Maitland staple LiL500 Go Karts to close after 54 years in business

MAITLAND, Fla. - After 54 years, LiL500 Go Karts is turning onto the final lap. 

"The kids would just love it every year. They just expected it," said Tonya Helms. 

The Maitland staple will be making its final run on Saturday. 

"It just made sense. It’s time," said Randy Kline. 

Randy Kline has been working at and managing Lil500 since he was 12. His parents opened the successful business and ran it until their recent passing.  He says since they’ve been gone, things simply haven’t been the same. 

"There’s nobody in the chain. No one coming up in our families that could fill our gaps, and you can’t just walk into a go-kart track and figure it out," said Kline. 

The announcement brought back out long lines and brought up memories of days long passed. 

"We would come here for birthday parties. After church. I’m surely going to miss it," said Brian Caruso. 

With it came the opportunity to make new ones.

"It was really fun! I didn’t get to have that experience in a while," said Marie Caruso. 

As well as make some new friends  

"It’s a whole bunch of friends and that’s the reason why you’re seeing the outpouring," said Kline. We didn’t just put people in the go-karts."

The karts will be running from noon to nine until Saturday night when the business closes permanently.

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