http://www.projo.com/projocars/content/ca-...0U.27898ff.html
The Providence Journal
At a Sports Car Club of America event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Chuck Hemmingson proves his all-wheel-drive Subaru WRX Sti can handle the inside line as his teammates follow.
At an event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Niki Coello in his Van Dieman RF01 is on his way to winning the 2005 SCCA National Championship Runoffs only to back that up in 2006 with a second championship in the Formula Continental class.
The racetrack that couldn’t cross the finish line in Hopkinton a year ago appears ready to get the checkered flag in Palmer, Mass., providing some 400 weekend auto racers with a venue they can call their own.
A group formed by the New England Region of the Sports Car Club of America has signed a purchase and saleagreement for a 658-acre tract in Palmer, which is between Worcester and Holyoke. About 250 acres of the parcel are in Ware, Mass., but the development would be limited to Palmer.
“We are hoping for approval by the end of the year,” said project director Dick Patullo of Monson, Mass. “Construction could start in 2007 and the best scenario would be that we would be on the track in the spring of 2008.” He said that, unlike Hopkinton, Palmer has been receptive to the plan.
Louis Gingerella of North Stonington, Conn. withdrew plans last November for a similar proposal at Exit 2 off Route 95 in Hopkinton. At the time, he said his group was keeping its options open. But this was not about finding a use for the land in Hopkinton; it was about finding a home course for club races and rallies for drivers who consider this a hobby.
Gingerella, a Westerly native, teaches finance at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. and was the front man for the SCAA’s Rhode Island effort. He races a Mazda RX7. “If anything, I have to fault myself for not doing as good a job as I could have,” in selling the idea, he said.
Casual observers may not realize that the course is not a typical race track and that spectators are not part of the plan. “Think of it as a country road,” said Patullo. “The track will be two miles, with about 10 or 11 turns along the line, with different speeds and ratios on each turn. It would be 40 feet wide. It’s sort of like Grand Prix racing. And we’re not looking to sell spectator tickets; we’re not building spectator facilities. People are welcome to come, but it’s just that very few show up.”
Patullo says that Lime Rock tries to promote the club’s season finale, the North Atlantic Road Race Championship, as a spectator event, “but all we ever get is the Boy Scout jamboree that’s there every year.” And there is no prize money involved — the drivers are in it for trophies and jackets.
“Would you go to see me play golf on a weekend? It’s the same sort of thing, fairly participant driven,” Patullo said. Like greens fees in golf, drivers pay a fee to drive. “The SCCA has a positive cash flow from its events,” Patullo said. “But we don’t expect to fund it alone. We’re looking for other clubs and enthusiasts to participate and use the facility.”
The idea is that the race course could be used by other groups to hold race events, or to test vehicles, or for driver education courses and other types of training, as well as automotive research and development. It would also include some support buildings, such as a snack shop and restrooms, a paved area about 500 feet by 1,000 feet for driving training and product demonstrations, and low-speed time-trial events, known as autocrosses. Less than 4 percent of the site would be paved and only 15 percent would be developed, the SCCA says.
So, Patullo says, the impact would be minimal. “In club racing there are no traffic jams, no RV convoys. On a big weekend we might see 200 competitors and a total of 1,000 people.” Most events, he said, would be smaller. For the town of Palmer, it means more than $50,000 in taxes every year and a minimal drain on services. The facility would provide its own water, septic, medical and accident-response resources.
As for noise, Gingerella says that sound levels are kept at 100 decibels. The Palmer site is in a rural residence zone.
The SCCA has been holding events at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Conn., and New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, N.H, and going to tracks in New York and New Jersey when they can get dates. Both New England tracks have waiting lists for groups that want to rent, and Patullo says there has been an upward trend in participation in the last few years.
More tracks would be welcome. “As a racer, I’m always looking for a different track to ride on,” Gingerella said. “Even in a state the size of Rhode Island, there are still places to put one. But there are some stereotypes in place. Take a look at some of the tracks throughout the country and there is resistance to letting one open. But once it’s open, there are many benefits. It turns out they are very good neighbors.”
Patullo agrees. “In our planning it always comes up, what if someone else beats us to the punch? I say we declare victory and move ahead.”
The New England Region of the Sports Car Club of America has about 6,000 members, the second-largest region in the country, behind the San Francisco Bay area. Members who don’t race often participate in trackside specialties such as flagging and communications, marshals or starters. Some are stewards, timers or scorers. Single membership is $85 a year, $95 for families. The SCAA provides staff at every major road racing event from CART to IMSA to Formula One.
Among the Rhode Islanders involved are Pat Travers of Cranston, who keeps track of new driver licensing and is points keeper, and Dick Babcock of Woonsocket, who is pit chief. Mark Goodale of Blackstone, Mass. is chairman of the Solo racing division board.
For more information, go to NER.org or SCCA.org
