Thompson Speedway in CT

[962porsche]

i went there late this past season a friend is a member there so i got to run as a guest and the diasio made it the hole day with out braking once ! there were very few people running so most laps you were all by your self . they have done a lot of work there from when comscc was there last .
i would like to join the club there but the cost is nuts to do so the good about it is it's only a hour and a half away from me .

[Mario Fallas]

"I much prefer Monticello".

I'll take them both, thank you very much

[962porsche]

i like technical tracks my self .
tracks like LRP that are momentum tracks and tracks like that tend to get boring after the 1st 10 minutes .
other than lrp ripping people off it's good they only offer 1/2 days because that all i can take of tracks like that .

[Mario Fallas]

comscc does not run LRP any more but there are times that i will just want to go to the track and because LRP is close to me i will just go there and run with another club .

Best deal I've found for Lime Rock is their Tuesday Test & Tune days. It's $275 for the ½ day, or $250/each if you pay for three of them for the year. You get five 20-minute sessions. COM license is good for entry. It's never been crowded when I've been there, so no one is holding you up. Best of all: no sound restriction! I looked at one club's event for 2013, and they stated 84dB was the limit. That's a new low in more ways than one. Info: http://www.limerock.com/index.php?optio ... &Itemid=76; note that they're still showing the 2012 dates.

Since lRP is so close to me (2.5hr) the $275 does not bother much since I would spend that money on fuel alone just to get to NHMS + hotel$, my problem with the half day crap and 5 20min sessions is there's little room for eventualities and I had plenty of those last year
Do you have plans to go there this spring?

[Jimmy Pet]

Hey Guys,
I dont know if anyone has actually seen it finished yet but this off season (started last year in Sept-Oct) Pocono has done a major infield road course overhaul.
I walked part of it in October at the BMWCCA Delaware Valley DE. They are seriously widening the East and South infield road courses, putting in better drainage (I saw all the drains and ditches dug) and I hear doing proper FIA style curbing.
The rumor is the track will be wide enough for racing (if the bed that was dug out and graded that I walked on is any indication yes it will)

It had connectors dug in allowing many new configurations possible linking the East and South road courses, along with new configurations possible within the East and South courses singly. I hear the North road course stays untouched other than a repave (which was BADLY needed).

They have not released all the new configurations yet, but I saw a preliminary drawing which looked very good and reflected most of what I saw while out there walking the construction zone.
The East road course was always a hoot to drive, just bumpy and narrow. Its looking like that will all be fixed now.

I live near Pocono and the word on the street is that now that Doc has passed,,, the kids are running it and they see value in reinvesting into the infield road courses,,, something Doc never did.

Might be worth looking into once the new configurations are made public.

[Jimmy Pet]

The place that I would love to go back to is Monticello

Me too. I've never been a fan of The Glen, I much prefer Monticello.

Really,,, wow I have never heard anyone else say that.
I have never been to Monticello,,, but the video I have watched looked like very long straights followed by slow clunk corners.
I love the way the Glen just flows (well I feel it does),,, there is no track I can ever imagine being more fun than the Glen.

Mick, do you have any good incar vids of Monticello?
I dont think I have ever seen any from an E30 M3.

Cheers
jimmy

[962porsche]

if i can get the 350 SBC motor finished up that's in the 944 i'm going to go do a test and tune day this spring at LRP .
i still have the headers to build and a hand full of other little thing to do .
if i can't finish it up by then i will just do a PCA event later on in the season there .

[962porsche]

The place that I would love to go back to is Monticello

Me too. I've never been a fan of The Glen, I much prefer Monticello.

Really,,, wow I have never heard anyone else say that.
I have never been to Monticello,,, but the video I have watched looked like very long straights followed by slow clunk corners.
I love the way the Glen just flows (well I feel it does),,, there is no track I can ever imagine being more fun than the Glen.

Mick, do you have any good incar vids of Monticello?
I dont think I have ever seen any from an E30 M3.

