After being to K1 multiple times, a front desk receptionist in the front was very kind to us and gave us great service, but this track operator at (9/11 8:45pm) was very sassy and rude when trying to him explain with our kart issues. With a very rude and short temper tone he blamed it on us knowing HE was in control! On top of that he was unaware of the track and sped up and slowed us at the most dangerous parts of the track, causing danger among other racers. Overall, just try to avoid this location and spend money else where. read more

Inexistent customer service. I've initated a refund (via email since that's the only option they offer) for a pass that I will not be using about 3 weeks ago. They claim the refund has been issued but the money is still not in my bank account after 3 weeks. I've emailed back several times to try and find a resolution, but got no reply. Same thing trying to talk to someone on the phone: no one picks up. No wonder they have an F rating on BBB. read more

This is a joke, this place isn't about racing anymore. I've been coming to K1 Speed for years now, but the service has completely fallen off. This is my fourth visit to this location in just two months, and every single time the wait has been over 3 hours. 3 HOURS - for a few short races. That's absurd, especially on a weekend when people are trying to make the most of their free time. What makes it even worse is there is no option to reserve a race time online (for the record this has never been an option). I've already PAID for races that are just sitting there, wasted. At this rate, K1 Speed feels more like a bank than a racetrack. I have $240 worth of racing just sitting in my account... with no interest And honestly, this hurts the staff service too, because it's not fun for them to keep breaking the same bad news to frustrated customers. A proper reservation system would fix this mess and raise the quality of service for everyone read more

Great staff, don't really know what people are on about on here. Every person I interacted with is first to offer tips, help out with wonky karts, or assists when I point something out. I come fairly often, 1-3 times a week for a couple races at a time. Yes they slow you down, but that's because not everyone can deal with yellow flags and some people refuse to let faster racers pass. People complaining about slowdowns 95% of the time get them due to not listening to posted signs and flags. And that is okay! We are all not f1 drivers and that's why we are at K1, to have fun without causing harm to others. My only complaint with this place is the lack of quality on and off the track compared to other K1 locations. To the corporate side, this is one of your most profitable locations and is constantly full (look at the wait times). UPGRADE THE KARTS TO SHIFTERS WITH MONITOR SCREENS!!! Or add a simulator in the off time. This will only bring in better/more people. For being the only track in the bay, you can't complain about an easy layout (stop slamming on your brakes) and a great vibe from the employees. But the future could be so good! read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - POV of inside Kart - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Absolutely fun and hang out spot. They serve food, beer, nachos burgers, and so much arcade choices. It is a really good kid/family spot. The staff really works well with kids and my son loved it!! Very spacious and lots of seating and sofas to hang out on. read more

K1 Speed is open and ready to rumble, folks! So start your engines! I recently visited this Santa Clara location with my boyfriend for his birthday. We arrived shortly after opening and there was already a small line in front of us. However, you would hardly notice that it was beginning to get busy because the team behind the counter was seamless with moving people through the process of registering and getting equipment. You are issued your own "head sleeve" for use with the provided helmets so there's no worry about "contamination," especially since they sanitize the helmets between races. There are two main areas to gather in this location... one side where everyone can watch the racers as they speed down the track, or the other side that has a designated seating area and arcade. Both decent in size and accommodations. As a first time go-kart racer, let me tell you, this track looks nerve wrecking. The ability to speed does too... but I promise you this, after your first few laps, you adjust quickly...and if you are an adrenaline junkie... this will be right up your alley. I had a blast, and I think its super cool that you get a "racing stats" print-out after every race you do so that you can track your improvements by lap or by race. Honestly, I recommend this experience with family and with friends because seeing everyone's competitive nature is truly a riot. read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Fun place. But a 3% surcharge on credit card usage and $8.50 annual membership leave a bad aftertaste. I'll go again but I'll make sure to squeeze every penny's worth. Suckers! read more

This place is the worst. Been here twice and both times they just shrug and say no junior races available.

