As most folks know, the land on which Second Creek Raceway (SCR) sits on has been sold. While there is a chance that zoning and licensing will be resolved for 2005, the fact remains that SCR will soon be part of motorsports history. Front range car enthusiasts and racers will have to do some planning NOW if we hope to have a local track in our near future.

There's a new group developing the Colorado Amateur Motorsports Park (CAMP), which is in the process of planning the new track(s). As I understand it, this group (made up of many members of SCCA and the old Colorado Motorsports Council) has already put down a sizable deposit on some land immediately east of SCR and north of DIA. They have a bare-bones website up to offer more info about the potential of this new facility: www.camplaps.org

As you'll see, two track layouts are proposed and two events could be run on a single day. Some talented people have put a lot of time and $$ behind this plan, but the hangup is the funding. Current estimates are running in the $4M range, with a cool million due towards the end of the year to obtain land. CAMP does not have any internal funding to pull this off and is appealing to all enthusiast groups for some help.

As an SCCA racer, I've already been tapped to provide some serious bucks for this effort. Serious bucks means a $700-800 contribution this year, with maybe some sweat equity later on. I'd propose that our small Z group (in conjunction with BSpeed) consider taking up a small, voluntary fund at each of our events to support this cause. What's appropriate? How about as little as $5-10/person to start with.

If this is acceptable, I'll check with the SCCA/CAMP representative and see what/when the best way to donate this money will be. Unfortunately, we can't count this money towards future track rentals (or entry fees), but we can help ensure that the one viable plan goes forward. Also, there is no guarantee that this plan will even come to fruition (after all, I don't know any millionaires who would fund it). But if we don't try, we will be missing out on supporting what is- IMHO- the best chance of having a close track to play on in the future...

 

David,

Thanks for the details on CAMP, and the fate of SCR. I don't mind contributing to any endeavor that seeks to secure a place for us to continue to have as much fun at racing as we currently enjoy. To have that enjoyment snapped away from us will scar me for the rest of my life!!!

However, I do hope that someone is going to track how much money each club has donated. I wouldn't want to see a sizable amount of cash end up in someone else's retirement fund, should the deal go south... if you know what I mean.

Cheers...!

 

Don, you make an excellent point. At this point CAMP is seeking just enough money to make it to phase 2 of the plan (buying the land). They haven't offered any alternates at this point if the current site turns out to be unfeasible. I'll look into how they will track the money being raised by each group, but CAMP is big on running the operation in a business-like manner, so we should ask for some assurances against fraud.