Canaan Speedway

[ED9man]

So I've heard that there's a new 1.6 mile road course finishing construction this year in Canaan, NH. Interested to see the layout, maybe a COM event there next year? Between Thompson, Palmer, and this track, New England is becoming a pretty awesome place to race!

[Mark Swinehart]

Stay tuned!!!

[Mario Fallas]

Just signed in, can't wait!!!

[breakaway500]

Do you have a link? When I google Canaan speedway,all I get is reference to a dirt oval that is closing..

[Mario Fallas]

same here, no link but the video from COM looks nice enough and the price is right for a day of fun
can't wait!

[breakaway500]

Huh..I didn't even know it was on this years schedule,but there it is..all 6 turns..hmm. Looks like a fun go-cart track. Oh I see..its not on the TT schedule..it's a special event for first 30 people to sign up. 3hrs away… less than a mile long..looks like they will expand it soon. I can wait.

[blazer178]

there is a track map and video at the Motorsport Reg. it is small but looks fun

[TroyV]

The vid is mine. I thought the track flowed pretty well considering the short length. I also tried it in the CCW direction and it was ok, but CW was better. They plan to add more length to the course. As I understand it, the additional length will make it longer than NHMS is currently, though I'm not sure what the schedule for that is. John has a much better understanding of it.

The track manager is a really nice fellow and the town appears to be very supportive of the venue with many of the local residents looking/hoping to be employed there.

[dinoracer]

Just to clear up any mis-understanding

This track is a work in progress. It didn't exist at the beginning of the year, so there was no chance of it being on the schedule. The owner of the facility is enthusiastic and looking to build a road course that we ( and other clubs) will use, on the site of the former Canaan Fair speedway ( dirt and paved ovals). We've been in touch with him over the past year or so, and he contacted COM a couple months ago asking for us to come and run some laps, to get feedback as to what works, what doesn't, where the flag stations should go etc. That's the visit that Troy's video produced.

We're now going for a second longer look. Since it's a short track, a late addition, and not quite ready for prime time, that's why it's one day, no students, no TT, and no points. It's simply a chance to run a few laps and give your feedback to the owners, so they can hopefully have it ready for us to run a full event there in 2016.

[breakaway500]

Thanks Tom, for the rest of the story..

[blazer178]

Tom
Do we know what times we will have on the track and are we going to try it both ways and what the db reading is going to be there....... the reason is I have loud..... mild.......quite exhaust system for the truck


Thanks for all the work on getting it and all the other tracks we have been doing

[paultg]

I am sending an email to membership about the event, hopefully tonight. This all happened pretty fast so sorry for the delayed announcement.

Butch, please bring your quietest option if it will pass sound at Palmer. The discussion at the board meeting last night was "don't come if your vehicle can't pass sound at Palmer".
The reason being this is all very preliminary and more of an exercise to build our relationship with the track manager and owner, and the surrounding town.
The last thing we want is complaint(s) about how loud things are by some locals before they have even started expanding the track.

For anyone wondering, fuel station is available near by. I did not notice if race fuel was available (doubt it).
There are also a few local food places (one being the gas station, we were told food was good). It would be great of folks attending planed on spending a bit of cash in town as well.

Thanks for your understanding. - Paul G.

[KCZ]

Hello, I live in Canaan and am willing to answer any questions about the track venture and the community. I haven't done any COM events for a few years now (due to a back injury) but having a track in my backyard has renewed my interest.

Tha facility is on the site of the old fairgrounds, which had a small dirt oval where sulky races were held for decades. Eventually, the fairs went away, the dirt track was used for auto racing and an oval was added, and both tracks were used by a bunch of regional groups for Fri/Sat/Sun night racing. Interest waned, attendance fell, and the track owner and racing groups were no longer financially self-sustaining. The current owner, who is a biotech entrepreneur, bought the track in 2013 with the intention of using a completely different business model. He is a very interesting and forward-thinking personality, by all reports. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2014/01/0 ... sinessman/

Construction was started on the track only last year, and the next phase is supposed be finished by next July. The last time I was over there, about a mile of track was paved and they were about to start work on the curbing. There is a huge amount of earth-moving going on right now, but I don't think there will be any substantial elevation changes when they are done. There is a decibel limit, I think 93, but I'm not sure about that. So far they've had a bunch of SCCA Rally-Cross and Karting events, and are being evaluated by at least one club for AX using the cut-throughs across the road course.

Canaan is a small rural town (2000 people) with a central village green. There is a convenience store with gas pumps (91 octane) down the street from the track. There are a decent pizza place, a takeout Chinese place, and a hardware store on the green. Lodging is limited to a few B&B's. There's a CarQuest in Enfield, the next town over. You need to head to Lebanon (~20 miles) for anything else. People here were evenly divided over the track changing hands, either bewailing the loss of the old track, or glad to get rid of the noise and massive amounts of dust from the dirt track. So far, the response to the events that have been held there has been positive..."Not much noise and no dust." Noise was a huge issue in town. The track just started advertising employment opportunities which will help with its image and track-town relations too. http://canaannh.org/

[Aricracer]

Paul, did that e-mail get sent out?

Thanks, Aric

[paultg]

Yes it was sent to licensed drivers and instructors. KCZ thanks for sharing.