I hate the roval at Charlotte. It is dangerous imho.
I would LOVE to see a dedicated road course at Charlotte.
I hope they build this!
Photography by J.A. Ackley
At the dinner preceding the Smith Heritage Invitational, Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Greg Walter revealed plans for a new road course in the works for the facility.
The road course will consist of one long circuit and two shorter ones, with details on actual sizes and configurations still being ironed out.
For a facility that has a speedway, a dirt track, a dragway, a Roval and a paved short track, Walter said this is just one more way to use the grounds for motorsports and car enthusiasts.
“The track is active 1400 days a year,” Walter said. “There’s a lot of activity here. The only time I know we’re closed is Christmas morning, because I’m up at Christmas night.”
While the Roval qualifies as a road course, Charlotte Motor Speedway feels it needs to add the new track to its portfolio.
“The Roval is a very technical course,” said Walter. “The turns are tight. You miss a turn, it’s not very forgiving.”
Alex Wurz, a former Formula 1 driver, will help design the new track.
The new road course is currently geared toward building the Smith Heritage Invitational as a Goodwood-style event, as well as a track for club members. However, Walter added that they’re considering bringing in outside groups as well, but those plans are not finalized yet.
[Plans for a Goodwood-style festival at Charlotte revealed]
Walter said they expect to break ground within the next 90 days and competition would happen within a year of that date.
I hate the roval at Charlotte. It is dangerous imho.
I would LOVE to see a dedicated road course at Charlotte.
I hope they build this!
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Yep, I won't drive the roval. Way too many concrete walls for my tastes.
“The track is active 1400 days a year,” Walter said.
Say what?
I'm trying to get on track for the first time this summer, and a TNiA at Charlotte is the closest and most affordable thing to me. It'll be fun to drive on a real NASCAR circuit, but I'm glad they'll have a dedicated sports car course soon.
In reply to drock25too :
I think he is suggesting multiple tracks can function as independent Bernie's on the same day..... assuming someone has the moolah to book it.
Pansies. Without the chicanes, the roval is one of the most fun tracks I've raced. And for a real blast, try it in the rain. My first SCCA National win came there in the rain. I LOVE the place.
I felt like this came out a while back
In reply to drock25too :
They work through lunch lol
RussMyers said:Pansies. Without the chicanes, the roval is one of the most fun tracks I've raced. And for a real blast, try it in the rain. My first SCCA National win came there in the rain. I LOVE the place.
Having won a SCCA National you're driving is going to be beyond 98% of the people who run that track. Having seen the in car videos I get why people wouldn't want to run there. Sure it looks fun to me but I'm keenly aware that my being an ex motorcycle road racer makes my threshold much higher.
As for the new road courses............I think it's great to see a new track being built.
In reply to J.A. Ackley :
Is anyone aware of any updates on this? I've googled and googled, but can't find anything new.
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