Cheers
jimmy

they really needed to do some thing with pocono the last time i was there was two years ago it was getting bad !

the glen is like 7 or 8 down on my list of tracks i like to run at . tops is mt. tremblant after that VIR then i would guess monticello . the full course at monticello is nothing like what you stated .
as for LRP that is low on my list !
i would love to see NHMS do some thing to that track . maybe just build a new road course i think they have the land to do so .

[Jimmy Pet]

they really needed to do some thing with pocono the last time i was there was two years ago it was getting bad !

At the Del Valley DE last year I thought it was borderline criminal that they rented it like that. It was BAD. I attended an E30 m3 anniversary gathering at Pocono on the East course and it had also gotten terribly bumpy.
I'm glad the younger generation sees the value in rebuilding the road courses and making them rentable.

the glen is like 7 or 8 down on my list of tracks i like to run at .

I cant even imagine... I love the Glen.

tops is mt. tremblant after that VIR then i would guess monticello . the full course at monticello is nothing like what you stated .

I've only done VIR once, but didnt like it near as much as the Glen,,, it felt really narrow. Plus the tow was forever,,, well for me, I'm spoiled. I got to Summit Point and realised I was only barely halfway,,,very disheartening haha.
Tremblant I have never done. I hear its amazing.
Does it have a DB limit?
I heard it was designed by the same guy as the Glen and has similar traits,, and I have heard many numerous people said its amazing,,, but I seem to remember reading it has DB issues?
True?

as for LRP that is low on my list !

Not a fan of LRP at all either. I hate the way they treat the clubs (1/2 day, what BS),,, the muddy little paddock,,, the DB limits, no racing on Sundays. Blechh.
Too many other good tracks around with good amenities that have no such restrictions, and mainly no DB limits to bother even thinking about LRP.
No need to go there ever again for me.

i would love to see NHMS do some thing to that track . maybe just build a new road course i think they have the land to do so .

Never been up to NHMS. Its pretty far to pull to drive a Roval for me. Pocono is only 40 minutes towing my driveway to the gate.
If I'm going to drive a Roval, I'll just go there. I'm pretty lucky with the tracks in radius of Northeast PA.

Here is a distance spreadsheet I made last year based on my hometown. So many options under 5 hours it makes it hard to tow farther...

Pocono - Long Pond PA 35 miles
Monticello Motor Club - Monticello, NY 78 miles
NY Safety Track - Davenport, NY 140 miles
Watkins Glen - Watkins Glen NY 143 miles
Lime Rock Park - Lakeville, CT 160 miles
NJMP (2 tracks) - Milleville, NJ 176 miles
Summit Point (3 tracks) - Summit Point, WV 233 miles
Thompson Speedway (2014) - Thompson, CT 250 miles
Pittsburgh International / Beaver Run - Wampum, PA 320 miles
Nelson Ledges - Garrettsville, OH 330 miles
NHIS - Loudon, NH 360 miles
Calaboogie - Calabogie, Ont, CAN 380 miles
Mosport - Clarington, ON CAN 395 miles
Mid Ohio - Lexington, OH 425 miles
Mont Tremblant - Mont Tremblant, QC 430 miles
V I R - Alton, VA 476 miles
Roebling Road - Bloomingdale, GA 821 miles

[962porsche]

my diasio is kind of a loud car but at tremblant i just use a turn down on the end to the exhuast and i have never been black flaged . i do always bring a muffler that does bring the BD's way down so it will pass at any track and it's only two bolts to change it out and you don't even have to get under the car to do so 5 minute job at most .

don't get me wrong the glen is a good track but i don't think it's one of the greats . it's not technical track and that's the types of tracks i like .

the reason i have not gone back to ponoco in two years is because the track was getting that bad .
i would like to get back out to beaverun this year i have not been there in two and a half years now . it's not really a technical track but i liked it i have been there 8 times and every time i do really well .
now mid ohio i was only there once but that track i like much better than the glen . but good god what a haul for me a good full days driving thats the same reason i have only gone to road america once but again it's a better track than the glen .

there are so many better tracks than the glen but like i said it's a good track but not a great track .

