stuff we’ll be able to do with those people with race leagues and things like that.”
