Everett Ogilvie

Or to be more accurate for me, Retirement Track Days.

Recently a friend and I were talking about our cars, and how much we hate work..... that's a whole 'nother topic right there - and he asked me where I was planning on retiring. I guess I always assumed it would be in this part of the country (the southwest) but as he pointed out, I am traveling long distances to get to the "cool" tracks and he said I had to move somewhere closer to more tracks. A week later he asked me if I had decided yet and of course I had not even really thought about it, but now I am (because of how pushy my bud is!).

The big question is - in "retirement" can I even afford to do some number of track days per year; this assumes I still own the car, the truck, the trailer, and can afford the expenses.

The next part of the equation is the cost of living in any given area, and most importantly - is there a part of the country with some tracks fairly close, that has a reasonable cost of living. For example, WHO can afford to live near Laguna Seca..... not me.

Next I suppose is - WHO likes cold weather..... Autobahn, Road America, Mid Ohio, Watkins Glen are all appealing but man that winter is a drag.

So, what do you guys think about retirement, racing, track days, cost of living, and the "best" area of the country?

drivinhard

everybody will chime in with their part of the country being the best but I have lived in 3 different states (and visited 49) and it's hard to beat the southeast for cost of living/track availability and near year round access to tracks. Any residence in the GA/SC/NC/VA area's is good cost of living, and you've got from summit point to sebring fla to pick from, with VIR, Road Atlanta, Atlanta Motorsports Park, Carolina Motorports Park, Charlotte, Roebling, Barber, etc all within a few hrs. Watkins Glen, Mid Ohio, Limerock, and Road America (maybe Mosport) within 1 day drive if you can swing a longer tow.

I love central/southern VA (have lived there) and NC and parts of SC, and north GA.

parkerracing

If you buy a garage at one of the motorsports country clubs you can ditch the truck and trailer, but you better REALLY like the track. A doublewide close by and spend the kids inheritence doing what you enjoy. /:\

eogel

I am retired in Raleigh, NC and agree with drivinhard. Great access to all of the tracks he listed, and VIR is a one hour and 15 minute tow. Within 6 hrs drive are several good to great tracks.

AU N EGL

Plus the Ocean is close a too.

redtopz

How do you define "near"? Laguna Seca is about 2 hours from my house. Same for Infineon and Buttonwillow. Thunderhill and Willow Springs are 3-4 hours away. Housing prices have plummeted here so you can buy houses cheaper than you could have in the past 20 years. Some areas of CA are very affordable and others are outrageously expensive. The weather is great and we have a 12 month track season out here. From my house I can drive 2 hours east for snow skiing in the Sierras or 2 hours west for surfing at the beach.

Everett Ogilvie

Good input guys, let's hope more folks chime in - the more areas of the country we hear from the better!

In my mind I have always hoped I could afford one of those trackside garages somewhere for retirement, one always has to have a dream/goal, right?

c4cruiser

I've been "retired" for some years now (work part time) and I have found that it's much easier to plan for doing track days and autocross events. Fortunately there are 5 road courses within a day's drive for me:
Portland Int'l Raceway is 2 hours away
Pacific Raceways (Seattle area) is a 45 minute drive
Oregon Raceway Park is a 3 hour drive
Spokane Raceway is about 5 hours.
And a new track (The Ridge Motorsports Park) that just opened this year is a 30 minute drive away.
Thunderhill is an easy overnight trip.

The big thing to figure out is how much you want to spend on track days. Most track day/HPDE events around here can run $250 to $300 per day depending on the hosting organization and if the event is on a weekend or a weekday.

With living the Pacific Northwest, there is a expectation of rain so I consider new windshield wiper blades to be "speed equipment" so it's a budget item

I just bought a new enclosed trailer so I can now "justify" doing more track days

Living expenses in the Pacific Northwest can be moderate depending on where you want to be. Obviously big cities like Seattle and Portland will cost more to live. But move out beyond the suburbs and things like home costs can drop drastically along with lower property taxes. Oregon has a state income tax but WA does not; WA has a sales tax that is 10% in the Seattle area and around 8.5% elsewhere, but Oregon has no sales tax.

IMHO you can't beat the area for what is available here; fishing, hunting, skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. If you like the outdoors, this is the area

z06801

Utah is nice and cheap to live. Alot of cool people at Miller to race and run with, but you have to hang up the Sparco suit and trade it for skis or a snowboard though Dec to March

gmccreary

I was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island for 7 years when I was in the Navy. I agree, the Pacific Northwest is a beautiful area and I would love to move back someday. My wife is a Georgia Peach and she does not cotton to the idea. Anything below 60 degrees and she freezes.

SouthernSon

and they would probably have no idea what you mean by, "cotton to the idea".

AU N EGL

Buy a condo at VIR

http://experiencevir.com/lodging/villas.php

Everett Ogilvie

Tom, are those time-shares, or are permanent ownership facilites or lots also available?

Joy of 6

I live walking distance to Portland race track and also much closer to Thunderhill, Laguna, Sears, etc. One important item not mentioned yet is that I have a working wife. So when she comes home from work there is the cigar and glass of wine waiting for her as well as the smell of a dinner on the stove so she is happy, then the opportunity for me to do track days is immensely justified for me to get some "time off" from my home duties. We both win!!

jlutherva

If it were not for other constraints, I would move to East Tennessee. Low cost property, low property taxes, no state income tax, low gas prices, lotsa tracks within 4-5 hours and no friggin front license plate! Sales tax is higher than the norm.

Check out the motor homes on EBay!


Jim

bosco022

How about Central Florida (Daytona),........... Sebring, Daytona Intl, PBIR, Homestead, Roebling, Road Atlanta, Atlanta Motorsport Park, Carolina MSP, VIR, Charlotte within 10 minutes to 10 hours.

Year round racing, no state income tax

AU N EGL

Permanent.

No lots at this time. Come with a one car garage, but there are other garages over in the motorplex area as wll

Condos are on the left side of the up hill esses after you go under the bridge ( red brick )

http://vimeo.com/20208440

MJM

How much do those run? I've emailed and called before, never get a response. They must know what my paycheck is.

Thanks.

AU N EGL

IIRC Mid $400Ks

drivinhard