Obviously, this place needs a new management team. All the recent reviews are terrible! I am going to add to this with my experience. My daughter had her birthday party here. We paid for an optional helmet camera to get some video of her racing since this was her first time. Since this is our first time here, we were not familiar with their procedures. We gave the pit crew the receipt for the helmet camera and they put a camera on my daughter. After the race, she handed back her helmet and no instructions were given. The receipt we have says "After your experience scan your video QR code, or go to www.vt3.io and enter your video code." Since we did not have a QR code, I went to the website and entered in the code I have on my receipt. Nothing worked, and no video. Called and spoke with Juan, the Manager, and he said we needed a QR code to see the video. I explained to him I do not have a QR code and only have this receipt with the code. Apparently, this is not the code I needed. There should have been a separate code that was on the receipt that my daughter gave to the pit crew that was never returned back to her. The employees failed to do their job correctly and we have no video of my daughter's first race. I was informed that there was no way to obtain the video without the QR code. No other concessions, offers, or refunds were made by Juan. I had to call my CC company to dispute the charges. read more

Juan and his team know what they're doing! They provide a great and fast service the past 3 times I've gone. Of course I didn't go at 7pm on a Friday/Saturday (the common k1 rush hour) however there were a moderate amount of people waiting and racing! I had a group of 3 and we were in and out more than satisfied. The team on the track explained directions to our friend that was a new racer at K1 in a thorough and easy to understand manner. Our races were smooth with no big stops, dying karts, or any major disruptions. Can't wait for more experiences to come! They even had the race printouts ready and waiting for us right after our race. read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Lap times for a race - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Came here for a friend's birthday so we were able to make a reservation for booking a large party. Check in was pretty smooth and started somewhat on time. The email said to come 30 mins prior but definitely waited around for a while. Staff went over the rules and got us locked in to race! Our group did 2 races for ~$80 per person. Each race felt longer than I thought it would be. 9 people on the track and it felt a little crowded- good for competition though! I heard from one of my friends their kart was kinda defective but otherwise the karts were pretty user-friendly. At the end, they really messed up the ranking so don't count on that to be accurate. The email with the stats was also bugged out and they told us that this happens once in a while and we were just the unlucky ones... Got to sit in the party room after with our food ready that we ordered before we raced which was pretty nice! They messed up on some of our food but overall it was alright. The food was typical American party food like pizza, wings, chicken tenders, and fries. Mac n cheese bites were not good- very mushy inside. I've heard horrible things about having to do walk-ins so I'd suggest only booking for an event! read more

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They don't do online reservation and when you walk in the wait time for the karts is 2-3 hours... walked right out

This was on a Thursday night Showed up to do the Racing league and spent five hours for 12 minutes of racing. Completely unacceptable.

K1 Speed has a great race track with plenty of room to maneuver while driving. This was my 11 years old daughter's first time racing and she loved it. She had a great time racing with her friends and would definitely come again. The cars are also spacious and easy to drive, which makes it great for kids. Overall, this is a pretty great racing arena and we enjoyed riding around. read more

Fun place in Santa Clara for those who like to race. There's a weekly discount on Tuesdays also. Kids had fun here for mini-birthday party and wasn't too crowded. Not very cheap as a recurring outing, but nice as a special event. read more

We have been bringing our 3 kids here, ages 6, 8, and 11, for a few months now and they love it! The staff is all very considerate and helpful. Special thank you to Juan who is a big help with race times. All 3 of our kids paid for a private lesson with Kevin where they all got to come in before opening, drive the track and get tips on how to get a better line for a faster time. We have also met one of the top racers Gavin, who our kids have come to know and chat with while we are there. He is super nice and friendly with our kids and has given them tips on how to improve their driving. Gavin has even joined them in some races which they really enjoyed. All around great place for some fun carting and friendly staff. We will continue coming! read more

YMMV Some background before I start: I'm a long time track addict, and have been racing for the past 10 years. Am I the fastest? No, but I'm pretty decent and won the SCCA GT2 Championship for the Northwest division in 2024. I also drove at this track a few times over the past few years, so it's not like I do not know this track. I attended a corporate event with coworkers there, we had three sessions. Two practice/qualify to setup best times, and one race. Throughout all sessions, I was flat out on the accelerator (I'd call it gas on a racecar, but these are electric karts). Fastest lap by over 1s in the first session. Second session, other drivers with ZERO track or kart experience are faster by over 1s. Then we hit the race, and it's just comical at this point. I'm flat out without sliding anywhere, and the front two cars are 2s faster per lap. I cannot do ANYTHING. Do I care? Not really. But it's just not a fair race, not even close. Heck, the guys behind me had faster karts, I manage to stay ahead by a sliver and still podium. On this track which takes ~30s to complete (everyone was sub 30s at this point), 2s is MASSIVE. If you extrapolate to larger racetracks like Thunderhill which clock a ~2:00 per lap, that would translate to ~8s per lap. At that point, at similar skill level you're driving a car which is two/three categories below. The person with the fast car will win, period, it has nothing to do with skills. If you want to have fun for a corporate event, go ahead. If you want to learn anything about driving... don't waste your time, it's pure garbage. Attend a track day with one of the many groups we have around here, you will learn WAY more about yourself and your driving skills. This is NOT the place to learn anything. read more

