building a drift track in socal...

[Hubert Young]

Charlie, you have my support 150%. But getting the whole project started is another story. I had done a little bit of research before about building a small track in NorCal but zoning laws and land costs just could not justify building one. Good luck in your quest to build one! Whatever help you need in the process (besides $ since I don't have much... let's see, one dollar 2 dollar... I have 10 bucks on me I can contribute!), please ask!

[J-BloodAE86]

you could seriously make a ton of money, it would cost alot to build, but think about how packed the drift days are nowadays! i'm sure it could be pulled off. i know all my friends and i would come for sure! thad be so nice.

[Brian]

Charlie, have you ever thought of talking to Willow Springs?
i hear they run drifting there sometimes.


okay cool.
see ya later.

[crimson]

I would definitely support this idea! If you build it, I will definitely come at least every month. It may never happen, but it would be great to make the effort. You should make the track layout spectator and photographer friendly, so you can have added revenue from spectators. If you were looking for the right area, I would like to suggest something on the way to Palm Springs. The land should be reasonably cheaper out there, and it's on the way to Morongo!

Anyway, I'd like to donate along with Hubert! How's $5 sound? I could make it $7, but I had my eyes set on super-sizing this week...

[Charlie@JustDrift]

hahaha i love you guys! dude... i can't afford to build my own car let alone build a track.

it will be in willowsprings raceway. we want to know how you guys feel.... WSIR is not going to spend half a mill to build a track that will never be used. so... we are making sure it will be used.

no it's not me that will build it, we are helping WSIR build/design/plan/convincing etc for a new track. no i am not dreaming, i talk to the owner almost everyday about this. he is just as excited as you guys! he found a new love in the sport of drifting... he is excited and wants to move forward.
he was there watching me and henry at HTM when we did a test run. he was excited! so... now my assignment in this project is to just to get a feel if this track is a good idea. we have a schedule out for '05 with WSIR that will be posted soon. if it has a good response then a track will definitely be built! this is as real as it gets...

[Charlie@JustDrift]

Charlie, you have my support 150%. But getting the whole project started is another story. I had done a little bit of research before about building a small track in NorCal but zoning laws and land costs just could not justify building one. Good luck in your quest to build one! Whatever help you need in the process (besides $ since I don't have much... let's see, one dollar 2 dollar... I have 10 bucks on me I can contribute!), please ask!

note to self: hit up hubert for $10 in atlanta...

[kclo4]

Would be awesome I suppose. Will it be setup so that it can be used for grip lapping? Gotta teach people how to turn before they can turn sideways.

Have you talked to Formula D and or D1 about backing this new track? I think part of it's success will be dependant on this.

If it wont be open every weekend for drifting your going to need to keep some sort of vehicle on track during the off drifting days. Karting would be an option to look at. Amateur sport bike racing would be another one.
Looks like they already do all of this stuff at willow springs though. How would the drift track be different then the other 15 tracks they have? Example drawings?

The more successful it is in general theoretically the cheaper it should be for drifters to run. And we all know they are the only ones that count :-)

Hope you make something of it. Chances are I wont spend much time on it as I live in New Mexico, but I would prolly visit.

[D1 DRIFTER]

charlie

hey man best of luck im totallty behind you...(sounds kinda wrong) but ya know wat i mean and i am down to help in anyway i can i.e. track boy. w/e ya need man bets of luck are you gonan be at the land ho event may14th at WSIR?

[cfrost]

sounds great to me! it would be cool to have the interchangable layout that you're talking about, kinda like streets of willow, but with more drift-oriented turns

[_PG_]

Charlie, Mark and I were talking about the design some... Ebisu/Sekia style... long front straight at highest elevation, pitwall to seperate track from grandstands/pits, plus a HELLA good thing for entry... clooooose to the wallll.... Of course, stop the wall at the straight, after that, as you head into the corner you have runoff and berm action. I can get a track layout for Sekia... I think that would be the ideal course. Or Ebisu West (whatever the D1 course is). Both those tracks are able to be configured in many arrangements from beginner to D1. Perfect.

Also, a REALLY cool thing would be a paddock!!! that's asking alot but it would be AWESOME. Perhaps build it into the plans to be added easily at a later date (once funds are acheived).

THe main turn should be modelled after Buttonwillow "Offramp" going Counter Clockwise, or liek i said, Ebisu/Sekia. Those 3 corners are very similar.

