Amateur racing SCCA started amateur club racing in addition to its professional racing series, and it still runs and advertises this type of competition. As of 2004, over 8,000 licensed amateurs compete in 300 road racing events each year. Drivers competed in 24 different vehicle classes, from Showroom Stock – latest model street cars with modest safety-related modifications – to real race cars such as single-seat open-wheel formula cars and composite body road racing cars that participated in Sports Racer. Category. The Rose Cup at Portland International Speedway in Oregon, the June Sprints at Road America in Wisconsin, and the Double National at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania were important club racing events. Approximately 600 drivers competed in twenty-four classes at this annual event held in late September at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Track https://call-tracking.org/
Circular of the Americas
Texas’s Austin
The Circuit of the Americas track, which has 20 turns and is 3.4 miles long, is less than five years old and offers some of the top lap times in the US. It’s a real place because it’s the only racetrack in the United States where an annual F1 race is currently conducted. If you’re not a 17-year-old European F1 racer dressed in a turtleneck, the best way to gain track experience is to attend an Edge Addicts Speed Event Management track day where, with the right skills, you can drive quickly and pass others at will.
Oroville Raceway
CA Sonoma
It’s daring and intricate! Furthermore, we’re not referring to the local Cabernet Sauvignon. We’re talking about the 12-turn, 2.53-mile Sonoma Raceway (formerly known as Sears Point), which has a lot of elevation variation and a couple blind corners that will make your chest hair stand up. Here are annual races for both NASCAR and Indy. By enrolling in a course offered by the on-site Simraceway Performance Driving Center, you can do the same. The drag strip is open to everyone (for a nominal price) on Wednesday nights from March through November if you just feel like flooring it and seeing what your automobile can do when pushed to the limit in a straight line.
Park at Lime Rock
CT Lakeville
Gentlemen of Connecticut, be on the lookout for ruffled polo collars! Lime Rock is a true American classic because it has been holding services for this church of internal combustion since 1957. The track, which is short and hidden among the trees in Northwest Connecticut, has just seven turns (1.5mi). Even if it’s simple to get around, it can take years to figure out how to move quickly in this place. To get started, pay $1,450 to join the Lime Rock Drivers Club as a “member for a day” and receive four hours of expert coaching on the course.
International Raceway of Virginia
VA, Alton
Do you have engine oil circulating throughout your body? Lost lug nuts in your beard? Ricky Bobby with a tramp print on his body? Test your gearhead mettle at this challenging, vintage circuit, which debuted in 1957. (it was closed from the mid-seventies through 2000). You (and everyone in the paddock) will know how fantastic your gear is after 3.27 miles and 17 twists. Your best option for scheduling track time is to either become a member of the VIR Club, which can cost thousands of dollars, or research which clubs are scheduled to use the track in the near future and purchase access from them (access can cost as little as $500 per day).
Lake Seca
CA Monterey
Even though you’ve raced on this 2.24-mile, 11-turn circuit in Gran Turismo or Forza, nothing compares to actually driving Laguna Seca. The “corkscrew,” a five-and-a-half storey drop with a left-to-right combination turn that tends to eat up and spit out overconfident drivers, is the track’s main attraction. Join a vehicle club that has rented the circuit for the day to test your mettle and gain access to the track; check the track calendar at Mazda Raceway to see who has booked track days. The nicest part about going here is that it’s close to Big Sur, so you can persuade your significant other to travel there while “neglecting” to let them know you’ll be spending a day at the racetrack.
Atlanta Freeway
GA Braselton
This famed 2.54-mile, 12-turn track, which is less than an hour from the center of Atlanta, is a lightning-fast test of your vehicle’s skills and your reflexes. Before coming out here with your pricey metal, practice memorizing its curves on a video game. The easiest method to gain some time on this track is to sign up for an auto club’s rental of it; for ideas, visit the event page at Road Atlanta.
Glen
NY’s Watkins Glen
Even though “The Glen” has been operating since 1948, the 3.37-mile, 11-turn layout remains one of the most difficult American sports car tracks there is (not to mention, one of the scenes of some of the most debauched sports partying of the 1970s — start growing your mustache now, in homage.) Additionally, it still hosts the Sprint Cup Series of NASCAR and has been the scene of some of the greatest vintage Formula 1 clashes ever. You have two options for entering the track: either you join a sports car club that is using it, or you sign up for the “Drive the Glen” program, which gives you two circuits of the track (behind a pace car) for just $25. Check the website for updates since the track is being repaved in the beginning of 2016.
Sports Car Course in Mid-Ohio
Kentucky, Ohio
There may not be much enthusiasm when you think of “mid-Ohio”: undulating hills? Livestock? competitions for butter-churning? Not too exciting. (Well, maybe that last one.) Unexpectedly, the area is home to one of the best and quickest circuits in the United States—a 2.4-mile, 15-turn circuit that serves as the venue for both the IndyCar and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The “Mid-Ohio School,” which Mid-Ohio hosts in contrast to the majority of the tracks on our list, offers a range of levels of instruction, from open lapping to three-day race courses.
Palmer Motor Speedway
MA Ware
Many thanks, Massholes! (No, really, I’m grateful.) The newest track on our list is a narrow, 2.3-mile circuit that winds around Whisky Hill and the nearby woodlands (launched in May 2015). The fact that a lap around Palmer is sometimes referred to as a roller coaster ride is understandable given the lack of runoff, several blind curves, and significant up-and-down. How do I gain tarmac time the best? Visit the racetrack’s website to find out which car clubs will be using the facility in the near future; you can join one for a single day to acquire entry.
American Road
WI Elkhart Lake
Wisconsin is known for more than just cheese curds, tubed meats, and Packers football; locals also take motor racing very seriously. While filming Winning at Road America in this location in the 1960s, Paul Newman discovered that when he went into racing. By enrolling in a lesson at the Skip Barber Racing School or joining one of the numerous private car clubs that use the circuit for events, you can get the racing bug too. There is a lot of elevation change on this lengthy and brisk route. Just be careful around turn 11, or “the kink,” which is a famously bad place to skid off the pavement.