BQuicksilver

There was an older post here regarding courses in the NE only, it was a good read and I wanted to open it up to all the tracks you've seen. Be specific, I'm curious what caused you to vote as such.

Me;
1) VIR South - I really enjoyed the uphill braking and downhill corkscrew. Facilities are great throughout VIR.
2) Putnam - Just plain safe and an attractive little track
3) VIR Full - Beautiful over there and lots of variety
4) Mid-Ohio - Lots of challenge, it really didn't get old at all.
5) VIR North - The infield was fun.
6) Roebling - A bit too repetitive for my tastes.
7) IRP - Apexing at potholes and having VHT mid turn is not cool with walls everywhere. It could be a cool course with some TLC.

Share your thoughts.

John Shiels

Pocono long course.

Two fast straights near 160 and over 160
Tight infield turns with one 180 degree turn
The banking at 125
The tunnel turn which they fixed but I would rather they left the bump
Many wild cars show up for the long course
NASCAR race is this weekend there and I like to watch there speeds
Close to home
Places to stay are easy no crowds

AU N EGL

VIR Full - high speeds and tecnical sections

Road Atlanta - ( need more time there) back straight could be over 160.

VIR - South - Elevation changes, technical yet good speeds.

CMP -

Putnam

VIR - North

Tracks on the "TO DO list"

Road America

Watkins Glen

Sebring

Mid- Ohio

Wicked Weasel

So far Watkins Glen is my favorite.

high speed turns, plenty of elevation changes, off camber turns, 2 nice straights, a chicane that comes up quick at 150 mph, nice garages, clean track, good run off and all the tradition of a 3.4 mile real road track....

Looking to run at VIR and Mid-Ohio so my opinion might change.

DANNOV

Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisc. is tops. It is 4 miles long with 3 straights (or near straights) that are each about 4000 feet long. I can almost hit 130 mph in my Boxster, while faster cars can top 150 mph or more.
It is also a beautiful track with rolling hills and forest land. My avatar pic shows me going into turn 5 just as the road dips down. Speed there is about 120+, at that point you have to get on the brakes hard and go down to 2nd gear to climb a steep hill up to turn 6. I have put a few thousand miles or more on my cars at Road America over the years, and it is always an experience that you never forget.

wtknght1

Too easy:

VIR long is the best road course in America. (It's simply perfect!)
Road Atlanta was the best until they took out "The Dip."
Watkins Glen (dangerous, but fun)
Road America
Sebring - bumpy, flat, but a fast course that's a blast to drive!

TRAIL BOSS

Any track at any given time! They each have their uniqueness to be enjoyed or feared!

UstaB-GS549

Road America - Great track with scary fast top speeds, great food and wonderful atmosphere. Runoff room is reasonable, but given the speeds, cars can and do hit hard objects. No one who is honest is comfortable driving the "kink" at speed.

GingerMan - Technical with small elevation changes, lots of runoff room nice restaurants. Designed by Alan Wilson.

Grattan - Really, really challenging with blind, off camber, banked, and sequential corners, a "ski jump", lots of elevation changes and generous runoff room. The place looks more like a golf course that a Road course. The only downside is that food and gas are not nearby, so you must plan ahead.

Autobahn Country Club - Two courses that are combined once a week for "full track on Mondays". Has a nice flow, as it was designed by the same guy who did GingerMan. South is a little longer than North, but has two annoying Z turns. Infrastructure is not quite complete, but what is there is first class. Gas and food are not real close by, but concession stand is gourmet food by racetrack standards.

Blackhawk Farms - Sooner or later everyone runs here. Flat, swampland and plenty of hard spots that shouldn't be there. My first time there 20 years ago those trees were a lot smaller and I was a lot more naive about hitting one.

Milwaukee Mile - I ran it once and won't be back. Zero run off room. Safer Barriers will save your life perhaps, but they are not car friendly. Great food nearby. It's inside historic State Fair Park

StArrow68

Sears Point / Infineon is great due to the rhythm you can build up going up turn one through 2, 3/3a and then going through 5 into 6 and again out of 7 into 8/8a and 9/10. When it goes right it really feels great and the lap times show that you are getting more out of it.

