Laguna seca

[bmcuscgr94]

Here's a link to a local paper that's got a response form the track folks on the lawsuit. It's on page 8.
http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/240119PC.pdf

[wilnj]

Originally Posted by dw1

Here's a good article on locals suing Laguna Seca for... being a race track: https://www.thedrive.com/news/a-public-nuisance-laguna-secas-neighbors-sue-track-want-it-shut-down

While I hope things work out for LS, I am pessimistic. The moneyed NIMBYs always seem to get their way, unfortunately.

Here in the northeast there are many examples, including such storied tracks as Bridgehampton, Nazareth Speedway, and Flemington Speedway. More recently, Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ ceased all drag racing (although they still have a kart track and motocross).

Surprisingly, Island Dragway (also in NJ) closed but later reopened. So perhaps there is some glimmer of hope.

Btw, the "Rrrrrraceway Park!" radio spots were so common we did a satirical one for my college radio station (ah, so many years ago....). To get the intro right I had a friend (and fellow member of the radio station staff) talk slowly, recording it on a reel-to-reel, until it sounded "right" when I raised the playback speed. Yes, this was before digital audio.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

[tcora]

Originally Posted by dw1

Here's a good article on locals suing Laguna Seca for... being a race track: https://www.thedrive.com/news/a-public-nuisance-laguna-secas-neighbors-sue-track-want-it-shut-down

While I hope things work out for LS, I am pessimistic. The moneyed NIMBYs always seem to get their way, unfortunately.

Here in the northeast there are many examples, including such storied tracks as Bridgehampton, Nazareth Speedway, and Flemington Speedway. More recently, Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ ceased all drag racing (although they still have a kart track and motocross).

Surprisingly, Island Dragway (also in NJ) closed but later reopened. So perhaps there is some glimmer of hope.

Island's closing and re-opening was all about the financials of the owners, not about noise. We've been listening to the cars run there since moving to the area in 1989 - It's A Good Thing.

[red 928]

I just bought a house across the street from a sewage treatment plant.
This morning, I noticed a distinct smell coming from the plant.
That's just not right and I'm getting a lawyer.
Anyone else want in?
There's lots of money to be made, deep pockets!


^^^ sums up what is wrong with America.

[herr_oberst]

I like Steve, and I've followed him for years. He feels the same way we do, and all of the comments that I read were also "pro track".

[Rtrorkt]

Been flagging with SCCA there for some time. Seems this issue has been hanging around for quite a while. The sound max for normal SCCA events is 98db I think, though it could be lower. There is a sound booth between 5 and 6 on driver’s right that measures sound and reports immediately to control. If a car is exceeding sound limits, meatball flag is given at 7 as they go up the hill toward the corkscrew. If they do not come in, another black at start. If they continue to ignore the flags they are done for the weekend.

Pro races have no sound maximums. I thought there was an agreement fo 5 majors per year. Pre-historics, historics, IMSA, Indy and the bikes.

[bmcuscgr94]

Looks like the lawsuit has been settled:

https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/coalition-of-residents-settles-with-county-over-laguna-seca-contract-agrees-to-drop-lawsuit/article_56d9e040-e894-11ee-82e6-d74647c4bcee.html

[Noah930]

Phew. Just in time for the Targa California!

[smadsen]

The County has an economic interest in having the racetrack be financially successful. If that were not the case, and the track was privately owned, it would have been plowed under long ago.

[Bill Douglas]

It's quite rural. And close to SF. What a great location.

Shame they can't just tell the whingers to just F off.

[WPOZZZ]

Interesting case. We haven't had a racetrack on Oahu in almost 20 years. Our Mayor wants to get Fed land and turn that over to a group to build a racetrack. If Laguna Seca had noise lawsuits from neighbors and many things are grandfathered, Oahu has an uphill battle. New track in an industrial/commercial/residential area.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by smadsen

The County has an economic interest in having the racetrack be financially successful. If that were not the case, and the track was privately owned, it would have been plowed under long ago.

Why do you say that? Gone because of neighbors? Not making enough money? Why would it be razed? If Buttonwillow is viable I don't see why LS would have any financial problems.

I'm not being an azz, I really don't know.

