Collecting Tracks: Talk About Yours!
The first racetrack I ever drove on was Mosport’s “Big Track” — not exactly an introduction for the squeamish. I’ve added thirty-seven more road courses, ovals, and dragstrips since then. I’ve listed them after the jump, with a brief note on each. Why not add yours and talk about them?
(If, on the other hand, you just want some track-outline keyrings like my Mid-Ohio and VIR examples above, check out 1552v2 Designs.)
Altamont Raceway Park – 24 Hours of LeMons. Set 2nd fastest lap in Jalopnik’s V8olvo.
Autobahn North – A great beginner’s track but short on high-speed sections.
Autobahn South – Typical Alan Wilson, and the only place I’ve ever been in the passenger seat for a crash.
Autobahn Full – Put the two together and there are a few interesting sections as a result.
Autobahn Karting – I drove this course in a kart and a CLK63.
BeaveRun – My favorite Alan Wilson course.
Chelsea Proving Grounds – Like a giant Nelson Ledges. Very old-school.
Flat Rock Oval – Ran a Ford Tempo here!
Flat Rock Figure-8 – This is where we won the first-ever full-length 24 Hours of LeMons.
Florence Speedway – One Lap of America in a diesel Benz.
GingerMan – Never really rang my bell. Almost perfectly flat.
Grattan – Lot of fun unless it’s your car.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval – A magical place.
Infineon Road Course – One of my favorites. The Mid-Ohio of the West.
Lancaster Speedway – Another short oval.
Mason Dixon Dragway – One Lap Of America
Mid-Ohio Pro – My favorite United States road course.
Mid-Ohio Club – As above, but not as cool.
Mosport – Just one of the best, period.
MSR Houston (clockwise) – Almost flat but with a few interesting sections.
MSR Houston (counterclockwise) – As above, but a little less fun.
National Trails Raceway
Nelson Ledges – My “Home Track” and a real sentimental favorite of mine.
NHIS Road Course – Very interesting, and the road-course portion has great elevation changes.
NJMP Thunderbolt – More fun than the track map suggests.
Nurburgring Nordschleife – Gran Turismo won’t prepare you for it.
Putnam Park – One of my best tracks as a racer.
Road Atlanta – A truly great track with a fantastic finish.
Roebling Road – A little bland, honestly, but fun.
Shannonville Full – Totally flat and mostly slow.
Summit Point Main – A great old-school track, like Nelson Ledges.
Summit Point Shenandoah – Lots of fun but it’s a car-cracker.
Summit Point Jefferson – Very much a mini-Summit Point, without the great elevation change.
VIR Full – I find this track to be very frustrating at times, but visually it’s among the best.
Waterford Hills – As classic as they come, but not a modern track in any sense of the word.
Watkins Glen – To drive here is to feel connected to history.
Road America – I never understood the big deal about this track until I drove it. Very special.
Your turn!
Nelson Ledges was my first track ever (24 Hours of Lemons) and what a track! For better or worse, all things will be compared to that magical weekend.
Last year I drove on a track for the first time… it was the MPG Track Day event held in a make-shift course a the Fontana Speedway. It was fun but nothing too special…
This past August I ran Buttonwillow in my LeMons racer and I am still trying to wipe the smile from my face. When you walk the track it is funny how intimidating some sections look (when they really are not) and how others look fairly tame (and can actually bite you in the ass).
I am heading back to the MPG Track Day event in two weeks and later this year I will drive Thunderhill for LeMons again…
Next year will see more tracks thanks to more LeMons events…
My first time on a road course was at MSR Cresson, TX. I've been back there a couple of times and most recently I did a full day at Eagles Canyon near Decatur, TX (which made MSR seem as tame as my driveway). I like the MSR facility a little better but the track isn't as challenging as ECR. The downside to ECR is it's hard on brakes and tires. I haven't been out to a track day in a while as I just bought a house but I plan to attend some HPDE events after winter.
I haven't been anywhere you haven't been, but here are my thoughts:
Mid-Ohio Pro — My favorite so far. And for such a modernized facility, it's also a beautiful track.
Nurburgring Nordschleife — Unforgettable. You're right. No video game can ever prepare you for the immense scale of it. Beautiful scenery all around, too.
Summit Point Main — My first four-wheels-off experience. A fun course, but insanely unpredictable.
Summit Point Jefferson — Needs more run-off (and more track, for that matter). A novelty, really.
Summit Point Shenandoah — Technical, fun and terrifying all at the same time. 10/10ths here requires balls, plain and simple. A near-miss will send you into the pits with palpitations.
VIRginia International Raceway Full Course — Fast! The climbing esses will scare the crap out of you. It will be a long time before I'm consistently fast at VIR.
VIRginia International Raceway Patriot Course — Evil. I hate this course with all of my being. The camber changes alone will give you hives.
I've done the following:
Tx World Speedway, CCW, as a passenger– I look forward to driving it!
MSR Houston short-course CW (Lemons, twice) — first track experience;
No Problem Raceway (Lemons) — want to go back with a more powerful car;
Nelson Ledges — absolute blast.
MSR Houston full course should happen for me in a week!
Next year I hope to get to TWS and add Eagle's Canyon, and possibly MSR Cresson if time & budget permit.
Love this post, an absolutely impressive list of tracks, including ones I am incredibly jealous of, namely The Ring.
Here are a few off the top of my head (and I’m not smart enough to alphabetize):
Altamont Motorsports Park: 24 Hours of LeMons -set the fastest lap time… just ahead of Jacks!
Sears Point Drag Strip: Won numerous drag races as a high school student (good elevation good e.t. times).
Infineon Raceway Road Course: Won every NASA Performance Touring race I entered in a Nissan SE-R.