First go kart racing experience. We had a greeeaaaaat time here at K1 Speed Santa Clara! The awarding ceremony after the race was a fun experience too and we got to take home these tires as our trophies, which I think is very cute. DEFINITELY COMING BACK! read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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So much fun. And Jayden was so helpful, polite & professional. I will recommend for our next team building outing.

Went here a couple days ago for a Birthday garhering. The staff was so friendly and helpful. Jayden went above and beyond to make sure my family was safe and had fun! We will definitely be back! read more

This place isn't safe since the staff doesn't manage the race safely even when there's an accident on the track. I came in with a group of 6 and raced with 3 other people who were not part of our group. During the last lap, my friend spun out on the track so I slowed down, felt my cart slowed down, I assumed the staff turned the speed down for all racer since there are 2 carts in the middle of the track. I slowed down, in the middle of the track waiting for the carts in front of me to reverse and move forward, then I got rear ended at full speed by another person who wasn't part of our group. I had a bad whiplash and the back of my helmet hit the seat, my knee hit the steering wheel with that much force from the impact. I was so shock by the amount of force since I thought the staff slowed all the carts down when there was clearly an accident on the track. Before I got there, 2 carts were stopped in the middle of the track, so it's evident that they were there for a little while. After the race was done, I went up to the staff and asked what happened, why didn't the person slow down or why didn't they slow all the carts down, I was met with "I didn't see it, the carts were all slowed down". I went up to the staff 2 times to try to find out what happened, gave them sufficient time in between to find out. Nothing. They didn't bother checking on me either. I was there for 40 min waiting for a response. It wasn't until I found their manager Juan, who finally explain that the person didn't see me and didn't break so he rear ended me full speed. They said they have already cut the power but the momentum cause him to rear end me full on. They said he was issued a warning. I understand there are risks coming to go carting, this isn't my first time either but my first time at this location. But when there are 4 carts stopped in the track, how did the other driver not see? Why wasn't the speed reduced at the second the first person's cart is stopped on the track? My friend who stopped first, said he was there for at least 10sec. I was the 3rd cart that got there and a 4th one after me so the staff had sufficient time to slow everyone down. I really doubt if they actually did. Even if they did, it took them 40 min and me going up to find the staff 3 times before someone explain what happened. Manager said there were 4 staff on the track during the race so why didn't they slow every cart down or notify the driver who came it at full speed? They had enough time to prevent me from getting rear ended. The driver went on to another race immediately after he rear ended me. They only received a warning so this person can come back to race here again. Someone who is either reckless or not paying attention on the track, cannot see 4 carts stopped and not slowing down, will continue to be allowed here. I asked for a refund and I will never come back again. I still don't know how bad my shoulder and neck is just yet but I'm already feeling stiff 3 hours after. Come here if you want to get hurt due to lack of safety measures in place. It's really funny cause they can control the speed of the carts remotely, but didn't bother controlling them when it actually matters. Reading another review saying they don't recommend women for coming here since people just slam into them with no repercussions makes a lot more sense now. I have another group of friends who were initially planning on coming, I will strongly recommend not coming so they don't get injured like I do. read more

None of the carts are equal and all the kids get into an argument. Do not take your kids to this place for a birthday party or any other event. read more

Terrible experience. Continuous and non stop slowing racers down or demanding that you allow people to pass or be slowed down if you don't, even when they are not close. They have an extremely over zealous employee that runs the race that is nonstop slowing people down. Unless you are a beginner or new to go karts, I highly recommend you avoid this business. In addition, when brought to the managers attention, I received a lesson on the rules of safety, even though we race frequently in our own town and do not experience anything like this. The customer is definitely not right at this establishment. I would avoid at all costs, way too expensive for a terrible experience. read more

