Got the new SportsCar magazine today and theyve got the 4th 'installment' of the ghost tracks article. I love reading about old racing. Thought you all might like to know, incase you werent looking close enough.

 

Those are cool articals, VIR was one of those tracks and they brought it back. Maby some more will come back to life?

 

There is a website devoted to a few of the midwest "ghost tracks" Meadowdale, Lynndale farms and Wilmot hills. VERY sad but cool!!
...redvetracr http://www.meadowdaleraceway.homestead.com/



[Modified by redvetracr, 11:29 PM 1/14/2004]

 

Great article.

Hopefully more tracks will come back like VIR

 

Thanks for the link redvet! i Noticed in the article that it said Bridgehampton is a ghost track too(obviously, just never dawned on me :rolleyes:) I would like to see that one come back. I never saw it raced on but my team driver/owner used to race it many times a year long before I came on board. I want to go and drive on the washed up course.

 

There is also a website devoted to Riverside, just type it into your search engine. ...redvetracr

 

I actually ended up on a site dedicated to saving the Bridgehampton track. I would really love to see that one brought back.

 

Same here. I live 50 miles from Bridgehampton and grew-up on that track. It was without any doubt, my favorite.
Mike

 

Heres the link ZR1.
http://www.savethebridge.org/
The town wants to build a golf course over it. Can't let that happen! tell your friends.

 

I am somewhat of an enthusiast of "Ghost Tracks" and realy was glad that SC did that article, I think it is the second one done by Sportcar. It is very good.

I am originally from Chicago and have been to Meadowdale many times with my father, who raced there. You can walk just about the enitre track as it is all a forest preserve now and protected. It is a track that I think would have been very fun to run, a little scary though.

Also when I lived in LA about two years ago I made the trip out to where Riverside used to be. I had visited the website metioned above and printed out all the old track maps and overlays, it was very cool. I spent the better part of a day walking around and getting my bearings straights. There was not much left and they were starting to build on the last part of the track that was left. The sign was still there. Took some pics.

Well, now I live in Boston and am close to NHIS, aka Bryar, and go up there several times a year. First time I went I tried to find the old track, I think that some of the service roads are in fact part of the old track, but not sure.

I still want to go out to "The Bridge" but it is a bit far. I did fly over it when coming home from Europe, you could see it from the plane on a clear day.

I think that the only real track that could be saved is the Bridge, but it would be very hard and very $$$. Plus, there I would guess would be some steep noise restrictions. You should see some of the houses around there!!

 

THawkbh
Thanks for the website. I didn't know it existed. This is fansastic. I did write letters etc in the 1998. I thought the track re-open was a lost cause. I will write letters and see what I can do.
Mike

 

Yeah, I didnlt know either untill the other day. Definately tell everyone who would be interested. You have a much louder voice on this than I do. I think I'll put the link in my signature so that everyone will see it.

 

bridgehampton was a great track...was....it is now a golf course and the track is gone...i raced the bridge for 10 years on a motorcycle and it really seperated the men from the boys...was also my favorite track. may it rest in peace

edit:

drew, i am sorry that i replied without knowing 100% that bridgehampton is a golf course...the greens and fairways are completed (the picture i saw a few years ago) but i guess its still being battled in court and they are fighting the building of the clubhouse which will really put an end to the fight...the latest news i can find is from january of 2003. so i guess its not dead yet. its still kicking but at the 11th hour of the fight ...
here is a pic of the golfcourse and you can see the track outline still..they are saying that they could rebuild the track (which was in need of repaving anyways back in 1997 or so) seems like a lot of money would be wasted on the golf course but if you do some searches of bridgehampton race track you will see that it was one of the finest tracks in the country at one time..again sorry for posting 100% when i was only 95% sure of the golf course being completed.....




[Modified by gsxrjack, 10:51 PM 1/20/2004]

 

That picture makes me sick. Its not a done deal. I like your statement "seperates the men from the boys. I did 145 to turn 1 and feather the brakes to turn 2 at 110.
Mike

 

yup, turns 1 and 2 really seperated the men/boys on the motorcycles...on a 600 hurricane i use to go through turn 1 right in that 140 -145 mph range and then use to downshift one gear :crazy: because of the speed that would be scrubbed off so that the bike would pull through 2...........best time on my 600 was 1minute 52secs....mostly ran in the 1:53-1:54 range...and i was 35 or so at the time so not bad for an old timer on a bike :cool:

the bridge was a nice old man track if you liked speed because there wasnt a lot of tight turns like loudon...it was sort of wide open and hang on :D

 

1:52 on a bike is some ride. I could do 1:56 all day, but could get down to 1:51. Could only do that pace for two laps before I would boil my brake fluid. That was with my 1970 Z28. My current car would do better and would never boil the fluid.
Running fast in turn 1 and scrubbing speed to turn 2 is what made that turn one of my favorites. The odd thing is that most people would over brake for turn 1 and hit the throttle going to turn 2 (boring).
Mike


[Modified by ZR1 MK, 1:58 PM 1/21/2004]

 

brakes??? oh ya i forgot , you car racers use brakes............. :jester hehe, couldnt help myself...i miss racing the bikes, but i dont miss ambulance rides, i think im gonna try some autocrossing in the vette this summer, should take care of my racing bug....im sure its gonna be weird at first but at least i have a pretty good knowledge of racing in general so that should help out a little.....be talking to ya :cheers: