fire trucks running high speed on Laguna Seca

LiDAR is really good at finding what is geographically there, but hard to see due to trees, example, racetrack

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10241971350479268&set=gm.2251551475342854&idorvanity=1508789132952429

of all the abandoned race tracks that come to mind, F1, Gran Prix, Nascar, drag strips, go carts... the only other one I can think of, and it sure didn't come to mind very quick.... is a snowmobile track!

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10240794270174654&set=gm.1941608033085779&idorvanity=157059191540681

Ai fake news footage video sent to a NBC Chicago ch 5 news station, who ran with it, and broadcast it.... without verifying that it's legit. It seems to be satire made by the racetrack's social media marketing people, who are getting big numbers on Facebook

the video's caption said the power company turned the lights off during the race to intimidate the track owners so they'd pay their bill. 

 “We later found out the power company in the area cut the lights to intimidate the track owners into paying their electric bill on time,” the reporter explained on-air, pulling info from the post’s caption that was written in broken English. “The track then gave each car in the wreck an extra $5 to go toward repair work.”

https://fb.watch/CYcAoD2qhX/

https://www.thedrive.com/news/local-nbc-station-fooled-by-ai-video-of-race-track-power-outage-causing-huge-crash

The state of North Carolina has passed a law to “protect the right to race.” Basically, you can’t move next to a race track and complain about the noise to get it shut down.

Specifically, Article 10 of the NC state legislature’s House Bill 926 is about “Racing Facility and Racetrack Nuisance Immunity.” After defining what a race track is and specifying that this rule applies to “within a three-mile radius of the perimeter of the property or contiguous group of properties where a racing facility is located,”

there are about 40 tracks spread across the 53,819 square-mile state of North Carolina

https://www.thedrive.com/news/north-carolinas-right-to-race-law-will-help-keep-tracks-open

someone had an ambition to sell lots on a race track... but, they didn't put the race track anywhere anyone wanted to be, instead, its 30 miles from paved roads, near Yucca Az.

Osha? Who's she? Never heard of her!

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122167203344525186&set=a.122128087010525186

another of the new development - lavish lifestyle private racetrack with condo/garage right on the track, just opened 10 months ago in Tennessee. I wonder how many of these can be built before they run out of the supply of Porsche people who will move to one?

 

Notice you don't see any Ford or Chevy. No Hellcats, no Hondas.

It looks like a superb smooth track.

right in the center, Rockwood Tennessee

https://www.flatrockmotorclub.com/

here's a car that's raced a lot of tracks, run some rallys, and earned a lot of stickers.

In a major win for small racing venues across the state, Iowa lawmakers agreed to protect them from new neighbors looking to take legal action over nuisance complaints.

Iowa House Bill 645 takes effect on July 1, 2025. 

The new legislation protects motorsport venues from legal action over noise and nuisance claims, so long as they were established before the neighbor either built or purchased the nearby property.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/iowa-passes-bill-protecting-racetracks-from-cranky-karens

here's the 1st time I've seen a Chuckwalla door sticker on a car on the street

So, most of you don't know what Chuckwalla is, it's a race track on the California/Arizona border, just East of the Salton Sea

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway was built in 2010 and is considered by many to be Southern California's Premier road course. Situated on over 1,000 acres, the 17 turn, 2.68 mile track was designed to run both clockwise and counterclockwise, and to provide the safest possible motorsports experience for everyone from beginners to experienced racers.

Located East of Palm Springs, off the I-10 near Joshua Tree National Park, the track is ~3.5 hours from LA, San Diego, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

https://chuckwalla.com/

Singer Vehicle Design is listed as co-owner of Willow Springs. Makes sense, a lot of Porsche club members are probably going to be spending time at that track

 https://www.thedrive.com/news/sold-singer-yes-that-one-will-run-private-club-at-renovated-willow-springs-raceway

Palm Beach International Raceway, formerly known as Moroso Motorsports Park, is up for sale

https://www.thedrive.com/news/palm-beach-international-raceway-is-for-sale-and-they-want-you-to-make-an-offer

Cincinnati Motor Speedway under construction in 1916. The 2.0 mile wood oval was in operation from 1916 to 1919.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10234676271705475&set=gm.1616601242568580&idorvanity=729773494584697

do you want to trade a fortune for a remarkable So Cal racetrack? Willow Springs is hitting the auction block after 62 years under the care of Bill Huth and his family

Opened in 1953 with design help from Miles, Willow Springs met the need for a fast racecourse as the southern California automotive scene exploded in the postwar era. After experiments with a few NASCAR races failed to turn it into a pro track, it was purchased by Bill Huth in 1962, whose son told MotorTrend in 2015 that he only bought it because he wanted to turn Big Willow's front straight into a drag strip.

It turned out to be too short, thankfully, so the road course survived. Over the decades, Huth added the other tracks and expanded Willow Springs into its present form, always careful to keep its original character. Huth was still calling the shots when he passed away in 2015 at the age of 91, but since then his family continued to operate the track as he did until apparently deciding to sell this year.

It's probably going to get bought by some asset investment firm who will utterly screw up and try to sell it piecemeal to condo companies who think they can find people who want to live track side in the desert (unlike the ones that actually succeed in the east with hills, trees, and nearby cities) 

This would be perfect for a company in the autocrossing business like Speedtech, Lingenfelter, USCA, SCCA, etc

https://www.thedrive.com/news/iconic-willow-springs-international-raceway-is-for-sale

the greedy real estate types who wanted to shut down Laguna Seca lost their case, and Laguna Seca, racing cars since the track was laid out in 1957 on Fort Ord property provided by the U.S. Army, will continue racing

 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

a section of the abandoned Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, is now (in 1958) backyards and kids used the macadam of the road to create a basketball court.

Oct. 15, 1958.  This section of the road was south of Tranverse Road, between Pell Terrace and Russell Roads in Garden City.

https://projects.newsday.com/feature-grid/long-island/vintage-newsday/#vanderbilt-motor-parkway

The pits at the Indy 500 in 1913

 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=698334215644756&set=a.217147193763463

The Canadian F1 race in Montreal is held on a track in the middle of the St Lawrence River on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. I wonder if there are other car racing tracks on river islands

According to the CBC, the event's economic impact on the gross domestic product (GDP) is $63 million (CDN). 

Interest in the race exploded after the NetFlix documentary series "Drive To Survive" provided a behind-the-scenes insight into F1's personalities and rivalries -- with people locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic binge watching the episodes.

Tickets for Sunday's race on resale sites were not for the faint hearted, with general admission going for over $500 while VIP suites topped $10,000. 

Hotels were also cashing in with rooms averaging more than $500 a night while AirBnB were asking from $1,000 to $4,000 a day for a downtown condo.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10225077075966876&set=a.1339413198215

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/sports-games/2079066-motor-racing-montreal-the-winner-as-formula-one-makes-return

I wonder if anyone ever designed a race track based on the maximum speed the race cars could achieve through the curves

 so, no brakes needed, or required, just accelerator pedal to the floor, all the way around the track. 

I bet that would be amazing... no slowing down for curves, no hairpins, just full throttle all the time. 

Big banked curves, bridges over other pieces of the track to max out long curves, etc