hotchkis23 1,407 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 I was looking through pictures tonight from our past 8 years of racing in the series and it just made me think of all the tracks that we used to race that no longer are on the schedule. I have fond memories racing at Brainerd International Raceway the same weekend that a legit drag racing org. was there that we got to sit and watch from the track side condo we rented. The experience of Hastings getting to ride in "the bus" with George and hang out in the clubhouse on Friday night playing pool and shuffle board with all the teams. Lastly, to Gateway, the race that we had an epic battle with Crank Yankers only to lose a rear end with a few minutes letft, pull off in complete darkness and watch as the grass under the car caught flames...I had the pleasure of being the only person on the team not to suffer from heat stroke and drove close to 50% of all time on track between the sprints and the enduro. Funny story about Gateway, Jon C. showed up for about 5 minutes and told staff the truck thing he was doing was out of the picture and then he peaced out quicker than a snake oil salesman in the old west. Was hoping people might chime in and share some of the fun that has been had at some of the tracks the series no longer attends in hope that maybe we remember the reasons why we had them scheduled to begin with. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBone 656 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Texas World Speedway. It's halfway along to becoming a housing development now. Lots of history there. And we did 2 overnight races there, an 18 and 24 hour. 4th in the 24 was pretty good for us, behind 3 Miata teams. We also ran Texas Motor Speedway back in the day. We raced both the full roval once and just the short infield section once. That race on the infield was our first and only victory. We almost repeated that victory the second day until our throttle cable broke with 2 hours left... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mostmint 722 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 (edited) Michigan International Speedway Raced there in 2014 and 2015. 2014 was the first time we went to such a top notch facility with huge pit stalls, tons of garage space and high banks. In the pits the cars on the front straight were slightly above you. It was amazing. Apparently the roval was not amazing to the teams and we had like 16 cars in 2015. I came across John C there and expressed my concern at the low car counts and he basically said it was not a problem. We haven't been back since. Mid Ohio Raced there on Monday in 2016. Track layout is great, facility is nice though a bit dated. For reasons I don't understand we chose a Monday in late April, as opposed to a Monday in late May or September which would have had better weather probabilities. Even though it was snowing there two weeks before when we practiced we had fantastic weather. We were told we could not get a weekend date there even though other newer series were getting the dates. Roebling Road We never raced at this facility but I recall it being on the schedule in the early ChumpCar days. We did test there one winter and it is a nice facility - though it lacks a bridge to the infield so they literally would have to stop the race to let people in and out which does not seem practical for an endurance race. Honorable mentions: Nelson Ledges was off the schedule 2014-2017 but has returned Charlotte Roval was off the schedule for a year or two (2017 I think) but has returned Edited December 18, 2020 by mostmint 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wvumtnbkr 7,207 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Summit point. Njmp. Mid Ohio (as mentioned above) Pueblo motorsports park I'm sure I'll think of a few others that I raced at and we have stopped going. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chip 1,186 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 +1 for Summit Point Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ETR 84 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 MSR Houston Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Schultz 671 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Too soon to list Indy? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TimS 332 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 6 minutes ago, Schultz said: Too soon to list Indy? COTA? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TiredBirds 1,028 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 2 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said: Summit point. Njmp. Mid Ohio (as mentioned above) Pueblo motorsports park I'm sure I'll think of a few others that I raced at and we have stopped going. NJMP was a big loss for us. Not sure why Champ can't get enough cars there but the other league can pull 100+. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ronh911 778 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Lime Rock NJMP Summit Point 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D Johnson 7,296 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Autobahn. Oh wait....... _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I'm going to fo with Mid-Ohio. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TimS 332 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 I vote for Lime Rock Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigMoneyWasters 476 Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Homestead Miami was a great track but a LONG haul. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MMiskoe 238 Posted December 19, 2020 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 4 hours ago, TimS said: I vote for Lime Rock Limerock is so damn short you just about get dizzy. But in serious talk, I can see where Champ might have trouble there. Small track = fewer entries coupled with being expensive and restrictive on when you can run (no Sundays) and very tight on noise. No way Champcar is running there with the current 'don't ask, don't tell' type approach on Db limits. Pretty sure they are restricted to either 8am or 9am to 5pm, nothing on Sundays. That doesn't fit Champ's typical schedule. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wvumtnbkr 7,207 Posted December 19, 2020 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 We raced lime Rock twice with champcar. One was a Monday only 8 hour. One was a Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Both events were absolutely awesome! 100% would go back! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin9 1,579 Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 Daytona Motorcycle/Car hybrid track the year Kyle Busch broke his leg. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Schultz 671 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 18 hours ago, Justin9 said: Daytona Motorcycle/Car hybrid track the year Kyle Busch broke his leg. Thank the lord! We blew up the big Audi in the first 20 minutes and had to sit for 8 hours inside the track to start the long slog back home. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
turbogrill 484 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 On 12/18/2020 at 8:23 AM, TimS said: COTA? Curious about COTA. The first year had a huge turnout, the second year was very low. This year was COVID. Is it too far? Too hot? Local team having too much of an advantage? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wvumtnbkr 7,207 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Naw, probably the same like Indy. Everybody got their fill the first year. Those that didn't, raced it the next year. Then, it is probably a combination of all of your points above. Rotating yearly between Indy and cota should keep both races well attended in the future. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Max 92 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Portland International Raceway 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Burningham 2,139 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Buttonwillow COTA INDY Thunderhill Sonoma All good tracks, fun to race. The west coast tracks makes sense as much as I hate it but the numbers just didn't come around at this time. COTA is just stupid expensive, they just ask too much for the track although it's one of the nicest facilities. Indy I assume is the same thing but not aware of their cost but it must be a lot. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
turbogrill 484 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 1 hour ago, Burningham said: Buttonwillow COTA INDY Thunderhill Sonoma All good tracks, fun to race. The west coast tracks makes sense as much as I hate it but the numbers just didn't come around at this time. COTA is just stupid expensive, they just ask too much for the track although it's one of the nicest facilities. Indy I assume is the same thing but not aware of their cost but it must be a lot. So you think the cost of the race is an issue for COTA? You think more people would go if it was $1500 instead of $2000? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bill Strong 7,148 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 I know a something! Indy will be back. We wont be going back every year. It's an every few years event. We have an open invitation back. they seem to like you guys! 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Clifford Beisler 309 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 What the deal with Summit Point? I spent a ton of weekends there as a kid. Would love to go race there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wvumtnbkr 7,207 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 6 minutes ago, Clifford Beisler said: What the deal with Summit Point? I spent a ton of weekends there as a kid. Would love to go race there. I believe it has some safety concerns. I know there were a few bad wrecks on Shenandoah and the Jefferson circuit. Not sure about main, but that would be a fun track for sure! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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