Between tours, Mike Guido, "The World's Fastest Clown" created the first community based go-kart driving/racing school for the Police Athletic League (PAL). Continuing his efforts to have a positive impact on the youth, Guido designed the course to be a complete prevention and education program. Funded by a grant from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the KART (Kids Advancing through Racing Technology) program has become the number one prevention program in the four county district. The six-week (Tuesday evenings and Sunday afternoons) program is a hands-on educational/vocational course in the racing kart/automotive field. Racing safety and performance driving techniques are taught in the classroom and then applied and practiced on the race track. The students drive/race 7 hp PAL Equalizer Champ Karts that offer the safety of a full cage, 5-point racing harness, and arm restraints. A relay race format is used with mandatory timed pit stops allowing each of the five member team to participate in each race; this format also creates the necessity for team-work and strategies. Each team is responsible for the maintenance of their kart before, during, and after each event. While this course uses go-karts and racing as the tools to educate the youth, all of the lessons and techniques are related directly to safe car control and automotive maintenance for daily street driving. The course is open to area youths ages 11-17, from the beginner that wants to learn, to the area racers that want to learn more. In addition to the go-karting element of the course, students will participate in a community service project to encourage community involvement and ownership. The project could vary from beach cleanups to fundraisers. While the course will keep the students busy for the six weeks, a PAL manager will also meet with the youth and their family to see if one of the other PAL programs could be beneficial to them. Future plans for the KART school is to expand to other PALs throughout the southeastern United States and create a racing series named the PAL Racing Alliance. Guido has created a complete turn-key driving/racing program that can be duplicated for the other PALs. "When it comes to expanding, my goal was to create a complete package that would include everything from the classroom test and handbook to the pylons, helmets, and go-karts that will be, and remain, equal for all of the PALs. The plan to keep all of the karts identical is to make a driver verses driver race, not to see which PAL has the most money for the best equipment. I think we're there!" states Guido. For more information on the KART school, contact Mike Guido at mike@worldsfastestclown.com.