It's getting closer. The planning board must have approved the zoning changes last night. The county commissioners just need to put their rubber stamp on the zoning changes to allow amateur motorsports.

This news release was posted on the colorado SCCA web site.

http://www.coloradoscca.org/HighPlains_PressRelease.pdf

Now the real fun begins with fundraising once the county commissioners approve.

For other up to date info once it gets rolling, here is the site for the new track/cama
http://www.camplaps.org/

 

Sweet! Looks like everything is coming together.

 

Thanks for passing this along - it's a pretty significant update to what we had seen before. I'll be curious to see if CAMA reaches their fund-raising goal within their stated timeframe.

The track layout looks 'interesting', although it's hard to tell how it will flow without seeing the elevation changes and where they occur.

Between this track and Genoa, we might soon find ourselves with an embarrasment of riches (though it would be a nice problem to have).

Keep us posted, Darrel.

 

new site is up, and is has everything you want to know about the track.

topographical layout of the track etc.

http://hpr.lighthouseclients.com/

 

Man that looks pretty! I hope it all pans out and we can get some time on it, people are gonna be fighting to use a brand new track, espically one within an hours drive of denver...

 

What is Genoa?

Thanks Darrel for keeping us all appraised of CAMA's plans. I was skeptical when I first heard of CAMA's plans for a new track when SCR closed down, but it looks like everything is moving toward a great outcome. Do you know how much the ZCCC has contributed to this, and how involved has NASA & SCCA been?
Will

 

Genoa is a country club style track facility south of Genoa colorado. CAMA has nothing to do with Genoa.

http://www.genoamotorsports.com/

HIGH PLAINS RACEWAY

The main clubs involved are the ones that make up CAMA(colorado amateur motorsports association)--Porsche, SCCA, MRA(motorcycle), RMVR(vintage), MCCA(multi car club alliance-- audi, alpha, bmw, viper, lotus, shelby, mercedes, z club)

$50K was asked from each of the 5 clubs involved. As a member of the MCCA the z club contributed $8K.

Everything is covered on the high plains track site. Along with a history of CAMA and a business plan for the preliminary name of "east of eden".

 

I'm strongly considering donating a good chunk of change, even though I am not associated with any club (nor do I really want to be)

I wonder what the usage is going to be like; clubs only, or open track days, or what..

Course looks like a lot of fun!

Dave

 

To add on to what Darrel said, and to hit the high points, the track at Genoa is being built by a couple of racers with some serious business connections and ambitious plans. One of the principals involved is NASA Rocky Mountain's chief driving instructor. Although that track is not being built in partnership with NASA, I would suspect that his close relationship with that organization will lead to several exciting NASA events at that facility.

As for the track itself, it is 2 separate 3+ mile tracks that can be combined into one long 6+ mile track, and any configuration can be run in both directions, so that's really 6 brand new tracks, each of which seems to have a very interesting, unique layout (including 115 feet of elevation change)!

The track's location (about 2 hours east of Denver, just south of I-70) should be a big advantage when compared with Pueblo or La Junta, as it will be easily accessible from pretty much anywhere in the Midwest, and a very easy drive from Denver.

While that track is a for-profit business (in contrast with the CAMA track, which will be run a little more like Second Creek), I have confidence that the rental fees will be reasonable (significantly less than the $15,000 per day rate that Miller Motorsports Park in Utah charges for clubs), although that's really just a guess on my part, given what I've heard and managed to piece together. Also, Genoa's setup and operating model is to allow the 'country club' members access to one of the 2 tracks on any given day, while allowing rental access to the other half. This should help them to avoid the problems that other country-club-type tracks around the country have experienced, where the members get frustrated at so many 'open to the public' days, while the public gets frustrated at so many 'members-only' days. In fact, I hear that they are advertising heavily to members of the Autobahn track in Chicago, whose members have the means to store their car at the track in Genoa and fly in on the weekends, and are apparently disappointed in several aspects of what their money has bought them at the Chicago track.

If I sound high on Genoa, it's because I am, but not at the expense of the CAMA track. I'm excited about both tracks, and I think that their opposite plans for operation means that they'll be less in competition with each other than it might seem at first. I think that the real loser from all of this will be La Junta (although that city could probably care less).

