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      05-17-2019, 03:30 PM   #1
Chris_PDX
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Major US City with multiple tracks nearby

Preferably somewhere that you could possibly run year round.

Let's assume you were moving and could live anywhere. I work from home and can do my job from anywhere. I'm the primary breadwinner, only caveat would be somewhere with a decently sized national airport.

Obviously this is going to skew more towards the SW or SE if we're talking year round track days, but let's assume that's not a hard requirement, more-so looking for a variety of track options within ~3 hours driving.

What say you, track nerds? Where would you live? Also, Portland, OR is excluded :P
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      05-17-2019, 03:32 PM   #2
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SF Bay Area:
Laguna Seca
Sonoma raceway
Thunderhill east and west.

Track days all year
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      05-17-2019, 03:41 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kpewpew View Post
SF Bay Area:
Laguna Seca
Sonoma raceway
Thunderhill east and west.

Track days all year

Don't forget that Buttonwillow is about a 4hr drive south too.
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      05-17-2019, 04:00 PM   #4
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Atlanta:
Road Atlanta
Atlanta Motorsports Park
Roebling Road (Just over 4 hours)
Barber
Carolina Motorsports Park (<5 hours)
NCM (<5 hours)
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      05-17-2019, 04:29 PM   #5
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Chicago is another tough one to beat, as it has multiple tracks within 3 hours. Problem is that you realistically only get early May through mid-October to drive. There are events in April but they can get canceled due to weather, like when Road America got several inches of snow...in late April.

Autobahn Country Club (this is really 3 tracks)
Road America
GingerMan (this is 2 tracks since it can be run in reverse)
Grattan
Putnam Park
Blackhawk Farms
Milwaukee Mile

If you push that radius to 6 hours, it adds:

Mid-Ohio
NCM Park
M1 Concourse
Waterford Hills
PittRace
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      05-17-2019, 04:39 PM   #6
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I recently moved to Dallas and the selection here is actually pretty good, and you get track days about 10.5 months out of the year (July/August are iffy, and a lot of track use late Dec/early Jan to do their resurfacing and construction). Here's what's within 3 hours:

Circuit of the Americas
Motorsport Ranch Cresson (this is really 4 tracks)
Motorsport Ranch Houston (also multiple tracks)
Eagle's Canyon (re-opening soon)
Hallett Motor Racing Circuit
Harris Hill
LG Motorsports Park (opening next year)
Texas Motor Speedway


I'm anxious for Eagle's Canyon to re-open, and to see what Lou does with LG Motorsports Park just north of Dallas. COTA is incredible and I love doing it, but the $500/day price ($400 if you do multi-day events) is tough to swallow when you also factor in hotel and such. Still, being able to drive on an actual Formula 1 track is quite humbling.
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      05-17-2019, 05:00 PM   #7
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Boston! Tracks in MA (1) Connecticut (2 I believe), NH (at least 3 that I know of)
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      05-17-2019, 05:10 PM   #8
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SoCal has:

Buttonwillow
Willow Springs
Streets of Willow
Auto Club Speedway
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway
Thermal (private club though)

all within about 3 hours. If you extend it out to 4-5 hours, you could also include:
Spring Mountain
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Likely whatever tracks are in the west side of Arizona as well.
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      05-17-2019, 05:33 PM   #9
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It's hard to recommend that people move to California, but we do have the best tracks and activities here.
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      05-17-2019, 05:36 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef View Post
It's hard to recommend that people move to California, but we do have the best tracks and activities here.
There is enough people here to deal with.
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      05-17-2019, 05:36 PM   #11
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Washington DC Metro area:

Summit Point - 3 tracks: ~1 hour
NJMP - 2 tracks: 3 hours
Watkins Glen: 5 hours
VIR: 4.5 hours
Lime Rock: 6 hours
Dominion Raceway: 1.5-2 hours
Pocono Raceway: ~3 hours
Pittsburgh International Raceway: 3 hours

There are a few more track: NYST, Monticello (open occasionally).
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      05-17-2019, 06:10 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparm View Post
I recently moved to Dallas and the selection here is actually pretty good, and you get track days about 10.5 months out of the year (July/August are iffy, and a lot of track use late Dec/early Jan to do their resurfacing and construction). Here's what's within 3 hours:

Circuit of the Americas
Motorsport Ranch Cresson (this is really 4 tracks)
Motorsport Ranch Houston (also multiple tracks)
Eagle's Canyon (re-opening soon)
Hallett Motor Racing Circuit
Harris Hill
LG Motorsports Park (opening next year)
Texas Motor Speedway


I'm anxious for Eagle's Canyon to re-open, and to see what Lou does with LG Motorsports Park just north of Dallas. COTA is incredible and I love doing it, but the $500/day price ($400 if you do multi-day events) is tough to swallow when you also factor in hotel and such. Still, being able to drive on an actual Formula 1 track is quite humbling.