Huge s/o to Felix for helping us get setup with a drop-in! This was our first time there and he and his teammate Jelaina made us feel so welcomed, They had such a positive and energetic attitude! The Santa Clara K1 track is simply EPIC. 10/10 highly recommend! EJ read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Could've been better First and foremost, it's my first time here at K1. So I'm not comparing it to anything but my experience. Cons : - wait was long even when they gave us an estimate time - other drivers (2-3) DID NOT know how to drive at all... ONE EVEN TRIED TO JUST MAKE ME GO SLOWER? - karts keep getting slower and slower.. Pros : - race your heart out read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

We had a great Birthday party for my son with over 50 guests. The front desk staff and Steven, the Manager that day did an awesome job with the coordination and making sure everything was running smoothly with the party. The restaurant staff did a wonderful job on bringing out the delicious hot food on time. The track crew did an excellent job with making sure all our young junior and adult racers were comfortable in the karts and safe while racing. Finally a big thanks to Juan Sandavol, the General Manager of Santa Clara location for making our birthday party a huge success with the kiddos and parents. They all had a great time and they want to come back to race again! You guys are the best and I highly recommend future customers to come check them out for your next party. read more

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Terrible experience! The timing system lost around half of my laps, which made the results completely inaccurate and ranked me last. The staff didn't offer any compensation or real explanation, just said "You completed full race." If you can't guarantee accurate timing, you shouldn't charge customers full price. Really disappointing and unprofessional. read more

Spent $260 online for two packages for me and my daughter. There is no way to register for a time online. The only way to get in is first come/first serve. Showed up at 2:30 in the afternoon and was told the first available time was 8 PM. If you want to waste your time and money, and disappoint your child, by all means come here. They were super rude about it too. I did receive a fairly prompt refund by emailing the refund account, but that was the single redeeming action. read more

Horrible service. Came on a Sunday so it should've been busy. First time we came they said to come back at 8 pm, which is already pretty late. Then all of a sudden when we came back they rescheduled our races to 10! Right as the place is about to close! Didn't even get to race because of their poor management. read more

Seriously, f*** this place. If you're going to allow patrons to check-in online, make it possible to pay online and get their place in the race queue. Two trips, only to be told there is a four hour waitlist each time. "You need to pay in person to be added to the waitlist," Figure it out... it's 2024....I should be able to pay online, secure my spot on the waitlist, and show up :30 minutes before my race time. This in-person payment BS, while then being asked to return four hours later, is ridiculous... Two thumbs down. Boo... Hiss... read more

This place got pretty grimey over the past years. The cleanliness has definitely gone down hill. It looks like their safety standards have decreased as well. I don't mind since I've been racing before, but there wasn't any orientation or discussion with the group about the rules and flag colors. I need the refs to be more active and perhaps tell the kids in the group to move over or not bump. There weren't any protocols for the helmets either. We put our helmets down on the rack and the group right after grabbed them. I don't expect the carts to be disinfected and wiped down after every race, but the helmets should be sprayed down at the least. There was a can of Lysol there, but it should be sprayed and given time to dry before the next group. read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Literally paid $649.60 for two races with 8 people and a reserved public table when we could've paid for 3 races totaling $67. We were here for a bday and staff was super rude, for damn near $650 they don't even bring out your cake OR light it AND if we didn't say anything about the package we paid for they would've let us walk out without the provided food/drinks. On top of that as you can see the confirmation says I paid for the infineon room mean while they just sat us down at a table in the middle of the seating area. DO NOT RECCOMMEND the raving was not even worth it at that point you're better off finding another go karting place. 0 STARS read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Confirmation containing what we paid for; deposit= $329.60 Remaining Balance=$320 - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

This is my first experience at k1 speed, i came in with really high expectations from what my friends were saying. the asian guy in the front working was pretty nice to us even though we came around later times he still kept up with us and made us feel fine. When we got to the actual race, the tall white guy with blonde hair and bangs or middle part was the track operator during our visit at 9/11/25 around 8:45 pm was pretty rude and acting like he didn't really care that much. When he controlled the power of our karts he would slow down the cart in front of me when I was about to pass him causing me to swerve out the way causing me to almost rear end him multiple times. Causing an unsafe space with the other racers I was riding with. Overall the experience was a 1 star but the guy working the front desk was the only redeeming factor. read more

