- December 13, 2025
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The thrill of being a race car driver is available in north Manatee County for $30.
That’s the price of 10 minutes behind the wheel of a go-kart at T4 Kartplex, an 18-acre racing facility located off US 41 in Palmetto.
Karting is "the best extreme activity that you can do, distilled down into a bite-sized form,” says Jake Mottaz, owner of T4 Kartplex. The karts go up to 45 mph — which he says feels like 90 mph to the driver.
T4 Kartplex isn't only fun, it's a thriving business — with 30 employees doing more than $3 million a year in revenue — where Mottaz has learned valuable lessons in handling growth, knowing when to seize opportunities and when to hold off and more.
In addition to offering a taste of extreme sports to those who want to try karting recreationally, T4 Kartplex operates a racing academy and kart dealership. It also hosts private events and karting competitions. On race weekends, the complex can get up to 1,500 spectators a day.
After changing ownership and rebranding in the last year, the facility has tripled its rental fleet in the last couple of months, added activities for young children and is aiming for expansion in the long-term, Mottaz says.
Mottaz, 31, purchased the track, which had been called Andersen RacePark, from Daniel Andersen, in June 2024. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Mottaz says he had already bought the dealership and racing team from Andersen during the pandemic.
Andersen, who also owns a New Jersey-based construction business called The Andersen Companies, had operated the track since buying the Manatee County property in 2007.
“After running the kart operations for many years,” Andersen says in an email, “I decided that Jake, who used to work for me, had a lot of good ideas and might be better positioned to run things.”
Mottaz first started working as a driver for Andersen’s kart-racing team when he was 18. He later moved up to become team manager.
After buying the track last year, Mottaz says he wanted to change the name — in part to secure a title sponsor.
T4, for which the track is named, is a go-kart model made by Tillotson, an Illinois-based go-kart manufacturer that now sponsors the T4 Kartplex.
“They not only help us out financially...by being our title sponsor,” says Mottaz, who did not disclose financial terms of the sponsorship. “They also help us out with the equipment.”
T4 Kartplex is a distributor of the T4, which launched in 2019 as a cost-effective, high-quality kart. One is about $6,000, Mottaz says.
“We agreed to a sponsorship deal with Jake to help him take over the track...because he was instrumental in helping us bring the T4 Series to the U.S. when he ran the kart shop at the track," Tillotson President Charles Demirjian says in an email. “The T4 Kartplex in Palmetto is the only track we sponsor by name. … We think they’re doing a great job carrying on and expanding the Andersen legacy under our brand.”
The business model for T4 Kartplex is multipronged. There is an “arrive-and-drive” rental component, racing academy, events program and dealership.
The track did about $3.5 million in sales in 2024, according to Mottaz. The company has 30 employees.
“The majority of our revenue comes from the arrive-and-drive rental cars,” Mottaz says.
Rentals are “designed basically to give the public a cheap, quick taste of what racing is like,” Mottaz says. Some do it for entertainment, while others go on to become competitive racers. The average age of customers is mid-20s, Mottaz says.
Rental carts cost the business about $12,000 each, because they are “built to have longevity," offering seatbelts and more protection than racing karts, according to Mottaz.
Those who want to explore competitive racing may head to the pro shop at T4 Kartplex to buy their own T4 and join the track’s racing academy, participating in competitions at the regional, national and potentially international levels.
"The competition level is high" at the Palmetto racetrack, which regularly hosts races, Mottaz says. Under the previous ownership, these would attract about 20 to 30 competitors, he notes. This year, he adds, the smallest race had 95 drivers, with most seeing 120 to 130 competitors. About 60 to 70% are local but others travel, he says.
In addition to rental karts and competitive racing, T4 Kartplex hosts parties and events at the facility. Renting the track for a party can range from $500 to $30,000, Mottaz says. Sometime in early 2026, he notes, an Italian racing promotion company is reserving the facility for a two-day race for $40,000.
There are only six go-kart tracks like T4 Kartplex across Florida that offer competitive go-kart racing, including Orlando, Tallahassee and Homestead, according to Mottaz. He says the Orlando track coordinates race schedules with Palmetto so they don’t have competitions on the same weekends.
T4 Kartplex also provides multiple options for recreational drivers who want to get the feel of competitive racing on the 0.6-mile track.
The facility hosts a biweekly league that is $75 for a full night of racing under the lights.
“So even if you don't have the money to buy a go kart yourself,” Mottaz says, “we still have a racing product where you can feel like a racing driver and be involved in the sport for pretty much as cheap as it can get for something comparable.”
The track also operates a senior league for older adults, including one racer who Mottaz says is in his 90s.
To drive a go-kart, people have to be at least 11 years old. Seeing a need for offerings for families with younger children, T4 Kartplex recently held a soft opening for a new attraction called the Kid's Village. There, children as young as 3 years old can drive around a newly developed small track in electric go-karts.
“The next phase is going to be turning that whole area into a kids' entertainment zone,” Mottaz says.” Eventually there will be multiple activities like bounce houses, bubbles and racing education.
Until a few months ago, T4 Kartplex had just 12 rental karts.
The plan was to “test the model,” “fine-tune the processes” and “scale” the arrive-and-drive program, according to Mottaz, who in the past couple of months expanded the fleet to 36. That was an investment of $330,000.
“We're doing better numbers now than we were in January, which is supposed to be the high point in the year,” Mottaz says in an early September interview.
“We focus heavily on customer experience,” he says, noting the business ensured there was an order of operations before growing the fleet. Customers go through a clear set of steps when they arrive, and they are greeted with music and air-conditioning as well as food and drink options.
Mottaz says he and the T4 Kartplex manager, who comes from the resort business in Orlando, are “constantly” looking at how they can operate at capacity while maintaining quality.
Next, Mottaz says, the business will start looking at whether to put in a second track or expand the current track to meet the demand.
The land housing T4 Kartplex is owned by Andersen, the track's prior owner. In the future, Mottaz says, he hopes to purchase it, noting he has a long-term lease. Andersen paid $2 million for the property in 2007, and its current market value is $3.8 million, according to Manatee County property records.
“We want to buy the land, not only so that we can expand and improve the track, [but] we also want to make improvements to the buildings…to improve the spectator experience,” Mottaz says. He envisions a grandstand or large shaded area for people watching the races. Currently, there is a viewing tower inside along with the pro shop and party rooms.
While capital improvements may be on the distant horizon, Mottaz says: “The track is successful now and on the road to being something substantial.”