As to SCCA/NASA involvement, I believe that SCCA has had zero involvement in the Genoa facility, but have had some involvement (maybe even significant involvement) in the CAMA track (some interesting reading at http://www.coloradoscca.org/phpBB2/v...ic.php?t=2128), and vice versa for NASA, given that NASA's chief instructor is the main force behind the Genoa effort, even though no formal endorsement has been made or implied.

 

Gary's summary is right on. What needs to be added to the High Plains Raceway info is the bigger economic picture. Despite having a good 'nest egg' to start from, CAMA is going to need much more $$$ then what has been collected thus far. As a SCCA/NASA member, I expect to get hit up pretty hard. Once the final zoning approvals are in, Expect to see a push for the final fund raising so that construction can start this fall.

If that gets done, a winterlong curing of the asphalt could have us on a great new track by next year. Kudos to Darrel for tracking the progress and giving us updates!

 

I was really hoping the new track would have ended up a little closer to the Springs, like maybe east of Castle Rock or SE of Parker. Of course, that property is worth a large fortune with all the growth we've seen along the front range, so who could afford to build a track there and still keep the neighbors from closing it down? Oh well, I'll contribute and hope to find a shortcut to the track that doesn't go through, or near, Denver. The Genoa track is really out there, kind of like what you Denver guys have to do for driving to PMI for road course kicks.
Will

 

Way to go Gary and Darrel! You guys are certainly in-the-know. Thanks for sharing.

Gary, regarding your comments on La Junta. I'm sure I mentioned this already, but at our last NASA event there, it was intimated to me (by a senior regional official) that NASA may not return to that track in the future. The MRA has already given up on La Junta too. The reasons cited have been location and the apparent lack of track management.

Hopefully these new tracks will be more attentive to their customers and offer reasonable rental fees. Their relative locations and unique track designs sound very appealing. Exciting times for us enthusiasts. Keep us posted!

Joel

 

SCR and HPR comparison.

 

Are those images shown at the same scale?

 

It's very close to being scale. I took the image of the new track from the cama site and was able to match it up on google earth. The square mile fence lines were very close +- 10' maybe. 17758' eye altitude on google earth.

 

I'm currently writing an article about HPR for SportsCar magazine and did some research. At this point in the fundraising for HPR, the bigger the contribution, the better the perks. Since I've already decided to step up with a significant contribution, I'm wondering if other 350Z pilots want to join me in an informal collective to gain the biggest sum we can raise?

 

I remember that you mentioned that, and it looks like NASA RM has already cancelled their fall date at La Junta and replaced it with another date at PMI. I'll be sad to see La Junta fade into the eastern Colorado prairie, if that happens, as it's pair of high-speed turns (T1 & T3) are always a lot of fun (and it's T1 is apparently well-known on a national level, as even some racers back east have apparently heard of it as being one of the highest-speed turns in the country, and the quick lap times at La Junta means that you get to experience it a lot more often during a session than, say, the Kink at Road America, or T11 at Miller Motorsports Park).

The previous track manager was easy to work with and always helpful at our events, although the flip side of that is that he might have been a bit too easy-going, given last year's tragedy, and his replacement just doesn't seem to care.

 

I will check the z club box when I send in my $100. Not much, but at least I'll get a sticker, patch and a fun track to drive on. I might even break it down to 2 $50 donations for 2 patches and 2 stickers for my 2 z cars. ;-)


I'm sure a group of 350z guys can get $1k together, enough for a 4x8 inscribed brick. That would be nice for me too, but I don't have that much cash on hand to donate that amount.

Before anyone says anything about throwing money towards a track that might not be built, READ THE HPR WEB SITE. They will not start building the track until they have met the minimum set of goals they have set.

 

To add to what Darrel is saying, if HPR runs into any type of deal killer, CAMA will REFUND all of the Capital Campaign funds back to the donor(s). I don't expect that to happen, however!

 

Wow, this is exciting news guys. I like the idea that Dave have for getting all the Z owners together and do a fundraiser. I wonder if James is willing to put together something from the MilehighZ.com club.

Also, looking at the topo map, it looks like T6 into T7 will be fun. (going right to left and after the longest straight) Granted the topo doesn't have degrees of elevation changes, it still looks very interesting.

Also look at the last 3 turns before the padlock. It almost seems if you can take it starting far left and shoot hard and downhill into the straight.

Sorry, guys, I'm just getting very excited.