The eastern seaboard, specifically the mid atlantic area, is the single best area in the United States, dare I say world, for grass root motorsports. From around the Baltimore metro, you've got multiple road courses, multiple drag strips, more circle tracks than I can remember, rallycross and stage rally in northern PA, and more autocross than you'll be able to handle, all within 4 hours at the worst. The only more densely packed places for racing I could think of is maybe Florida or North Carolina. California and Texas sure have tracks and racing but the distance between is immense. Thoughts? Am I wrong?
Ah this discussion again.
Mid-Atlantic and Midwest are probably some of the most densely packed spots for anyone looking to get their kicks in motorsports; however, y'all have seasons.
Here in Florida and most of the South, we can race all year round.
I feel I'm in a decent spot....
Within 3 hours: Barber, Talladega, and NOLA
Within 6 hours: Daytona, AMP, Road Atlanta
Within 9 hours: Sebring, Charlotte, CMP, NCM,
Within 12 hours: MSR Houston, MSR Cresson, Harris Hill, COTA, Homestead
I haven't AutoXed or RallyXed in a while or even looked it up around here but I'm sure I'm missing those locations plus some others. There's a top tier local short track in Five Flags Speedway right around the corner plus a plethora of dirt tracks.
My only issue is nothing is an easy two hour drive away.
Your description lines up pretty well with overall population density of the US.
In reply to DirtyBird222 :
Exactly, we have seasons ;)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Without a legend, we are just looking at shapes and colors.
California and the west coast in general don't have the same correlation of population density to race tracks unfortunately.
In reply to DirtyBird222 :
Population density in people per square mile, averaged at the county level. You can probably guess at the scale if you know that the eastern seabord is highly densely populated and North Dakota is not, but here it is. Note that it takes a pretty big jump there at the end.
Legend, light to dark (white to violet):
- 0-1 (mint green)
- 1-4 (pink)
- 5-9 (blue-green)
- 10-24 (orange)
- 25-49 (teal)
- 50-99 (lime green)
- 100-249 (dark blue)
- 250-66,995 (violet)
It's not a 1:1 ratio, of course. But it lines up at the high level - places with more people tend to have more racetracks. Places with fewer people tend to have fewer racetracks. I would argue that most of the west coast is fairly low density. That purple blob halfway up is the Bay area, which is close to three major road courses I can think of offhand (Laguna Seca, Thunderhill and whatever we call Sears Point these days) and I have no idea about drag strips and ovals.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
You are correct with regard to population density and with its race tracks. 80% of America's population is east of the Mississippi.
I will say that until you have been to Elkhart Lake you haven't been to a real wheel to wheel road race track. Not even Watkins Glen is as spectacular.
4 miles long!! 3 really serious straights. 14 corners. And the best race track food in the world.
Not to mention it's history. Since 1949 at Elkhart Lake and 1955 at the 4 mile track.
We have a closer track up in Brainerd. It's only 3 miles long but one really long straight leading to a banked corner that if you are a real racer can be flat out leading to the straight following. Only 12 corners. And without the elevation changes of Elkhart Lake.
When it comes to road course access, it's pretty hard to complain about Atlanta. Within two hours drive we have Road Atlanta, Atlanta Motorsports Park, and Barber. Within six hours we have Roebling, CMP, NCM, VIR, Polecat and Flatrock which will be opening near Knoxville this year.
I honestly believe the Detroit Metropolitan area is the best place to live for motorsport and car culture.
Race tracks:
- M1 Concourse (country club style, but track days and lots and lots of events)
- Waterford 40 mins
- Gratton, 2.5 hours
- Gingerman 2.75 hours
- Mid Ohio 3.25 hours
- Belle Isle / Detroit street circuit - Once a year Indy car and pro support series only
- within a half day drive
- Nelson ledges
- PIR
- Putnam park
Oval tracks
- Flatrock 30 mins
- MIS
- Jackson speedway
- Birch Run
- Clio
- Numerous others
Drag racing - All within an hour of Detroit.