I have been to k1 speed several times and had loads of fun. The Asian guy in the front that helped us what's extremely nice and was able to accommodate us even though we came around a later time he was able to get us 2 races as soon as possible. But our experience changed when we actually started racing the Caucasian male track operator that worked on 9/11/25 at 8:45 pm was extremely rude when we tried to explain our car problems and basically said it was our fault after the race instead of instructing us kindly during the race. He checked on everyone else's cars when they had problems but for us he simply ignored us and told us "we were on the brake" after the whole race was complete. On top of that, the track operator was extremely unaware of the drivers and would slow down cars and speed them up in tight turns on the track causing me and the other racers to either get rear ended or oversteer. Simply a bad experience with an unqualified track operator that is not only rude, but also creates an unsafe environment for racers just trying to have fun. read more

Girl working the front desk was extremely rude when we were trying to check in. The only reason I'm giving two stars is because we had a good time racing. read more

This location seems to get a lot of negative reviews. Granted I went on a weekday with my 10yr old daughter, we had a great time. The staff did a great job of keeping everyone safe which is the most important part of racing. Most people probably don't pay attention to that aspect of this type of business, but it is crucial when kids with no experience are moving a few hundred pounds of machinery around. I even had the pleasure of a brief conversation with the owner who explained how the racing league works and track layouts. The rest of the staff was extremely helpful and when they weren't it was due to a focus on the safety of others around them. The checkin process is time consuming, but I understand the necessity. read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Safety first! - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Rude staff. Bad pizza. Arcade machines were worn down. Not a good place for a kids birthday party.

Ok. Honestly... we have tried to goto this place 3 times to let our kids race.. the junior races sell out and even during the week, the wait time can be 4 hours. Our son was about to turn 9 and we wanted to have a really fun birthday party for him. So we did the birthday package with them and it was fine. Not great, but ok. The racing aspect was awesome. Kids and adults had a great time. LUCKILY the staff at the venue was really cool. Because.... Let me tell you know about the booking of the party... That's the only reason for 2 stars. I wish I could give more, but the reason for the lack of stars, is below.. Booking the party was by far the worst experience. Whomever "Julie Thompson" is, in their corporate office, was what made the whole experience a nightmare. Incredibly rude and unhelpful. We had inquired for our sons birthday, which was 1/22.. and when she responds with the wrong date, and I said it was actually a different date and what time we were looking for, this was her unprofessional reply: "Sorry, your online inquiry was for 1/5. Unfortunately if you're looking for a weekend junior event we are booking 3-4 weeks in advance. I have nothing on either date around the time you are requesting. Cheers, Julie Thompson | Group Sales Representative | K1Speed" Where in there was her customer service? How about something like, "Oh I'm sorry, we don't have those dates available/times available, but we do have XYZ available. Would one of those work for you?" That's the kind of response she should have given. She is a nightmare. I wonder how much money has she lost the company? BY THE WAY!!!! We had his party on 1/21 at 4:30.... So nothing around those dates?? And you're booking for 3-4 weeks in advance? OK JULIE. Honestly she should be fired. She has definitely cost the company a lot of money, her customer service is a joke, and she is rude. read more

K1 Speed Santa Clara - Go Karts Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Complete disappointment. First off we only got 2 out of the promised 3 sessions. Tuesday is supposed to be buy 2 get 1. Could not get an employee to acknowledge us at the snack bar before or after our race. If it wasn't what my son wanted to do for his birthday, we would have left at this point. Then there's track time..... Employees do not use the flag system they explain to you, help you with your restraints or give you any information on what you are driving. They also have complete control over the kart you are in and think it's funny to throttle you at random times when you've done nothing to warrant this action. When I asked an employee why he didn't just let us race, he only laughed. Our first race had 8 people. Kart overall worked well but, the 4 people not in our group kept hitting us and nobody did anything about it. The second race was just us 4. They made us change karts. Mine had debris on the tires and no power. They kept stopping us when we were nowhere close to each other. They also only gave my son and his friend 11 laps. The race is supposed to be 12 Thanks K1 for creating a disappointing birthday experience. We won't be going back to this location. read more

2.5 stars. Safe and fun racing experience with great on-site staff but unreasonable fees and lack of transparency. Making a reservation over the phone for a party of 12 was fine, although we still ended up having to wait 20-30 minutes in the karts despite having the time slot. During the last race, I also don't think they timed all our laps because we only got times for 3 laps despite doing 12. When I paid a 50% non-refundable deposit over the phone, the representative didn't tell me there was a ~$75 gratuity automatically added. When you pay the rest of the fee in person, there's a 3.25% credit card fee. On a bill of nearly $800, that adds up. Neither the gratuity or card fee were disclosed beforehand. read more