Cory M

All of the SoCal tracks are in desert hell holes. I'll take Laguna over them any day of the week. To me the sound restrictions are a bigger issue than any of the track and facilities there.

Looking at that article it appears that they are removing a bunch of facilities with no plan to replace them (paddock classroom, paddock office, campground restroom and shower). Tearing stuff out is easy and cheap, hopefully they don't stop there...

mark kibort

that was my take as well. the sound restrictions are ridiculous . 90% of the cars driving by the track on the public hyway, 2 miles away, make more noise than the heavily restricted 92db POC day!

mark kibort

gezz if only putting some distance to turn markers like all the tracks in the world, around turn 8-9 range, it would good, rather than keeping that turns visual geometry and local secret!



So the top two would be? Sears and Thunderhill? (or maybe cal speedway? someone mentioned BW..) really? I guess we need to qualify what makes a "best track". Personally, i think Laguna is the best, but Sears is the most technical. something about the racing flow at Laguna, makes it very attractive from a racer perspective. visually, thats another story.

Cory M

Maybe it's all part of a plan to stimulate the muffler industry in CA...

Cory M

At Willow Springs I'd be satisfied with a consistent supply of toilet paper and a bathroom with showers that doesn't look like it was built in a prison. Electrical hook-ups for motorhomes would be nice too but I know that's a dream. Willow Springs is the most active facility in CA with multiple tracks being used everyday, yet they don't spend a dime maintaining the place. It's a sh!thole.

mark kibort

hat made me laugh!

ace37

I wonder how horrendously expensive it would be to build a sound reducing wall around the perimeter. A sophisticated acoustic foam would be neat but we put up simple concrete barrier walls (maybe 10 feet tall) beside the freeways here when they run adjacent to residential areas. It doesn't make the freeway go away but it makes it so people don't have to shout at one another in their front yard if they bought a cheap house there. I'd imagine the measured noise reduction in dB is quite significant.

mark kibort

laguna is optimal.. its a huge crater, think like a volcano... and inside is the race track. still the noise escapes and travels across the toward the valleys adjacent to the track. the irony, is that the db level is measured at one station that everyone points their pipes away from. that knocks down 3 db alone , but yet the sound sill exists!

johneecatt

Lotta talk about this last weekend. Word is that Willow is planning to pump significant money into a redo. Including both directions on the big track, and a lot of cleanup and updating. Sure hope so - needed it for a LONG time.

As for Auto Club (Cal Speedway), it's looking REALLY tired!! I did a track walk at the Festival of Speed recently, and you can see a lot of problems - like huge cracks and holes just off the edge, that if you track out a bit too far could break a wheel or flip a car...

400hp944

Willow's idea of improvement is emptying the trash cans once a weekend. Oh wait a minute....they painted some lines in the paddock a couple of months ago. There goes the budget for the next 3 years....

Plavan

Buttonwillow is ready for their big expansion, you see all the asphalt and dirt near Star Mazda. A lone Kangaroo Rat is the only thing from stopping progress.... Damn Tree Huggers and Rats...

As far as Willow Springs pumping money into their track. I call BS. BIG BS.

montoya

Well I've driven all the west coast tracks now and Thill has the best amenities and accommodations on site. It has one of the best circuits as well- surface and course (3 mile). Laguna has a long way to go and let's not even talk about Willows....

Jim Devine

You have been spoiled. All Laguna had in the old days was porta potties & no garages, and Willow had gravel pits. Laguna "pro pits" c1970-
http://www.johnkrill.net/canam/pits-01.htm

http://www.johnkrill.net/canam/pits-02.htm

http://www.johnkrill.net/canam/pits-03.html

Be glad there is somewhere to race- with the environmental crap and the huge expense there probably won't be any new tracks built in Calif, and for the limited use they get , they get the bare minimum maint.

Cory M

Well, two California tracks have been built in the last seven years (Chuckwalla & Thermal), Thunderhill has been expanded, Buttonwillow has expansion in process, so.....

You know 1970 was almost 50 years ago right?

Plavan

They should really redesign Chuckwallas straight..... or I mean quick turns on either side of the straight. SO DUMB whoever designed that.....