- Milan
- Onondage
- Lapeer
- Ubly
- 131
Karting
Hillclimb
Off Road areas/parks
- At least 4/5 within a 90 mins of Detroit, plus another 6+ in 2-4 hours.
Plus numerous autocross and rallycross locations within 1.5 hours.
Woodward dream cruise. The biggest automotive event on the planet!
I know there are many other facilities I've missed, this is in no way an exhaustive list. Other higher density area may have as many or more in a similar geographic area, but you can't do 120 miles in 2 hours on the East coast to get there!
Keith Tanner said:
But it lines up at the high level - places with more people tend to have more racetracks. Places with fewer people tend to have fewer racetracks. I would argue that most of the west coast is fairly low density. That purple blob halfway up is the Bay area, which is close to three major road courses I can think of offhand (Laguna Seca, Thunderhill and whatever we call Sears Point these days) and I have no idea about drag strips and ovals.
I agree density has much to do with number of tracks. BUT, it also has to do with th elimination of tracks. Examples being; Riverside, Second Creek, Carlsbad, Ascot, Saugus, El Cajon, Firebird and more.
You may include Buttonwillow in the NorCal list. To me Sears Point has always been Sears Point I will not recognize any corporate nonsense names.
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
I honestly believe the Detroit Metropolitan area is the best place to live for motorsport and car culture.
Race tracks:
- Motorsports Gateway (Howell, MI - Open Summer 2023 - https://www.motorsportsgateway.com/)
- M1 Concourse (country club style, but track days and lots and lots of events)
- Waterford 40 mins
- Gratton, 2.5 hours
- Gingerman 2.75 hours
- Mid Ohio 3.25 hours
- Belle Isle / Detroit street circuit - Once a year Indy car and pro support series only
- within a half day drive
- Nelson ledges
- PIR
- Putnam park
Fixed the list :) We're getting another road course (Motorsports Gateway) in Howell, MI. It's going to be open this summer.
In reply to L5wolvesf :
I've never been sure where Buttonwillow actually is, I was just following the trailer with the race car when I went there :)
Of course tracks get absorbed by growth, but then new ones show up. Riverside is gone, but Chuckwalla is new. Second Creek is gone, say hello to High Plains Raceway. The population drives the demand for them, so they basically just have to move further away.
We're also each defining motorsports as "the stuff I can do near me". Woodward Dream Cruise, for example. Around here, we have few tracks. But we have off-roading that people will cross the country for. That's a motorsport for sure, and it's one that rewards low population density.
My first thought was the Atlanta area.
I will officially say not here (Omaha) but surprisingly not as bad as you would think.
RPM 30 minutes.
Lincoln Air Park: 1 Hour
Heartland Park: 3 Hours
Hastings: 3 hours
High Plains and Brainerd: 8 hours
Ozark: 5 Hours
Iowa and Kansas for Nascar and IndyCar: 3 hours.
Hallett: 7 hours
Plus add in all of the dirt tracks like Knoxville, Boone, and others and it's not as horrible as I thought. Just the seasons are short.
z31maniac said:
My first thought was the Atlanta area.
I’d second that–or at least found a strong motorsports scene when I lived there. We had autocross, club racing, pro racing, rally, mountains, drag racing, oval, etc., etc.
The Boston area has gotten a lot better over the last few years:
Road courses: NHMS, Thompson, and Palmer (all within 2 hours), plus Lime Rock and the "private" Club Motorsports track in Tamworth, NH a little further out. Watkins Glen is about 6 hours away, as is NJMP.
Small oval tracks in CT (Stafford Springs, Thompson), MA (Seekonk), and NH (Hudson, Lee, Monadnock, and probably more)
Strong autocross programs from both SCCA and the marque clubs. Good rallycross program
Multiple clubs with active driving programs (SCCA, BMW CCA, PCA, COM, SCDA, etc., etc..)
