By Jason C. Mattox

When the 2008 O’Reilly Indoor Kart Championship roars into its new home at the Batesville Civic Center Friday night, those in attendance might be hard pressed to find rooms for the duration of the event.

The Indoor Kart Championship is the largest go kart race in the county and could feature as many as 1,000 entrants during the November 28-29 event.

The shortage of rooms can be partially contributed to the Ole Miss-Mississippi State football game in Oxford Saturday, but area hotels are reporting few, if any vacancies.

The Hampton Inn, a hotel with 66 rooms, has only three available Friday night, but added they would have several rooms available for Saturday night.

The new Holiday Inn, Days Inn and Comfort Inn are reportedly near capacity for both nights. Of 181 available rooms at the three hotels, only 28 rooms are available over the two-day span. Days Inn is reporting 13 vacancies for Saturday night.

Tickets for the Kart Championship are currently on sale at O’Reilly stores in the area and will only be available at the Batesville Civic Center the days of the event.

With the civic center configured for this type of spectator-driven event, BCC director Roy Hyde said the facility will be able to seat 3,022 fans.

O’Reilly Auto Parts was unable to give a number of advance tickets sold but added they were happy with the turnout so far.

“We’ve been getting calls from all over the country about people wanting to come in and watch this event,” Bill Reed, wholesaler for O’Reilly, said. “We are happy with the advanced sales, but we know this is the kind of event that most people will buy tickets for at the door.”

By purchasing advance tickets, a person can save $5 off the regular price of $20 for single day and $35 for the weekend.

The Batesville Civic Center will be open from 1-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday to handle ticket sales at the facility.