Where's our tracks?

[Boss San]

Has anybody lobbied their local or state government to get a course put in their local area so racers have somewhere to go?
If so what was the outcome of it?

[7th_skyline]

Where are you?

[1viadrft]

If YOU build it... they will come...

[Boss San]

Washington NW.U.S.

I suppose I could, but I don't think I could fit that much concrete mix in my car.

I just don't see why we can't open up the mall parking lot for a day.

[Layla's Keeper]

Mostly because of insurance/conflicting schedules/noise regulations/crowd control/etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Honestly, if you're serious about drifting in sanctioned events you should go to an existing track and take it up with the owner and the promoter to see if you can work out a deal. You'd be surprised at how willing an area track would be to let you put together an event provided you can come up with sufficient proof of attendance (both fans and drivers) and sufficient sponsorship money.

Good places to approach are road courses, drag strips, and asphalt short tracks. I myself will be sitting down with Mansfield Motorsports Speedway impresario Jerry Smith to see if they would be interested in beginning talks about a drift event on the 1/4mile flat oval/figure eight in the infield of Mansfield (the 1/2mile oval that they hold races on is practically out of the question since it has 38 degree banking on the corners and 15 degree banking on the straights).

It takes time, effort, and above all money, but it can be done.

[gigglesnirt]

i think they should make drift tracks like they have in japan, that are made just for drifting, they dont take up much room either right?

[Layla's Keeper]

If you can answer these questions legitimately, then let's buy up some acres and call up the construction company.

1: Who'll pay for it? And that's not just materials and initial build cost, that's upkeep, staffing, expansion, advertising, promotion, legal fees, taxes, and so on.

2: Who'll race on it? It sounds simple but it really isn't. You can't just build a track and have an open door policy. Same as a weekly short track, you need to organize scheduled racing, invite touring series (of which currently there's only two stateside), and cultivate a strong weekly field.

3: Who'll staff it? Where are you going to find qualified safety workers? What about their equipment? Will they be paid staff or volunteers?

4: Where would you build it? Urban locations are out of the question because of noise and EPA enviromental regulations, and if you plan on a rural location, what'll you do about lodging and accessibilty.

5: Who'll sponsor it? You have to get real these days. "Hardcore" equals "Idiot". "Corporate" equals "Survival". Even the most "hardcore" oval racing series out there, the ISMA supermodifieds, needed Lucas Oils to step up and pay out a championship purse so that there was some justification to keep a 50K chassis with a 15k engine on track for a shot at a race's 5k purse.

6: Who'll come to the races? Seriously, there's a big difference between a glitzy and media-hyped event like the US D1 GP and a local show. Yes D1 can bring in a dozen thousand people to Irwindale, but can the hot shoes around your town (and, admit it, there's not too many of them) bring in even 500 folks? And how much do you think you'll be able to charge them? I'll tell you this, short track fans who get to see a whole night of racing with several divisions and multple heats and features will not pay more than $15 UNLESS there's a touring division on hand.

And trust me, that's going to be your cap, too.

7: What else will there be? If you think people will keep coming in to just see drifting you're kidding yourself. You'll need different divisions, different events (like an autocross competition, or parking lot drags, or a stunt show, or car show, or the dynamite lady, and so forth), merchandise, food, drinks, social events, and the list goes on.

If you can answer all this, I'll get on the phone with the construction people and the banks and the promoters and the real estate agencies and we'll get this thing together.

[Boss San]

Hee Hee, the dynamite lady is funny.
I think I'm gettin' some ideas no matter how far fetched it may be. There are talks of a *gasp* Nascar track being put in the South Puget Sound outlying area (Chehalis or somewhere down there.) It's only about a twenty minute drive from Olympia. I suppose the local drift crews need to cruise down and chat with whoever is behind the plans of the track.
...Nascar, if there wasn't already enough hicks around here.

[gigglesnirt]

screw buying acres, here in parkc ity we have 10 acres right here, but it is wetlands so they might stop us from building stuff

[Layla's Keeper]

Why I even bother trying to logically explain things is beyond me.

[drftk1d]

Originally Posted by Layla's Keeper

Why I even bother trying to logically explain things is beyond me.

I feel your pain Oc.

[rsbousquet]

the number of times i have seen this question asked or pursued is too great to comprehend.

money is usually the biggest issue, then laws and regulations and such..

instead of building your own track, just get in talks with the local tracks already built. i'd rather drift on a track that's been around for a while, has funding for these events and such. and don't just put on drift events, most drift events around here are in the middle of a bigger weekend event at a track

uh i don't really know though. so many people wish there was just a track for drifting, but sadly not enough to make that dream come true yet. or maybe that's for the best?

[Boss San]

If this area does in fact get a NASCAR track put in, doesn't that cover a lot of your questions? International Speedway Corporation that resides in Florida is behind this idea, and it would be silly of them to ignore ideas from the local race community about what else the track would be used for wouldn't it (drifting, auto-x, car shows, whatever). It would also be a great spot for the D1 tour to come to.
I guess it's more the convincing of the people behind this idea to let us sanction everything under the moon there rather than the funding or whatnot.
Thanks for the help Octagon.

[jdmkenji]

Originally Posted by gigglesnirt

i think they should make drift tracks like they have in japan, that are made just for drifting, they dont take up much room either right?

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A DRIFT TRACK.

[gigglesnirt]

you havn't seen videos off the net that are trcks that are pretty much made specifically for drift? cause i think i've seen a couple