Road Racing Returning to Thompson

I ran an event in my Miata on Saturday called “The Last Green Valley Rallye II”. (Rally Master was Tom Letourneau, frequent “Ran When Parked” contributor to CM). The rally was fun and the route from Sutton, MA, through the last green valley in the Northeast corridor was scenic and the roads were great. But the important thing was what we found out at the destination. We ended up at Thompson Speedway where we learned about plans for a new road course to be built. There hasn’t been any road racing at Thompson since the mid-70s. Track management now recognizes the financial benefits of a full schedule of road racing events. The new course will incorporate part of the stock car oval as it did in the old days and a portion of the old road course, as well as an entirely new section. Construction is scheduled to start in October and be ready for the 2013 season. The SCCA has supposedly committed to several regional events next year. Other events planned will be open track days, national and regional car club events, and possibly even a driving school. This is something I thought I’d never see at Thompson again, and great news for road racing enthusiasts in Southern New England.

That's really good news if it flies. Budget & permitting have killed a couple of recent attempts in MA & NH - so here's hoping that someone will finally pull off an alternative to Limerock & NHMS!

we have a NEW F1 track in Austin TX, they are laying the asphalt as we speak, lot of new tech in the track material,like super grip stuff.

almost 4miles around with a 3000' straight, should be fast!

big covered grandstands, great facilities.

I am really happy to hear this. I live in Connecticut, but there's really no easy way to get to Thompson from where I am (we're in opposite corners), so I've only been up there once for a swap meet. That event was packed wall to wall and spilled over into two or three parking areas. There's definitely support for oval track racing in the area and I have to hope that some of that enthusiasm will carry over to support a road course, especially if track days become a reality.

I love looking at old photos of the road course.

The club I run with (CART) has been autocrossing there for a few years. News release from a local paper http://www.norwichbulletin.com/mallard/x269562013/Thompson-Speedway-considering-road-course-s-return?zc_p=0#axzz266LZBYlu

Here's an update as of July 2013: http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/ They're making progress. Opening June 2014.

Looks like they have a nice facility planned. It would be a long haul for me, but if I lived nearby, I would be looking forward to racing there.

Dougie

Our historic race group (HRG) is looking to do an event there next yer with the VSCCA and the Jag club, similar to one we do every June at LimeRock. SCCA F1600 and F2000 have this track for next year's season finale. I'm looking forward to racing there, the layout look fun. From the new website, it's going to follow the drivers club model.

mike h

This is great. I knew about Thompson from back in the day, but the road course shows ended at about the time I started getting interested in sporty cars. It's just over 30 miles from home, all back roads. Much closer than Lime Rock. Maybe I'll take the Tiger down there if they have any spectator vintage shows.

Stu

I would run just to be on such a historic track.