Definitely seconding the Dallas, our options here are awesome! And all within very reasonable distances!

Also, the cost of living and homeownership here is MUCH lower than most places on this list
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      05-17-2019, 06:11 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef View Post
It's hard to recommend that people move to California, but we do have the best tracks and activities here.
I would probably recommend socal over norcal bay area. The cost of living up here is stupid, unless you make about $300k+, then its ok. I am probably the lowest income person in San Francisco, and being here is stupid. Once my ties to this place are gone, i am gone as well.
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      05-17-2019, 06:55 PM   #14
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LOS ANGELES is the only choice.

As someone else said, the cost of living in the bay area is fucking stupid. Lived their with my wife for 2 years, no kids, earning over $200k combined and it was not nearly enough
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      05-17-2019, 06:56 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelse92 View Post
Also, the cost of living and homeownership here is MUCH lower than most places on this list

Honestly, that is one of the biggest reasons I moved down here. Versus downtown Chicago, or even the Chicago suburbs, it's a lot cheaper and not dealing with winter was great.

We've got pretty good roads, too, so my car isn't getting completely beat to shit.
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      05-17-2019, 07:32 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SFCM3 View Post
I would probably recommend socal over norcal bay area. The cost of living up here is stupid, unless you make about $300k+, then its ok. I am probably the lowest income person in San Francisco, and being here is stupid. Once my ties to this place are gone, i am gone as well.
i wouldn't mind living in the carmel area. its on my radar for retirement. its not ridiculous, but plan on making $150k+ if you want to be comfortable. sounds ridiculous even saying that.
i'm more interested in carmel valley. you could buy a plot of land and have a custom home built. something like 1,700sqft with a six car garage. lol
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      05-17-2019, 07:52 PM   #17
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South Florida, Miami international is a large airport.
Homestead
Palm Beach International Raceway(PBIR)
2-3hrs north the famous Sebring Racetrack
5 hours north Daytona
May even be a track in the Tampa area, not sure though....
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      05-17-2019, 07:54 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef View Post
i wouldn't mind living in the carmel area. its on my radar for retirement. its not ridiculous, but plan on making $150k+ if you want to be comfortable. sounds ridiculous even saying that.
i'm more interested in carmel valley. you could buy a plot of land and have a custom home built. something like 1,700sqft with a six car garage. lol
that sounds awesome. im giving myself 2 more years up here is a can hack it, if my plan doesnt pan out im looking for a new state.
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      05-17-2019, 08:01 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SFCM3 View Post
that sounds awesome. im giving myself 2 more years up here is a can hack it, if my plan doesnt pan out im looking for a new state.
ever been? take a drive around there and have dinner one of these days. its pretty nice.
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      05-17-2019, 08:15 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparm View Post
Honestly, that is one of the biggest reasons I moved down here. Versus downtown Chicago, or even the Chicago suburbs, it's a lot cheaper and not dealing with winter was great.

We've got pretty good roads, too, so my car isn't getting completely beat to shit.
Haha exactly! I’m near downtown, so can’t say the same necessarily about the roads. But everything else is great. Can’t beat the home prices, I’ve got clients moving here in droves from California.
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      05-17-2019, 09:29 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PKL View Post
LOS ANGELES is the only choice.

As someone else said, the cost of living in the bay area is fucking stupid. Lived their with my wife for 2 years, no kids, earning over $200k combined and it was not nearly enough
Can confirm, even if one has ~$200k total comp as a single person it is ruff. Would probably need ~$350-500k total comp to really be "comfortable" - meaning a life of owning a nice condo of relatively new construction in downtown, having 2 cars, one tracked heavily and one daily, and a full normal life of comfort in food, nice things, etc.
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      05-17-2019, 10:13 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kpewpew View Post
Can confirm, even if one has ~$200k total comp as a single person it is ruff. Would probably need ~$350-500k total comp to really be "comfortable" - meaning a life of owning a nice condo of relatively new construction in downtown, having 2 cars, one tracked heavily and one daily, and a full normal life of comfort in food, nice things, etc.
We're in that range, but my salary is 3.5x more than my wife's currently. And we have 4 cars total, and want to get a few more lol. Definitely not the condo life.

She's from San Diego so wants to go back, but goddamn the cost of living compared to where we are now. Our current house would be $1.5-$1.6m in San Diego or LA.
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