Chuckwalla Track is live!

[Pete Millikin]

Looks like Chuckwalla Valley Raceway opened for business in early April. Here is a video taken April 10. I think the track is about 200 miles from San Diego and hope we are looking at future dates


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cERQc9qxkKM&feature=player_embedded

I received an email from the local Alfa club about their event on Labor day and they gave some updates on the track

1. Chuckwalla Valley Raceway - 16 turn, 2.78 mile race track with elevation, double apex corners, two passing straightaways, a banked bowl and some very blind corners, with PLENTY of SAFE runoff. A rhythm track providing challenge for drivers, very wide throughout.
Bruce Colby, Steve Hamilton and myself (Terry Major) spent a good part of a day driving the track, using a fast race car, slower race car and and a street car (300 hp charger). We were the first club cars on this BRAND NEW track! The track is extremely satisfying and FUN!

2. Middle of nowhere, City of Desert Center (very small town) .....45 minutes beyond Indio.

3. Hotels 45 minutes away.

4. Camping/motorhomes allowed on premises

5. Food - Good food 2 miles from track

6. Fuel - MAY be on premises by our date or if not, 15 minutes away.

7. Garages - There may be garages by September.

8. Hot - Our date is the beginning of their hot season. October, November and December were gone, but maybe next year.

9. Paddock - Extremely large, plenty of room as this paddock will be the central paddock to three roadrace tracks, in the future.

[ChuckS]

Pete,
I can't find the date, but I believe we have a DE there this fall (Oct. I think).
Search the forum for several other posts regarding this new track.

Actually, I just called someone and found out that is it going to be on October 30.

It is supposedly on the forum, but it wasn't in all the listings I found.

It looks like a great track. I can't wait.

[Tim Comeau]

Track layout looks nice. But it's way out in the middle of the frickin' desert. And I mean WAY out in the middle of the hottest part of the desert......Probably unuseable 6 months of the year? Except for 5am to 8 am sessions? I hope the pavement doesn't melt and runoff into the desert during the first summer! And we thought that Willow Springs, which is in the HIGH desert, was hot?! Let's see how it goes?
Those corner worker stations are a crackup! They look like birdcages right next to the edge of the track just waiting to be nailed. "Polly want a......SMASH!"

[3rd_gear_ted]

I'm driving home from my house in Ehrenberg AZ today on the I-10 and was watching a plane land @ Desert Center. So I said to myself, "Ted that's where the new racetrack is". So off I went to check it out. The track is only 4 miles from the I-10 on Rice Road(RH side). I pulled up to the locked gate on the newest street in Desert Center and met some folks waiting "for the Plane". That is when Tim came to the gate and we met . Tim was way cool and got permission from Micky (the owner) to give me a facility tour,(THANKS YOU GUYS) Of course the best part was I got to drive the track about five laps with Tim. WOW, what a great track layout and super smooth & wide driving surface . The rythm of the 13 turns along with the corner variations in camber and elevation in EACH corner is absolutely fanastic. The inside corner gators are the best I've ever seen on a track . They are painted concrete and wide. They are a dream to transition on & off of . The outside gators actullly have rumble strips in them too. Best part of the track; the blind rise to the dropping corkscrew combo and the banked bowl turn before the start/finish is just awesome. Ya the corner stations are there for the picking, BUT there the only thing possible to hit. I myself want to see a end of the wall protector for the straight away wall was my ONLY safety concern. Other than that, the place is a dream come true for me. The first Porsche club to schedule an event there will get my $$, I can't wait. Obviously its going to be an air & oil cooled engine track, the water pumpers will never have a chance

[325racer]

SD PCA will be hosting a DE on October 30, San Diego BMWCCA will follow with another day Oct 31.

Current discussion is that we will run 1 direction Sat and a different Direction Sunday with BMWCCA.

I've been out there twice now, once with a friend, got to drive his car.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ2BpTwg5CI

Second time was this past Friday with my car (Video to come later)

After 2 days on track, I find turn 1 - 2 at the end of the front straight can be taken quicker than thought, using the curbing on the exit is loud, but doesn't unsettle the car. T3 can be take MUCH faster than I have so far.

T4-T5 is probably the most challenging corner to get right. It's a very long sweeping blind, single arc corner that has the car touch the inside curb twice and the outside curb twice.

T8-T10 I find not to be as hard as most expect, but is fairly important as it leads on to the back straight.

T11-T12 at the end of the back straight is probably the most fun corner when taken correctly, turn in, then turn the other way before you can see where it goes.

The Bowl can be taken quite a few different ways, plenty of grip there.

T14 is faster than I've been able to go yet, same with T15.

Then T16 and T17, present quite a challenge due to the decreasing radius nature of the corners leading onto the front straight.

Inside curbing, depending on the car can pop it up fairly aggresively, but can also be driven straight over with no issues. All depends on the car and setup.

What this track will reward is people and cars that are good at long steady state corners. The straights are long enough to make good passing zones, but top speeds are about 15-20mph lower than Buttonwillow or Willow. However, minimal speed is about 10 higher than BW and a touch slower than the Omega at Willow.

I believe more permanent flag stations are planned, not sure what the locations will be. Also agree that the end of the Pit wall needs something. I heard mention of an angles safety barrier or something.

[Mike]

Other than that, the place is a dream come true for me.

Nice report, I want to get my car on it.
before it gets hot(r) anyone else considering their Wed lapping days for $150?

[325racer]

Here's the video from my car at Chuckwalla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD0Z8UGWSsE

[Mike]

My new favorite track.
Was 91 but cool breezes felt like 81.
Drive it till it stops.

[mrondeau]

I don't know Mike, it looks a little loose out there.

[John Straub]

Mike...looks like Joe was having fun!

How was the track?

John

[Pete Millikin]

I took a little side trip to Chuckwalla raceway on a trip to Arizona last Friday. It was an open track day with just a couple of people running and the owner took me out for a few hot laps in his Corvette. The track is smoooooth with pro style curbing and fairly technical with 14 turns. There are some fun and fast sweepers and a bowl section like Streets of Willow. The straights are not lengthy so it is a pretty busy track for drivers. It reminds me of Spring Mountain before the expansion. Lots of plans for future amenities but for now it is a very fun track with dry camping. I think the closest hotel was Fantasy Springs Resort outside of Indio.

[Mike]

I really had a great time on the new track.
Lap times near about the same length as Buttonwillow.