Collecting Tracks

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In our world, rattling off how many tracks you’ve raced at, or at least driven, is a badge of honor. It’s a common bench-racing topic.

Recently, I put another notch in my belt by driving Thompson Speedway in rural northern Connecticut. This wonderfully tight, fun and seemingly very safe track got me thinking again about how many tracks I’ve driven and which ones are my favorites.

I took a look on Wikipedia, and there are more than 80 road race tracks listed in the United States. There are the big, famous tracks, like Daytona and Road Atlanta, and the not-so-famous ones, like Roebling Road, Gingerman and even PBIR.

Of course, some of them, like Riverside and Bridgehampton (two that I luckily did get to drive), are now defunct. And sadly, Miller Motorsports Park’s fate isn’t quite decided. Hopefully someone comes in and saves the day before it gets turned into yet another housing development.

Of these 80-plus tracks, I’ve been blessed to run nearly three-fourths of them, from Lime Rock (underrated, perhaps because of its diminutive size, but actually one of my favorites) to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

What are my top tracks? That’s tough. I’ve mentioned a few already, but VIR needs to be on that list. I also really like the Hutchinson Island course at Savannah; the venue is pretty darned cool and is right next to downtown Savannah, so it makes for an awesome event weekend. Mid-Ohio and Barber are right up there as well.

As an old autocrosser at heart, I prefer the tighter tracks: Hallett, Thompson and Atlanta Motorsports Park (although this one has a surprisingly long straight). Of course, I also get a kick out of the very fast tracks, like Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta.

Although I live 15 minutes from Daytona International Speedway, I consider Road Atlanta to be my home track. I probably run there more than anywhere else. Still, that downhill through the start/finish line scares the crap out of me every time I go through it. Man, that is a fast track.

And then there are the championship tracks. There is some debate over which tracks are worthy of hosting a championship event. History, top speed and number of passing zones all play into this often bandied-about discussion.

At first, the SCCA Runoffs bounced between Riverside and Daytona every year. In 1971, this event found a seemingly permanent home at Road Atlanta, but then it started moving around again in the ’90s. Its next longtime home at Heartland Park was centrally located, but racers complained that the track wasn’t suited to this level of event.

I’ve been there, but not to race, so I cannot judge. I can say that when the event started moving to more famous tracks, entries started to go up again.

NASA held their championships first at Mid-Ohio and then at Miller. The Miller events struggled to gain traction, partially because no one had been waiting their whole life to drive Miller and partially because it was too far from both coasts. Now NASA has both East and West Coast championships at more famous tracks, and this system seems to be working.

Tracks with storied histories simply tend to draw more interest, even if driving them can be a punishing experience. Sebring may be the roughest track on earth (a title it must wrestle away from the old Nelson Ledges). But still, everyone wants to say they’ve raced at Sebring. Having run a ChumpCar enduro there at night and in the rain, I can tell you that Sebring is a super cool place to race–for a few minutes. I felt like I knew what it was like to contest the rain-soaked 1965 12-hour race at that legendary track.

So how have I managed to sample so many tracks? One reason is that I’ve been in motorsports since 1982. In more than 30 years, you get around.

Another reason is that a lot of car and tire manufacturers turn journalists loose on race tracks when they want to show off new products. Recently I got to revisit Road America, Las Vegas and Gingerman that way. I can tell you there are worse ways to make a living than driving a new M3 at nearly full tilt at Road America.

If you’re looking for access, I guess becoming an automotive media person is one way to drive these tracks. Becoming a pro racer or factory test driver is another way. Some guys I know just keep entering events and clicking off tracks as they work their way through their bucket lists.

One of the quickest and most practical ways to hit a whole bunch of tracks is to enter the One Lap of America. If you run this one-week event five years in a row, you’ll hit most of the major and minor tracks in the country–and have a heck of a lot of fun along the way.

So how about you? How many race tracks have you driven? What are your favorites? Send me your thoughts. Heck, if we get enough input, maybe we’ll turn this whole discussion into another feature story on favorite race tracks. If nothing else, you can rest assured I will acknowledge every email, pass it on to my editor, and write you back.

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