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04-11-2007, 10:55 PM | #1 |
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More info found about new race track in Northern California
I was quite surprised to read an update about this new track near Merced, Ca. in my local Western Canada news paper the leader-post. I was unable to copy and past anything from my local source but after some surfing managed to find and copy this from the internet to share.
Log-In .: Register Apr 11, 2007 Log-In Register Community Cares MRO Message Board Red Trailer Brutal Groove Classifieds Fantasy Racing Sponsor Soundoff RW Updates Polls News RacingInsider State of Our Sport Race Results Point Standings Schedule Near Live The Drivers The Tracks Event Photos Weather Submit a Release Contact RW Advertise on RW RUSTY WALLACE JOINS FORCES WITH RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK IN MERCED COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Date: 04/05/2007 News Index .: Print the article .: Discuss the article ?Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC (RMP) and Rusty Wallace Inc. (RWI), announced that the two companies have entered into a five-year agreement that enlists NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace as a consultant in the development and construction of Riverside Motorsports Park in Merced County, CA. The terms of the agreement call for the 1989 NASCAR Premier Series Champion to provide track-design enhancement engineering to the eight world-class motorsports venues within the RMP facility, which was approved for construction in December 2006. Originating as RMP Founder and CEO John Condren?s concept for the future of motorsports in California in August 2000, and first announced as a development proposal on 12 August 2003, Riverside Motorsports Park will include 8 different motorsports venues, offering 15 race tracks within a single recreation and entertainment park: Northern California?s first world-class oval speedway (length: 7/8-mile) for all major stock car and open-wheel racing series A 3.2-mile road course for sports cars, endurance and open-wheel racing (closely replicating the world-famous Riverside International Raceway, which closed in 1988) A 1/4-mile (5,000-foot total length) drag strip An integrated 1/3- and 1/2-mile, banked paved oval tracks for stock cars and sprint cars A 3/8-mile dirt oval track for motorcycle, stock car, sprint and midget racing A 3/4-mile karting course (for sprint and shifter karts) 1/2-mile motocross and 1/8-mile BMX courses A 1-mile off-road course for trucks, buggies, rally cross cars, etc. ?We are extremely pleased and very excited that Rusty Wallace will be joining the Riverside Motorsports Park team. His 30 years of professional motorsports experience will significantly aid the refinement of each race track within Riverside Motorsports Park. Although Rusty is known for his expertise on paved oval tracks, his knowledge of, and experience on, road courses is among the best,? said John Condren. ?Rusty will be a great asset for us in the development of the Speedway, our short-tracks, road course and even our kart course. We look forward to highlighting each venue as a Rusty Wallace-designed track.? ?Riverside Motorsports Park is definitely one of the most unique design concepts in recent motorsports history,? noted Rusty Wallace, ?and it?s definitely a project with which I am very excited to join forces. My first design project, Iowa Speedway, resulted in the development of one of the best oval tracks in the country. Riverside Motorsports Park will be a world-class facility as well. It?s a great next step for me and Rusty Wallace, Inc. as we grow our track design business. I really look forward to working with John. There is a world class team in place at Iowa Speedway, led by Brad Manatt (principal owner of Iowa Speedway), Stan Clement (Iowa Speedway president) and Andy Vertrees (Chief Operating Officer at Iowa Speedway). I share John?s vision for Riverside Motorsports Park and hope to assemble the same type of world-class team there. I?m looking forward to a successful opening day for the Riverside facility.? The RMP-RWI connection was made through Paxton Waters Architect, AIA, who will partner with Wallace on the Riverside project after previously teaming with Wallace to design Iowa, which opened in 2006 to tremendous industry and public acclaim. While Iowa Speedway and the largest oval at the Riverside facility will share the same size at 7/8-mile, the two tracks will each have their own unique design characteristics. The California State environmental impact report process, which took 4-1/2 years, was finally completed by the Merced County Board of Supervisors on December 19, 2006. ?It took a while for us to get our approvals,? commented John Condren. ?However, our team never lost focus. We have been tenacious, well supported by both our investors and the Merced County community and we are fully committed. With Rusty Wallace joining our team, we are ready to complete the final engineering, leading to our placing a shovel in the ground later this year.? ABOUT RUSTY WALLACE Former NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace retired from driving at the end of 2005. Voted one of NASCAR?s 50 Greatest Drivers, Mr. Wallace garnered 55 victories and nearly 20,000 laps led during his illustrious career, distinctions placing him among the top eight all-time in both categories. In addition to being the owner of a NASCAR Busch Series team, Wallace, the 1991 IROC Champion, was named ABC / ESPN?s Lead Auto Racing Analyst in early 2006. He has a deep love for his family, golf and aviation, Wallace has accumulated over 10,500 flight hours as an instrument rated pilot and pilot-in-command of his Learjet 31A. For more on Rusty Wallace and Rusty Wallace, Inc., please visit www.rustywallace.com. ABOUT RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC ( www.RMPracing.com) is dedicated to the advancement of quality motorsports in Northern and Central California through the development of fan- and family-friendly facilities for professionally managed and marketed motorsports events. Tenets underlying RMP?s facility plans and operations underscore commitments to fans and competitors, to providing youth-oriented programs for development of tomorrow?s champions, and to corporate citizenship in the communities it serves. The 1,200-acre Riverside Motorsports Park in development in Merced County, California, will provide eight racing venues, supporting every form of automobile, truck, motorcycle and kart racing, and club-based and professional motorsports sanctioning organizations across the United States in one landscaped, park setting. A recreational destination for families and competitors, RMP will feature RV facilities, picnic grounds, restaurants, and video and game arcades. It also will accommodate technical motorsports schools, music concerts, car shows and business center events. Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC also owns and operates Altamont Motorsports Park, LLC (AMP) ( www.AltamontRacing.com) in Livermore-Tracy, CA as a wholly-owned subsidiary. AMP features a 1/2-mile paved banked oval track, a 1/4-mile paved banked oval track, a 1.1-mile road course, a figure-8 track, a drifting course and a kart course. AMP is NASCAR-sanctioned. The 2007 schedule will feature two (2) NASCAR Grand National West Series events, 16 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series events, 4 USAC Championship Sprint Car events, various NOPI and D1 Drift events, as well as other motorcycle, sports car, open wheel, endurance and stock car races. In January 2007, the USAC organization presented John Condren with the Track Operator of the Year Award, recognizing the accomplishments of Riverside Motorsports Park in renewing and developing Altamont Motorsports Park as a primary short-track racing facility in California. See Also .: News Index | E-mail to a Friend Article posted by RacingWest.com staff on 04/05/2007. http://www.racingwest.com Advertise | Legal | TOS | Print Page | RacingWest Logos ? RacingWest 1995-2007. All Rights Reserved. |
04-11-2007, 11:24 PM | #2 |
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As with so many other planned race tracks in Northern Calif and Reno area...I'll believe it when it opens ! I've become jaded about "planned tracks" in that area.
And with housing being built on the old Mather AFB in Sacramento I don't think Sacramento Raceway has too much longer left.....sad |
04-11-2007, 11:30 PM | #3 |
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It got finally approval earlier this year, I think construction has begun. 40 minutes from home for me!
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Julie Jordan 7549 STK |
04-12-2007, 12:26 AM | #4 |
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Don't need no more Mopar people practicin'...!
ha! Lower gas prices now..... |
04-12-2007, 04:00 PM | #5 |
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Oh no, not another track closing! That must make it at least 10 tracks in the last 5 years? ANYBODY keeping track of this?
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