Van

NY Safety Track is near Oneonta off of I88. Right now they just have the first layer of asphalt down (base coat). They still need to do the second layer, curbing, etc. They are planning on running it in either direction.

It's my understanding that the rental fees are not insignificant - right now their pricing is higher than Lime Rock's (mid-season) daily rate.

Geoffrey

I've been on the track and driven it both ways at low speeds. It is a tight track and all the corners are late apex decreasing radius corners. There is one, possibly two places where passing in a car is available using traditional DE style rules. On the outside of two of the high speed corners are retention ponds and it would be a bad day to go off there. As mentioned, the safety barriers are not in place yet and on one section of the track, an off in a corner results in going back on to another section of the track.

The hot pit lane is good for 5-6 cars and there isn't paddock space yet. They will need to complete many of the safety items for it to meet minimum DE insurance standards.

The track is on the top of a large hill and I'm not sure two tow rigs can pass safely on the road leading to the track.

As mentioned, the track rental prices are not insignificant. We will have a much better idea of the track once they complete it, and it may be premature to make any judgement about the track until then, however, a Monticello Motor Club it is not.

Gary R.

I have all winter to think of ways to slam it! Right now, unless those trees are made of marshmallows, there is no way i'd put my car on that track! As I can even find something to whack at NJMP TBolt, NY Safety looks suicidal!

Scootin159

Interesting you say that - I've been trying to get the actual pricing out of the owner, but so far have had no luck. He's told me all sorts of things like "it's very competitive" and "less than what other tracks are charging almost across the board" - but at the same time, he hasn't given me a dollar figure. He's even gone so far as to say "you can understand we can’t just send out scheduled pricing sheets".

With no safety fencing, the only way I was even considering running an event there was to do it autocross style with some cones setup on the longer sections to artificially control speeds, and limit it to single car format. But if the pricing isn't significantly less than other tracks, there's no way that would ever be possible to justify.

Matt Romanowski

Prices that high will put it out of contention. To give an example, we had an event at LRP that was almost sold out in all groups - something like 10-12 spots total were open. At the end of the day, we only made $600 on the 2 day event. If the rental was any higher, we would have lost money on an almost sold out event that we charge ~$250 a person for!

white924s

It looks like the track itself will be interesting to drive, but I saw a lot of the same safety issues others mentioned (ironic considering the track's name...). I wonder why they didn't put the pit on the inside of the front straight - having pit out off the racing line on the front straight would seem to me the most logical place (in terms of traffic visibility/management).

I also wonder how it will be able to compete with other tracks that are more accessible to major metropolitan areas. Among the tracks open to clubs, NJMP is <3 hrs drive from the NYC metro area and even closer to the Philadelphia metro area, Lime Rock is about 2 hrs from NYC and 3 hrs from Boston, and Pocono is only about 2.5 hrs from NYC. All are closer than this track, and most (execpt for Lime Rock) have hotels already built up nearby.

I hope they can find a niche and make a go of it because more variety of tracks in the area is great, but I think they have work to do before they get there.

Professor Helmüt Tester

"One man's dream".

That Greg built this, basically underneath all radars, is a fascinating case study. That there was little input from the "traditional" circuit design cabal is a little strange, but many of the things that need to be addressed are ones that simply take time & money, not radical redesign. Curbing, barriers, regrading of run-off are do-able. Greg now knows who to ask for this info. We'll see what his time-frame is for getting it done.

There was some rancor among the townfolk...and sitting on the line between two different towns has created an interesting dynamic...on one side of the line he's more warmly received than on the other. Lol. Life in rural America. In a very depressed area of NY, NYST is a little ray of light.

Spoke with Greg several times over the summer. Interesting character. Consider this - he's pulled this off to this point. Google "Alan Wilzig" and get an object lesson in how things can go bad (although he's finally got "his thing" done, too).

Lol. Regardless of whether this will be a great track or not...I really like that he just did what he wanted to do.

Geoffrey

I think you need to remember that this track is far from complete and the owner acknowledges this. What, how, and when this is addressed is a different matter and only time will tell. If I recall, the daily pricing (all inclusive) was approximately $2k less than base track rental at Lime Rock for any given timeframe (weekday, weekend, early spring, summer, etc.). Once you add in the flaggers, radios, early open, etc. at Lime Rock, this approaches $4k less.

I'm not saying this track is good or bad, but rather, we need to wait and see what how it looks when it is finished.

Littlebulldogg

Drove the track this weekend and while it is a bit raw, they have plans to put more work into it. It just received another layer this past Monday. Here is a quick vid.

car_slave

Is that the direction they decided on (counterclockwise)? I thought it ran the other way?

DanR

Clearly still a work in progress but there are a few too many trees for my liking

gums

looks like a great track, for a shifter kart

Gary R.

Looks like it could be fun but you couldn't pay me to run there until curbing and all the Safety barriers are in place. That video looks like he almost dropped a wheel off the edge a couple times, would have been bad.

gums

That kid doesn't look like he's paying much attention to his driving, he scares me.

LuigiVampa

At times it doesn't look like it is even two car widths wide.