Mazda Laguna Seca: Trophied during Redline Time Attack Finale and enjoyed three days in the MX-5 Cup School with Skip Barber.
Buttonwillow: Rumor has it, set an unofficial track record for an SE-R during a test day. During LeMons, lead the first day, most of the second day, then my little brother rolled the car and totalled it on the last lap, “Thanks, Bro!”
Sacramento Drag Strip: Many trophies.
Famoso Drag Strip: No trophies.
Thunderhill: In the rain stuffed the inexpensice left front fender of my Nissan into an expensive right quarter panel of a BMW. Whoops!
Parking Lots and Airfields: Autocrossed at hundreds of them inlcuding the SCCA National Championships in Kansas (coned away a trophy there -long drive home to California thinking about that mistake).
Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Road course, Derek Daily Academy, hot as hell.
Nevada Highway 318: Silver State Classic Open Road Race went over a hundred miles an hour for ninety miles on a public road and picked up rookie of the year honors.
Jim Hall Kart School track: Loved the school learned enormous respect for karters.
Oak Knoll Road in the California Bay Area: Unofficial Krider Racing test track -no trophies, but also no citations.
Started out doing the occasional drag race at Edgewater Dragway
From there it has been all road courses
Cal(now autoclub) Speedway Roval- banking is scary
Mid Ohio- Was my first true road course, all others are judged upon it as such.
Putnam Park- great course, its been tough for me but I'll get it right eventually!
Autobahn South course
NJMP Thunderbolt-meh.
Summit Point Main-excellent
VIR full- WOW, the climbing esses are like crack, I can't wait to go back.
In total since late March 2007 I have spent 35 days on track, met and worked with some superb people, received some excellent instruction from Master JB himself and the Canadian one.
Great memories, the time when I can get back at it can't come soon enough.
Mont Tremblant: Really you couldn't put a race course in a more pristine setting, the track is fun too.
*NHIS (only lapped in the passenger seat as a student): I'm not a fan of ovals with infield/outfield tack ons.
Watkins Glen: My car likes it and I love entering the back straight at 100+mph. A yearly must and a favorite.
NJMP Thunderbolt: Closest thing to a home track I've got and I do like it.
*NJMP Lightning: (3 days scheduled for later this month for first time)
Summit Point Main: Not a fan of the racing surface (crumbly in some areas) otherwise good fun.
Shenandoah: Technical and fun, for my car the equivalent of a straight jacket and a rubber room.
I'm curious…
How many of you live in N. Texas or abouts that would be interested in attending a HPDE at either Eagles Canyon or MSR Cresson? I know the owners of both and have hosted 1/2 day events at MSR for a Dallas based group. I can do groups as small as 10 people for under $200 for a full day event at Eagles Canyon (with instructor ride-along similar to Drivers Edge)or I can do a 1/2 day event at MSR with classroom sessions (ideal for 1st timers) for about $150. The minimum group size for MSR is 20 cars. Some of my last participants at MSR we're fairly experienced and didn't care for the classes and the lead-follow sessions so I reccommend the ECR track day if you're looking for the most open format.
I haven't put an event together in a year since the economy has really put the clamp on people's wallets (including my own) but if there's enough local interest I'd love to start things up again.
interested parties can email me at jcooper.sound@gmail.com
I forgot to post links:
http://www.eaglescanyon.com
http://www.motorsportranch.com
Listed in order driven:
Thunderhill – Having turned 1000+ laps already I'm still looking forward to the next 1K laps.
Infineon Karting Track – a kart track with real elevation changes, fond memories here.
Infineon ALMS – you go up, you go down, smile repeat.
Infineon NASCAR – drove this configuration once, which was enough. ALMS config is way better, TV coverage be damned.
Laguna Seca – the one track that has it all. The sound limit for at the usual track day does put a damper on the fun.
Buttonwillow 13CW – mix of both fast and technical driving required. But track surface and run off areas could use some TLC.
Reno-Fernley – this track is growing on me (especially after they resurfaced), but being 200 miles away means I don't get to visit often enough.
Nurbugring-Nordschleife – while its true no video game can give you the full experience, learning the turns through a game *does* help so don't turn off that PS just yet. required sojourn for any driving enthusiast.
Miller Motorsports Park East – slightly more technical than West, the "attitudes" makes this loop unique and memorable.
Miller Motorsports Park West – this course provides very few visual cues available, and none of the turns have … character. but the MMP facilities are enviable.
Damn. I'm lame.
Pueblo Motorsports Track – Quick track, that is brutal on tires. No surprises except for surface changes at the very last turn.
High Plains Raceway – What a beautiful, fun, fun course that has nice elevation changes.
Question,
If you live thousands of miles a way from a course, do you drive your car there, or do you rent a car?
In no particular order…
Limerock – Fun in a lotus. Not so much in a viper. Short but challenging, always looking for the softest tree.
The Glen – Don’t like the walls. Do like how a Porsche sounds between the walls. Repair costs typically trump bravery.
Poconos – Often dirty and/or wet. Lots of fun in a car you don’t own. Not a huge fan of infield ovals though.
NJMP Thunderbolt – Longer than it looks, more fun than it looks, lots of runoff. Wants for another 500-odd feet of straight.
NJMP Lightning – Love it. Lightbulb manages to be technical on the entrance, and extremely fast on exit. Also lots of runoff, inspires lunacy.
NHIS – Thought it would be boring. Anything but. Worth the drive. This is how you do an in/outfield.
VIR (full) – Extremely fast way to get to the scene of an accident. Love it. Almost worth dealing with Virginia State Police/Gestapo.
Road Atlanta – More, please.
Sebring – Bouncy, dirty, awesome.
Motorsports Ranch (full) – Why can’t they all be like this?
Monticello (half) – Technical, boring.
Monticello (full) – Technical, awesome.