[Charlie@JustDrift]

thanks for all your ideas and opinions. all things will be considered... i have a meeting with the owners next week. like i said, the king of wsir is sooo stoked about drifting. we already went around their property and they showed me where the tracks will be built. but for that to happen, i have to prove to them that it will be supported. that's why justdrift! is an exclusive club of WSIR. we proved to them once that drifting can be safe and fun, now we have to prove to them that we need our own tracks. our schedule will be released soon... support us and this track will comei guarantee you. why??
they don't want us to mess up their tracks dedicated for roadrace and bike race. but they want to "home" us... i am as excited as everyone else. stay tuned...

[driftfox]

Charlie,

I have attended many WSIR open track grip events in the past and would love to see them build a full service facility of the same caliber dedicated to drifting. I participate in an automotive grip and/or drift event a minimum of once a month at various Southern California locations and will certainly support the new track with my monthly entry fees. I'm glad to see this effort taking shape. Good Luck!

Thanks,
Paul

[bluegas]

i'll make it easy take a tape of irwindale D1 race add how many fans showed up include how much they paid for parking (in 03 they closed the parking lot ran out of spaces! $10 spent before you get a ticket inside)

i have only seen in car footage of some of the tracks mention on this thread. Personaly i think the best drift track that can ever be made for fans should follow Bristol model make the track ALOT lower than the stands and the area around the track MUCH higher keep in mind the fans people PAYING too see everything thats going on make one grand stand if Williow is happy with crowds add too the stands like Bristol has done dont hate on the nascar site look at what they did with the space they have and its the perfect model too make money per acre.

http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/bms/index.html#null

want somthing smaller look overseas during the ROC with F1 FIA Rally NASCAR and Camp drivers that track was made in a coverted soccer field that seats 60,000 $$$$people (more come more 1st place wins!)

http://motoring.iafrica.com/motorsport/397051.htm

Good luck look overseas at rallycross track design as well Don't limit yourself too japan!!

[Slapshotnerd]

Great idea... in theory... alot of ideas like this are great in theory... but there is alot more to it than that. There has been "talk" of a new drag racing facility in SoCal for the 5 years i've been down here, and I'm sure longer. Yet in that time, Carlsbad shut down, Pomona remains closed to the public (what a waste of one of the finest facilities on the West Coast if not in the Nation), Irwindale has no plans to extend the track to a 1/4 mile, so you're stuck with the rare Fontana drags once a month which are packed with 300+ cars getting 3 runs in an 8 hour period, or a 1 hour+ drive to Palmdale to race in 100 degree heat at damn near a mile above sea level. Proving that there is a need for a new 1/4 mile strip in SoCal is easy, getting it built is damn near impossible.

Another thing to consider is closeness to any spectator area. If you want this track to make any revenue and be taken seriously, you have to ensure that people will go there to watch the big drifting events. Part of the reason that Irwindale is so successful is because it is in the heart of LA. Why are people more willing to show up at an irwindale 1/8 mile drag racing event instead of driving to palmdale for a full 1/4 mile event? And i'm not just talking about the racers, but the spectators as well.

If you build this at an existing track, would it interfere with the road course? i know that WS / BW are booked for a large portion of the weekends for up to a year in advance. If you have a drifting track in which it can't be run at the same time as the road racing, that will be a much tougher sell to the management. If it's completely seperate, then you have to make sure that there's enough pit / paddock / parking / etc for both events to run at the same time.

Buttonwillow / Willow Springs make good money from their road racing, and their track is rented out for a good portion of the year. However, they have little to no success with spectator-type events because it is so far out of the way for many. For D1 / FD to take the track seriously, you have to have spectator capacity for at least 8-10k people, and more would be ideal. If you have it out in the boonies, you also have to have hotel rooms for all these people (as the majority of your crowd will not be local). I know at Buttonwillow, there are only hotel rooms for around 1000 people. Even though it's only 90 minutes from downtown LA, not alot of people want to make that drive at 6am in order to be at the track for an 8am gate opening. Yet another thing to think about.

Neighbors are another thing to worry about (nobody likes the noise) but if you're building it at an existing track like Willow, then that shouldn't be too hard to deal with.

Building a track? great idea. As a business plan? a bit harder to sell. Long term profitable? .... good luck...

[zdss14]

wow, me and every body here is backing this up, have you posted this at other forums? when you hold the events you should have them with other events at the same time like fiday night drags ( does wsir have a drag strip? if not it seems like a good idea to include it in the plans) and drifting to attract more people to the sport and track, and to keep cost down for every one .