Old cartoon show that kinda reminds me of Mario Kart. HELP!

From time to time I remember little things from my childhood which drives me crazy if I can't figure out what it was. I'm looking for a kids cartoon show that I watched when I was a kid, and I'm guessing the time period was between 1990-1995, but I can't be sure.

The premise of the show was basically racing go karts over a new area every episode.

A bunch of different animals (acting like people) each race their own go-kart, and as I remember from the intro, they get to these karts by sliding down poles (like in a firehouse) Each episode was a new race, and I remember a king of sorts that during the race, he would have control over where the different racers were due to this big "chess board" he had in his castle. This board had these little pieces depicting the different racers. If one player bailed out of the race due to a destroyed kart or whatever, the king would tip that players piece over.

If anyone out there knows what the hell I'm talking about, please let me know what show it is.

Thank you!

"Goddamn, you play a mean banjo!"