Overdrive Raceway — Attraction in Colorado Springs

Valentine's date night soured by some unruly guests

My wife and I went to Overdrive Raceway on Saturday night for our Valentine's date. We have two small children at home with no family nearby (military problems), so date nights are very difficult to come by. We decided to try something new and check out overdrive raceway for our date. The recent reviews had me a little nervous about what to expect from the employees but we had no issues with the employees we interacted with. To start, the girls who checked us in for our race were very helpful and explained everything about the rates and experience. There were no questions that went unanswered and they were quick to help us when we arrived. As to be expected, we were quoted about 45 minutes until our race time, so we went upstairs to the bar area to have a drink before our race. Soon after we sat down at the bar, the bartender greeted us and got us our drinks fast! Eric and Trinity were fantastic the whole time as our bartenders. Unfortunately, however, there was a table of unruly patrons sitting near the bar who had recently been cut off from drinking due to their large intake of alcohol before we arrived. Several gentlemen from the group proceeded to come to the bar, threatening and yelling at the bartenders for cutting them off. This would have been fine at a distance but these men came up into our space and were yelling directly next to my wife making for an extremely uncomfortable situation both physically and socially. They spent 10/15 minutes invading our space and causing for a very uncomfortable situation until they finally left the area. The bartenders were professional and firm the whole time with this group and rightfully so continued to deny them any more drinks or racing (I personally wouldn't have wanted to be on the track with them). Our race didn't start until more than an hour after we arrived, but with the situation at the bar the extra time was needed since the first part of our visit was soured, but had that not happened we may have been more frustrated with the longer-than-quoted wait time. The bartenders did apologize for the incident, and we recognized it wasn't their fault. Just unfortunate the crowd at the bar ruined our first date night in months due to their immaturity and lack of self-control. The bartenders mentioned an upcoming change to policy limiting the amount of drinks that can be consumed while in the bar, and having seen the need for this policy change first-hand, I recommend this policy get implemented sooner rather than later. It's a rather expensive date night to be ruined by something that should be easily managed if done responsibly. Our race was super fun, and I'd like to go back, but will likely avoid the bar area unless policy is adjusted to meet the need. Service was great, and the employees were all very helpful. Just deducting 1 star for the unruly guests that...

I hadn't been go-karting in roughly 10 years at the time of this review until my wife and I, and her family stopped in to drive. I will start with the good things about my experience.

The whole facility was very tidy, bright and themed to Overdrive's colors, which was nice. They have a bunch of iPads where you sign up, enter your racer name and accept the waiver. You really felt like you were at a little raceway, with the gates opening to the rider prep area where you put on your helmet. The anticipation and pump up for the race was great! The instructional video was helpful too and I appreciated it, as I was a bit nervous since it's been a long time. The cars themselves were fast and fun (vibrated a lot though) and the Pepsi Track was super great for drifting. Everything really went totally great up until we started racing.

My issue with this place wasn't the facility or karts, but the staff members. I came with my wife, her nephew and uncle. Her uncle is special needs and had a hard time with all the little things, like tightening the helmet, putting on his seatbelt and yes, even driving. However, when we went the whole place was fairly empty, so I don't understand why the staff couldn't take a bit of extra time with him. The staff members yelled at him a couple times for running into people (the other racers were the ones trying to cut him off and get around him, as he was driving relatively slow, causing minor accidents in each of the 3 races we did). If these people are going to yell at you in front of a group of people, they need to be more professional about it. ALL the race track attendants I met in this place were just pretty blunt and unhelpful, except the front desk girl, she was nice and helpful. I understand that special needs people can be frustrating, but it was still handled poorly. The prices seemed high for both the races and all the food/drink, but I don't really have anything to compare to. $20 for approximately 5 minutes of racing if you drive average speeds. We got the 3 pack, so 3 races for the price of 2 ($40). Their membership packages seem like a much better deal though. Slow racers cause issues that slow down the whole race, making it feel very short lived for a decent chunk of change.

This place overall has a great track, facility and well maintained karts, but the employees really put me off. I felt they were unfairly pointing my family and I out against all the other racers and handling accidents on the track without discretion of who actually is causing the issues. Accidents happen, but it's how you handle them that counts.

I don't think I'd come back except maybe by myself where I don't have to worry about giving my family a...

Forewarning, this will be a long review but will be worth the read as this will be a testament to the care and professionalism of the staff.

This was my first time at Overdrive Raceway along with my wife and a friend. The staff was very welcoming and helpful for any questions that you may have. The facilities along with the carts where very clean and taken care of. There was a family friendly atmosphere about Overdrive and it is absolutely amazing that they are able to cater to the physically disabled.

The only issue that we ran into was not at the hands of the staff, but rather a group of drunk morons. There was a situation that occurred and as soon as it was brought up to the staffs attention they took care of it in a very efficient, polite, and safe way. While the three of us where comped a free race we did not ask for this or request a manager just brought an issue to their attention. This situation involved the drunk morons harassing my wife, but it was stopped almost as soon as it started. I special thanks goes to the bartender and blonde male working on 08/09/2018, unfortunately I do not remember their names or the name of the manager but I could not be more pleased with how they handled the situation.

With that being said, this goes to show that if there is an issue the staff is very fast and professional to respond to these incidents and make sure everyone maintains a safe and friendly environment.

My only suggestion is for a policy to be made that if someone is drinking they are required to wait a predetermined amount of time before being allowed to drive the carts. Along with this a drinking wrist band to track how many drinks a person has and is allowed to have to prevent over intoxication. This is a family venue not a downtown bar.

Lastly, I understand this is a 1% encounter and I have no doubt that this will probably never happen again. However a proactive approach to prevent this from happening would be the most beneficial way to continue on after a...