[dradernh]

My take on the NE tracks I've driven:

The Glen - Simply the best track around; as Jimmy said, it's the flow - make that the exceptional flow; the Glen has it & the rest don't;

Tremblant - Good flow; favors power, but good drivers can make up lots of time in the slower bits; nothing really wrong with it except...the &@*(^$#% dB situation; I'm done with it;

Monticello & Calabogie - Two tracks that must've been designed by committees - nothing but a buncha disconnected sections that they went ahead & connected with pavement (read: first we do this section, then we drive over & do that section, and then...); other than that, they're fine - good pavement, wide enough, challenging;

Lime Rock - Has grown on me, now that I drive it worth a damn; requires a large helping of courage to go fast; same dB nonsense as Tremblant, except for the T&T days (I don't count the handful of unmuffled DEs due to their point-by requirements); after surprising myself with a 59.37 in my second session of the year last April, I'll be going to 2 or 3 of the T&Ts this year looking for a time that will help sell the car when the day comes;

NJMP Thunderbolt - Went twice last year for the first time; was slow, but liked its technical aspects; even though it's exactly the same distance for me as the Glen, it just feels too far to make a habit of going there;

Summit Point - Fun track; seems like it favors power, but if it does it's not by much; except for COM going there, I'd never have seen it; looking forward to returning in April;

Mosport - Big-boy track; I haven't driven it very fast, and would love to try it on more often than is possible given the distance; major disappointment that we're going to Calabogie instead of Mosport this year;

Mid-Ohio - Like Summit Point but better, with a good mix of handling & power sections; would make a nice home track.

[eastcoastbumps]

24h of Lemons is going to Monticello the 13-14th of April.

I'll most likely do VIR with NASA in March, then do 4 days at Summit Point in April. NASA is back to back with COM.

I have a wedding in August and won't be able to make Calabogie. I'd love to go back there.

[962porsche]

i may do the lemons at monticello ? if CARL brings his RX7 maybe Baller will run into the other side with the MR2 just to make the two sides match if not baller maybe i could do it for him .

[Brendan]

Jimmy - My car made it fine at Tremblant last time I was there, but the car is probably louder now. I think the main issue for us would be the intake noise, and from what I know about your car you'd need to show up with an intake muffler to be safe. If / when I ever go back I'll have a removable second muffler where the cats go, and the intake muffler.

I've always been a fan of the Glen too, but I spent 2 years living 45 minutes away when my M3 was a street car, so was able to get over there fairly frequently.

[Mick]

The place that I would love to go back to is Monticello

Me too. I've never been a fan of The Glen, I much prefer Monticello.

Really,,, wow I have never heard anyone else say that.
I have never been to Monticello,,, but the video I have watched looked like very long straights followed by slow clunk corners.
I love the way the Glen just flows (well I feel it does),,, there is no track I can ever imagine being more fun than the Glen.

Mick, do you have any good incar vids of Monticello?
I dont think I have ever seen any from an E30 M3.

Cheers
jimmy

Jimmy,
I've only been to Monticello once (didn't get any in-car) and remember liking it. It has some challenging elevation changes and because of it's long back straight it takes a lot of work to make up time on the higher HP cars.

I know I'm in the minority, but to me WGI feels like a bunch of straights with fast corners in between. It seems that to be fast there is more about how much risk you're willing to take rather than finesse. Granted, this is coming from a guy who loves Summit Shenandoah, so take that opinion for what it's worth.

On the other hand Mosport, another track with very fast corners, is my #1 favorite. It has a very different mix of fast sweepers, compound sections, and camber changes compared to WGI though.

It's hard to believe a track junkie like you hasn't been to Mosport or Tremblant. Or how about Calabogie? Can you make our date this season? Here's a rough outline of our 2013 schedule viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4039&p=34220#p34220