Expensive Thrill: Andretti Indoor Karting & Games was entertaining, but declared war on my wallet

“Woohoo!” yelled a man who sped by me in his go-kart. I just got lapped.

I laid my heavy foot on the gas pedal, propelling myself around a tight corner. The sound of rubber burning against the track filled my ears.

“If everything seems under control, you’re not going fast enough,” the quote on the wall from Mario Andretti, the namesake of the Andretti Indoor Karting & Games in Overland Park that opened on Nov. 18., rang throughout my mind.

I refused to lose, so I went faster.

Soon after, the worker waved the checkered flag. I pulled into the pit. I was ready to see the results.

Number 6, Bob Jones.

Number 7, Sally Smith.

Number 8, Alex Harden.

Number 9, John Clark.

Number eight: me. I came in second to last, and if you’re not last, you’re first. Baby, I was a winner.

I went back to the lockers to retrieve my phone, keys and wallet. But when I grabbed my wallet, I noticed it felt lighter — so I opened it up to see a $25-shaped hole was burned right through the center.

The intense race made me forget about the insane $25 ticket price. My wallet was now missing the presidential presence of Abe Lincoln and Andrew Jackson. I traded them in for a single race that lasted around seven minutes.

Now, let me backtrack to how I left Andretti disappointed and $25 poorer on a Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, 3:00 PM, I walk into Andretti.

Opening the doors, I was greeted by a grand entertainment center. Activities were abundant, and the whole building was bathed in brilliant blue and green LED lights.

The place was alive with people scattered throughout. There were families conversing, arcade machines singing jingles and music blaring from the loudspeakers.

I stepped into the packed line to buy tickets. I decided to do the adult race instead of the intermediate race, since the idea of me racing against adults who take go-karting seriously was very funny. But things weren’t funny once I saw that one adult race was $25 — $5 more than the $20 weekday price.

After waiting in line for maybe five minutes, the cashier rang me up. I went to pay with my card, and its high ticket price caused my card to decline. Thankfully, they take cash.

The cashier told me the earliest race I could join was at 4 p.m., so I took a look around the place.

I was just walking around aimlessly, waiting. I explored the entire building and saw all the separately ticketed attractions, including the arcade, bowling, racing simulator, VR games and the “7D Experience.”

I decided to order some food to pass the time. I chose the buffalo chicken flatbread, which was shockingly good for go-kart food.

At 4 p.m., I walk over to the racetrack, but I’m told to come back at 4:05.

4:05 to around 4:53 p.m.: Workers debrief us with some videos, I put my helmet on, put my stuff in a locker, wait in line for a while and sit down in the go-kart.

And at around 5 p.m., the race ends.

Y’know, I suppose if you need to kill two hours, love waiting in line and not racing much, then I’d recommend Andretti.

Yes, I know, Saturday evening is probably their busiest time of the week, so if you go another day, it’ll hopefully take less time.

But hey, waiting around wasn’t all bad; the place was very nice.

Andretti has successfully catered the world of racing to the Overland Park yuppie.

With their insane pricing and workers clad in black button-up dress shirts, it was clear they didn’t want their customers to feel poor. And they succeeded.

Prior to this, my only experience with go-kart racing was at this dying, dirty, rural side-show attraction. The kind of tourist trap they advertised on pamphlets in hotel lobbies.

But Andretti felt nothing like that. It was clean, lively, modern and classy. The go-karts weren’t old and slow. They were quick, electric, handled well and were fun to drive.

Despite the long wait time, the race was a good time. But don’t expect a traditional, high-stakes toe-to-toe race. It wasn’t based on who finished first; instead, it was who got the fastest lap times within the seven minutes.

If you ask me, “Alex, would you recommend Andretti?” I’m going to say no. It was a load of fun, but to me, the ticket prices were just unacceptable for a single race.

Instead of spending $25 for one race at Andretti, I’d recommend you go somewhere else in the area.

The Rush Funplex in both Shawnee and Kansas City, Missouri, is a good choice. They offer two hours of free play for $25, which includes, you guessed it, go karts.

But Andretti isn’t the most expensive go-karting in the area; if you do the go-karts at K1 Speed in Lee’s Summit, it’s $29.99 for one race! Disgraceful.

Dear Mario Andretti, I had a good time, and your quote that was plastered on the wall gave me hope during my race. But let’s face it, I still lost the race, and my precious $25.