I'm in the thick of mid Atlantic and would enjoy it but likely tied up with a growing fam to participate this fall. Can do road course/drags/oval track all a Dominion raceway, bump down to VIR, come back up to Summit Point and jump in a rally cross just to mix things up even more.
I think they cheaper on lap of America u want is original few events which was a big rally which wore cool as any kind of vehicle could be used.
I'm kinda doing my own in June..
GridLife Midwest Fest / Autocross Week / Proving Grounds
12 days round trip. 9 are competition days. Time Attack, Autocross, and even few drag strip passes, plus around a thousand street miles in the car w/out truck and trailer. Full trip is around 3700 miles
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pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:I think it's a great idea, I mean, Mid Ohio > Dragway 42 > Nelson Ledges > Pitt Race > Lake Erie Speedway > Mid State Airport would be a nice loop across 2 states. You could include Summit Point and Bristol if you want a bigger loop.
Until that includes Elkhart Lake I'm a pass. Everybody needs to try a 4 mile track once in their life.
That plus the friendly, welcoming atmosphere of that part of Wisconsin. Makes it worthy of consideration.
frenchyd said:pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:I think it's a great idea, I mean, Mid Ohio > Dragway 42 > Nelson Ledges > Pitt Race > Lake Erie Speedway > Mid State Airport would be a nice loop across 2 states. You could include Summit Point and Bristol if you want a bigger loop.
Until that includes Elkhart Lake I'm a pass. Everybody needs to try a 4 mile track once in their life.
That plus the friendly, welcoming atmosphere of that part of Wisconsin. Makes it worthy of consideration.
Road America is an 8 hour trip from Mid-Ohio, which is the closest stop on the suggested loop. That's getting into actual OLOA territory. If you paired Road America with say Gingerman and Indy, then you might be onto something for this scale of event.
Ive never done One Lap. It looks cool. One of the least exciting things about it is the grueling transits. I like to race cars. Driving them from point A to B suuuuuuuuuuucks.
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In reply to Puddy46 :
Considering that those from the western Part of America would need to travel 20+ hours to get there, 8 hours isn't that far.
Plus Elkhart Lake is really part of the origins of sportscar racing in America.
The Kettle Moraine area is worthy of sight seeing all by itself. With Lakes , farmland and recreational facilities abounding. Nearby is Oshkosh, where the annual gathering of experimental aircraft is held. Most gearheads also love seeing airplanes. The Roads through the area are wonderfully maintained, and far from the typical boring, straight, dull. Road in much of the country.
Puddy46 said:frenchyd said:pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:I think it's a great idea, I mean, Mid Ohio > Dragway 42 > Nelson Ledges > Pitt Race > Lake Erie Speedway > Mid State Airport would be a nice loop across 2 states. You could include Summit Point and Bristol if you want a bigger loop.
Until that includes Elkhart Lake I'm a pass. Everybody needs to try a 4 mile track once in their life.
That plus the friendly, welcoming atmosphere of that part of Wisconsin. Makes it worthy of consideration.Road America is an 8 hour trip from Mid-Ohio, which is the closest stop on the suggested loop. That's getting into actual OLOA territory. If you paired Road America with say Gingerman and Indy, then you might be onto something for this scale of event.
don't forget Autobahn in Joliet, you could do a track day or track sprint & go karts all at the same facility.
In reply to frenchyd :
I'm not disagreeing on the merits of Road America and the surrounding area. I hope to go there one day.
But, when the proposed event length by the OP is ~500 miles, and the next closest venue (Mid-Ohio) is 450 miles away, it kind of misses the point. That's why it was suggested to pair Road America with closer tracks. Make it a regional event.
As for the western folks, I think that's where the beauty of this event lies. They can do something similar in their neck of the woods, and not have to traipse across the country to do this. Kind of like doing a regional event (this) before doing Nationals (One Lap).
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In reply to ProDarwin :
I agree with you. Driving race cars on the roads is is painful. Driving street cars on the race track is slow and really boring. Plus the probability of breaking down miles from home will deter many from participating.
Why not just trailer from event to event. It can be done in safety and security. While less reliable cars could participate, making it a more interesting field.
Events that getting track rental time is difficult, like Elkhart Lake, Indy, etc. would suddenly be possible midweek.
Filling a bucket list like Watkins Glen, mid Ohio, Indianapolis, Elkhart Lake, ( I'm not familiar with historic drag racing sites) could be done with vintage cars, Collector Cars, Muscle cars, etc.
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Puddy46 said:In reply to frenchyd :
I'm not disagreeing on the merits of Road America and the surrounding area. I hope to go there one day.
But, when the proposed event length by the OP is ~500 miles, and the next closest venue (Mid-Ohio) is 450 miles away, it kind of misses the point. That's why it was suggested to pair Road America with closer tracks. Make it a regional event.
As for the western folks, I think that's where the beauty of this event lies. They can do something similar in their neck of the woods, and not have to traipse across the country to do this. Kind of like doing a regional event (this) before doing Nationals (One Lap).
I guess it depends on what you are attempting to achieve. The Drag racing version of this is trying to ensure all the cars are really streetable ( even if not really) so they keep distances short. Yet they have to have back ups in the event of breakdowns or •••••accidents? I'm referring to the recent Sick Week.
An event that takes a week or even 2 could still have the option of street driving. Or trailered class. That way expensive cars the owners don't want to risk on public highways could still participate.