Buttonwillow is great due to how easy you can switch from CC to CCW and get multiple configs so it is always a challenge, nothing to get bored with on that track.

Laguna Seca, what can I say, really a classic but going to have to run the new set up since they did lots of work to satisfy MotoGP.

Reno-Fernley, since it got expanded to 4 miles makes even Sears Point look fairly flat, the hill is amazing something worth making the trek to check it out.

Thunderhill is fun but doesn't have the variety of the other options but is still a challenge and going to be most available in the future. Nice having so many tracks within 4 hours. Now we in Nor. Calif. can just hope that the new Riverside Motorsports Park get built in the next few years and we will some of the best variety around.
Randy

RogueVette

1. VIR - Full (just plain fun)
2. Road America (Scary as hell in the wet)
3. Laguna Seca (does anything compare to the back half)
4. Mid-Ohio (technical, fast and fun)
5. Nelson Ledges (too bad the filled the pot holes)
6. IRP (fast and flat)
7. Gingerman (Love the elevation, just wish it was another mile longer)
8. BeaveRun (love the elevation and they are making it longer)
9. PIR (FAST)
10. Brainard (Turn 1 makes you a man)

Axelrod

Pocono flat out sucks if you've ever gone to any other track that is over 1.75 miles. Their staff has a holier than thou attitude and it is equally as dangerous to Watkins Glen to inexperienced drivers because the wall is RIGHT THERE. If you're a somewhat experienced driver, this track gets boring after a single 20 minute session. You can see 2 turns ahead in most cases (wide sweeping turns long and north course). And, no elevation changes unless you call being able to ride the Nascar banking an elevation change Booooring.

The Beaver, now that's a great short track. BeaveRun. Major elevation changes and one wicked up over the hill off-camber down hill transition. Fantastic staff, great facilities (major recent upgrades, club house, and garages) For short tracks-- this is a phenomenal technically challenging and high speed track. It's fantastic for spectators to because it's built into a hill/valley. Spectators can see 75% of the race.

Summit Point, similar characteristics to Watkins Glen and VIR, but shorter. Skip shenandoah if you're into speed. I'm talking bout the original circuit.

MistressMotorsports

My two favorites are Mid Ohio and Sears Point. Both have great flow, are technical enough that sheer horsepower can't buy lap times, and have enough going on that you can have fun in any car, no matter the horsepower or class. Next on the list that I've been to are Watkins Glenn and Laguna. I think I would like Laguna even more if the weather wasn't always so iffy and the surface had more grip. I also actually like the Vegas roval. Seems to have good rythm compared to other rovals I've run. I think it might also be because I got lucky there and found a magic gearing combination with the Cobra that left no weak spots or compromises anywhere on the course. Never could say that about anywhere else while using a production transmission. Haven't driven VIR yet, but I hear good things. Don't so much like Willow Springs (no fun unless you have more than 500 hp) or Gingerman (too much point and squirt, little flow except part of the backside - almost reminds me of a street course).

Mike

gkmccready

- Laguna Seca: I just love the track, somewhat for the history, but it's just a fun drive.
- Mosport: I can't believe this track hasn't been mentioned yet. Too much fun, lots of elevation change, only really scary corner was coming back onto the S/F straight due to the wall.
- Sears Point: Just a good time, lots of rythmn, haven't driven it in a high HP car yet, though.
- Mont Tremblant: Another fun, fun track with lots of history, and a few walls...
- Shannonville (Full track): Fast, fun, flat, safe -- perfect for learning, enough elements in the track to keep you entertained.

Z06 Silver Bullet

VIR Full- Still best facilities in country and most fun track with tons of run off room.
Thunderhill- with the cyclone of course. Awesome track , facilties below avg. though.
VIR North- see above and nice change.
Lowes- big oval and best of the infield tracks in my mind.
Roebling- hard on tires and hot but I like savannah nearby and nice cheap basic track.
Buttonwillow- in any of the decent configs. Typical dirt rock runoff moves it out of top 5 but nice track in most parts.