[smadsen]

Zeke, I was intimately involved in the Buttonwillow project from it's beginning in the late 80's, to opening day in 1995. A friend & I wrote the private placement (and placed it) for $1.5 million. The track cost about $2.3 million to build. The 360 acre site cost $90,000. That wouldn't have bought you one acre in Santa Clarita back then.

Anyway the track was owned by Cal Club Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of the California Sports Car Club. I managed the track for the first six-months after we opened.

The site was less than ideal, terrible dirt compaction and 140 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The over-riding advantage was there were no neighbors, and the dirt was cheap. The County was difficult to deal with and it took several years and thousands of dollars the gain a Conditional Use Permit (albeit with 56 conditions of approval).

The track has survived and prospered because of a conservative construction and operating budget
and it's remoteness. Those qualities eluded every permanent so. Cal racetrack since the 1920's including Gilmore, Ascot, Irwindale, Ontario, Paramount Ranch, countless drag strips, and even Cal Speedway, which opened the same year as Buttonwillow.

Anyway, the one thing that separates Laguna Seca from all the other failed race tracks is the County, so far, sees economic value in the track. If Riverside County had the same vision in 1980, Riverside Raceway would be a County park (like a golf course), run by a concessionaire for the benefit of the public.

Anyway, I could write a book on the subject. I hope this explains a bit about my comments above.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by smadsen

snip..

Anyway, the one thing that separates Laguna Seca from all the other failed race tracks is the County, so far, sees economic value in the track. If Riverside County had the same vision in 1980, Riverside Raceway would be a County park (like a golf course), run by a concessionaire for the benefit of the public.

Anyway, I could write a book on the subject. I hope this explains a bit about my comments above.

and the corkscrew!

[Zeke]

Thanks for the explanation. Another thing LS has going going for it is the facility itself. Buttonwillow is kinda raw and does the job like Willow Springs. LS is a world class destination.

Speaking of distance. I don't find LS to be very close to major urban population. That's major, like the Bay area and L.A. It's a hour and a half from San Jose. 5 hours from L.A.

Buttonwillow is 2 hours from L.A. Cal Speedway (Fontana/Auto Club) was a bit far for the not easily tempted fan. I've never been to Perris for the same reason. And I would like to see some sprint cars.

I don't understand Irwindale. Must have been management or something.

[Noah930]

While Laguna Seca might be an hour-and-a-half from the metro Bay Area, Laguna Seca also has Monterey going for it. Monterey and neighboring Carmel are a vacation destination, with hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. for the times (and members of your family) when you're not at the track. That's part of the reason why Porsche hosts Rennsport there every 4 or 5 years. In comparison, there's **nothing** out by Buttonwillow, Willow Springs, or Chuckwalla. Bakersfield, Lancaster, and the Salton Sea are not vacation destinations.

[smadsen]

The fact that there is nothing else to do near Buttonwillow or Thunderhill is precisely why they remain relatively un-threatened by development, and they remain somewhat accessible to us amateur participants of the sport. Laguna remains somewhat available to amateurs but is hideously expensive relative to the more remote facilities. I always thought Holtville was a club racers paradise, located between a dump and an 80 year old Army Air Force training facility, 140 miles east of San Diego. The facility is still there, waiting....

Let me amend that last thought. Riverside was a club racers paradise. That facility hosted a Formula 1 race in 1960 and hosted a SCCA/CalClub race the following weekend. That business model only lasted from 1955 thru 1988.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

and the corkscrew!

The corkscrew is a challenge, and fun. But the track is a dry desolate place. Wen I was there there was nothing at all green.

Great area and the weather is usually cool and very pleasant. I really liked running on that track.

I recently ran at Ozark International raceway. It is a 4 mile lone track, with 1,200 feet of elevation change in a forest and nature preserve. Super pretty place. And just a continuous curve aver curve. It makes the corkscrew seem tame.

[smadsen]

Shoulda seen the corkscrew before it got all cleaned up for the IndyCar guys.

[J-Mac]

Well I think it’s an iconic track in the US. I’ve lived in Ca, Bay Area, for 25 years and have run Laguna 100s of laps in all types of FWD, RWD, 4WD, rear engined, front engined vehicles. I’ve also run the main tracks in the Uk, (Brands Hatch and Knockhill two favs) that are equally challenging and LS stands up to them. JMHO.