Perhaps enticing a more diverse entrant field that sees it as a chance to fill a bucket list. With a reasonably confident chance of completely the whole event. Rather than risking having to leave the car somewhere return home and drive the tow vehicle back to pick up the broken car and return it home.
In reply to frenchyd :
Then you really just don't get it.
In reply to bobzilla :
Nothing like a good french whine!
Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to bobzilla :
Nothing like a good french whine!
sadly it doesn't get better with age like a good wine.
In reply to bobzilla :
The second he said trailered class really shows how far off he is.
camopaint0707 said:In reply to bobzilla :
The second he said trailered class really shows how far off he is.
-"Would anyone be interested in a smaller one lap?"
-"Yes, but by smaller I mean bigger and with a class that completely defeats the purpose of the event."
OLOA is sort of like drag week but with road courses and longer transits.
One of the bigger challenges is getting tracks reserved in sequence. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get. Insurance etc has got to be a fortune.
When I ran in 2003, you got two 4 lap sessions. Fastest cars went first.
What about a "Touring" style OLOA? A different track each day, but just a track day - no competition. Add in a drag strip and autocross stop too. Keeping the transits shorter would give more time for socializing at the hotel each night. Check points and interesting back roads to keep everyone together.
In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :
The original OLOA was a TSD...
In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :
More like drag week is like One Lap but just drag racing. I've done both, spoken to both brock, keith turk, david freiburger. He makes no secret that he ripped off the idea from one lap. And I think that's quite alright. Same principles in place, wildly different tactics involved. As far as the no competition, I think making it a competition is what will get people to come. Even if it's just for a tshirt or something.
I do think there's room for a Regional One Lap with somewhat shorter distances and time commitment. Especially if it can be organized on tracks during the week when they might be open to such an event.
Maybe four days, Mon-Thur, so as not to interfere with large weekend events at the tracks. Arrive, register & tech inspection on Sun. Starting hotel near Track #1, drive to track. One hour of familiarization laps, perhaps with timing running as a way to seed cars by lap times in order to minimize on-track passing. Time trail style lapping at XX intervals (will probably vary based on lap times). Once your laps are done, box lunch at track then on to the next hotel (dinner on your own). Repeat three more times. End at a hotel for dinner and awards. Friday - everyone goes home (some will leave Thur night).
Edit: Autocross sounds cheaper in principle, but you will still need to deal with site acquisition, course design/setup/testing, plus a dedicated crew to do setup and tear-down before and after each event - a crew that will likely need to put in some long days. I'm not sure it would actually be cheaper than track rental. Some tracks do have areas for autocross or similar "short track/lower speed" driving.
I can't even guess at costs. Someone will need to do legwork to determine track rental costs and overall insurance costs. As well as the timing system. Profit or non-profit? Paid organizers or volunteers? My only point of reference is the America's British Reliability Run that I have been part of over the past few years as rally master (I create the driving routes and the route book). We provide some meals as well as track (parade laps) and/or museum stops. Some dinners and hotels by participants. Our base registration fee covers the per-car costs (book publishing, car decals, admission fees, etc.) and then we have a per-person meal fee. I am supposed to get reimbursed for pre-running the routes, but generally don't ask for it (I'm usually driving a car that needs the exercise anyway). We have a team of eight volunteers to organize this.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
That would sound interesting to a lot of really high end car owners. The ones with rare or multimillion dollar cars. That's what Vintage racing used to be. The right crowd and no crowding.
The left cost is never part of this rotation. But I offer:
Lone Pine Time Trials, think high speed auto cross on a retired air strip located on Hwy 395.
Transiting thru the Sierras to Crows Landing, traditional auto cross on a concrete site,
Then on to the Coalinga airport, how fast is your car and will is stop, not sure what you call the event but it has a"Top Gear"feel.
Then on to Buttonwillow for a counter wise track session, most have not had the pleasure of this opportunity.
Getting to Lone Pine is worth having to listen to everyone complain about the drive, until they realize how beautiful the drive is getting to the event.
Having to stop at Harris Ranch as a gathering spot, worth the steak dinner!
Get Summit Autocross week to add a crapcan/budget class and I think that you'd 80% of the way there...
If I had taken the time to read the comments prior to replying, I wouldv'e seen that this had previously been mentioned, and I'd just echo that I agree completely.
I'll add some some track venues with multiple tacks that also host autocross would be solid for this.
Summit Point for a weekend with 2 different autocross courses on a Saturday (a changeover during lunch) and lapping the 'Doah on Sunday) NJMP could do something similar with either Lightening or Thunder, VIR could do it with the Patriot course and the granddaddy of them all would be the GRM challenge with the trackday at the FIRM on the following day. there are numerous tracks in the Atlanta area and CMP could also do similar. It's a tire vendor tie in, common registration and landing page away from being a sustainable and repetitive thing that would potentially be piggyback-able with either Radwood, Lemons or Gridlife for people who aren't prepared to make the jump, either expense or equipment wise, into wheel to wheel competition.
Such venue options wouldn't be part of a week long traveling series, but could host said events as a series and have points events to serve as qualifers towards a champion event, which would be a challenge subclass.
While I think One Lap is a really cool event and I really enjoy learning about the experiences folks have while participating I don't think it's really an event for me regardless of cost. My problem with One Lap is the schedule for the transits. I love road trips and racing but I don't like tight schedules. It's too much like work and, I don't do well if I don't get enough sleep. If the schedule alternated days between transits and racing I'd be much more interested in participating but that would eliminate what seems to be an integral part of what makes One Lap, One Lap.
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