Tracks I know everyone else likes but safety wise, etc.. I don't:
-Road Atlanta- nice but concrete now everywhere.
-CMP- like the track in some parts but hard as hell on brakes and what's up with autocross back section.
-Summit Point- will they ever repair this track and it's facilties.

varkwso

Silverstone - classic track and great fun to run - it is like Sebring - all the greats (about) have been there. Unlikely I will ever run it again

VIR - Full - run it and you will see why!

Road America - again, one of the "great ones"

Roebling - close plus it truly rewards smoothness and car control

vms4evr

(Keep in mind I only have 8 events under my belt so this is more from a noobs perspective on the courses I've driven).

1. VIR Full - I love the Esses (the flat ones and then the climbing ones). Then into South Bend. Roller Coaster is fun too. The facilities are the best I have seen to date. Staying at The Lodge makes the track a stones throw away.

2. Road Atlanta - I've only done it once but I want to do it more. That track just scares the crap out of me and makes me laugh all at the same time. Great elevation changes. Coming into the uphill at T1, then the Esses down and uphill, the massive straight, then the drop off from the bridge to T12. What a rush. Downside is there isn't much run off room. Probably what makes it so scary. Facilities are nice but not up to VIR standards.

3. VIR North - Nice shorter version of VIR. If I can't do Full I'll take this one.

4. Roebling Road - Fun course. Rewards smooth driving and late apexes. Has lots of runoff room. The facilities, if you can call it that, suck.

5. VIR Grand East - Most of Full course with a twist of South and North mixed in. It was fun but I'd rather just do Full.

6. VIR South - Having done Grand East I thought South would be too small. It was not that entertaining in a Vette. Then I did South in a Formula Car with Bertil Roos. It's fun in those cars. Too tight and painful in a Vette.

All in all VIR gets my vote because they have the complete package. A course that can be configured several ways and excellent facilities. With track hotel and restaurant. It's hard to beat. Plus it's only 90 minutes from my house. That doesn't hurt...

Graham

BuckeyeZ06

#1. Watkins Glen: Man, I love the speed of this track.
#2. Mid Ohio: A classic "place to go." Technical, hard to learn. I have been told you need 10 weekends to really "know" it.
#3. Nelson Ledges: again, speed gets my attention, plus it is in my back yard (I know Chris agrees with me on this one )
#5. Beaverun: yes, a short track, but fun.
#6. Summit Point: the place of my first SCCA National race, so it has sentimental value to me.
#7. Lime Rock Park: a classic short track. Tough to get that last 10th of a second.
#8. Pocono: easy to learn, but fast, really fast.

RMilla17

1) Watkins Glen (keeps you on your toes. Makes you a better drive in my opinion
2)VIR Full (great course, lots of runoff)
3)Laguna Seca

many more to list but top 3 for me

Ojustracing

Im another newbie but have been on alot of different tracks over the last 3yrs. thanks One Lap Of America.

Road America: all i can say is wow.
Beave Run: good mix, slightly technical, My first track.
Hartland Park: Boring and I dont like the new Curve they added. It needs better run off at that corner.
Pike's Peak: kinda Boring, but will be missed. My first competion Pass.
Infinieon: Great track, very technical, want to go back to far from home.
Las Vegas: Fast, not that hard, to damm hot when I was there.
Hallet: another track I would like to go back to to. Didnt like Clockwise.
Lime Rock: close to home, fun, great place for me to test.
Mid-America: Too Flat, boring.
Robeling Road: Technical at points, ok track, wont go back
Vir North. Good mix, some tricky spots. Will go back but want full course.

My 2 top choice will be Road America and VIR Full. Havent seen enough of Watkins Glen to say its on my top list yet.

1 track that I hate,, wish it was Bulldozed. Pueblo motorsports I was not feeling to good that day. Dont eat the Breakfast Boritto.

John

no spin

Barber Motorsports Park - A really nicely manicured track. It's not a super fast track but a very challenging course that I think would be hard to grow bored with.

Sebring - This is one place that i would like to spend alot of time at and really learn the track. It is a very fun track.


Looks like VIR full will have to be put on my list of tracks to drive.