mrondeau wrote:Run it in an actual stiffly sprung race car with manual steering and no ABS and get back to me. Every year the track gets rougher and less friendly. First time back since 2014 and last time I'll ever run it. Every other track we run is so much better in every way.
I agree with Mark on this one. The track just keeps getting rougher and more dangerous. 2 out of 3 times we have run the track, we have broken something on one of our cars (control arm one year from dropping a wheel, rear differential another without going off).
The one corner that makes streets unique (the waterfall) is incredibly dangerous, especially in faster cars. Drivers in GT3s are coming over the waterfall at 115+ MPH, in some cases 120+. Not only is that just really fast in a blind section of track, but it is also mechanically punishing (we've all seen a wheel come off here and end up on the hot pit wall). There is this romanticized idea that Streets is great for beginners since it is "like a giant autocross", but I disagree heavily with this. Beginner friendly tracks are ones where in the event something goes sideways and you go off, you aren't guaranteed a big bill from broken parts. Chuckwalla is the right venue for new students on our calendar.
I wouldn't be opposed to switching streets out for another Big willow, Buttonwillow or Chuckwalla weekend. Maybe this is a good event to go further afield and run somewhere like Laguna Seca, Spring Mountain, or Inde Motorsport Ranch in Arizona to add some variety to our calendar.
I won't be running streets again if I can avoid it.