In reply to frenchyd :
tbh I forgot watkins glen in my consideration. That's not that far from baltimore either.
Mid Atlantic may have some close tracks that take a LONG time to get through depending on where you're starting.
Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) said:
Mid Atlantic may have some close tracks that take a LONG time to get through depending on where you're starting.
Leaving from Fairfax to go to Summit Point one year. It took an hour just to get into Loudon county on 50. The struggle there is real.
goingnowherefast said:
Adrian_Thompson (Forum Supporter) said:
I honestly believe the Detroit Metropolitan area is the best place to live for motorsport and car culture.
Race tracks:
- Motorsports Gateway (Howell, MI - Open Summer 2023 - https://www.motorsportsgateway.com/)
- M1 Concourse (country club style, but track days and lots and lots of events)
- Waterford 40 mins
- Gratton, 2.5 hours
- Gingerman 2.75 hours
- Mid Ohio 3.25 hours
- Belle Isle / Detroit street circuit - Once a year Indy car and pro support series only
- within a half day drive
- Nelson ledges
- PIR
- Putnam park
Fixed the list :) We're getting another road course (Motorsports Gateway) in Howell, MI. It's going to be open this summer.
Nice, north 25 minutes to Grattan, south 1 hour to Gingerman, now 1.5 hours east to Motorsports Gateway. Yes, Michigan isn't bad for Motorsports, now if we could just get a couple more months of drive time vs wrench time.
In reply to frenchyd :
Well, I have been to both Watkins Glen and Road America, and Watkins Glen is number one on my list. Then VIR and Hallett are tied for 2nd.
Vegas has always had a very strong Motorsports history.
Barstow to Vegas, Reno to Vegas, Mint 400 among the many off road races.
We have 2 motocross tracks within an hour.
Locally is SCCA is Autocross & Time Trials.
We have two complexes both with multiple tracks; LVMS & Spring Mountain Motorsports. We have 8 tracks days a year locally, 4 at LVMS & 4 at SMMR.
If I had the dough to go short track late model racing, I'd move to Wisconsin, or thereabouts. Sweet Jesus, can you turn left a lot in that part of the world.
In reply to racerfink :
There is nothing like Elkhart Lake's turn 5 at Watkins Glen. While the carousel is somewhat similar to the last turn at Watkins Glen the Carousel at Elkhart Lake keeps going while Watkins Glen just flattens out leading to the finish line.
The Hurry Downs at Elkhart is a chance for a real racer to gain position and there is nothing similar at Watkins Glen.
I respect Watkins Glen and it is a faster circuit but doesn't have the same demands as Elkhart Lake.
Watkins Glen has too many parts of the track where you can just power by While if you try that on the straight going into Canada Corner the kink will eat you right up!!!
Plus the elevation change out of 5 into 6 rewards exit speed after the brake killing straight going into 5. Yet you can steal a position by going off line into 5 and block coming out of 5.
Turn 5 is the chess board of sports car racing.
Turn 14 leading to the main straight is another chess board move where a slower car can set up a faster car and beat him to the Checkered Flag.
frenchyd said:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
You are correct with regard to population density and with its race tracks. 80% of America's population is east of the Mississippi.
I will say that until you have been to Elkhart Lake you haven't been to a real wheel to wheel road race track. Not even Watkins Glen is as spectacular.
4 miles long!! 3 really serious straights. 14 corners. And the best race track food in the world.
Not to mention it's history. Since 1949 at Elkhart Lake and 1955 at the 4 mile track.
We have a closer track up in Brainerd. It's only 3 miles long but one really long straight leading to a banked corner that if you are a real racer can be flat out leading to the straight following. Only 12 corners. And without the elevation changes of Elkhart Lake.
Road America is the midwest's best track, but if you are going to turn this into a contest the Nurburgring Nordschleife wins.
