Track Junkies Rejoice!
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From: Way Deep South Bellevue
Track Junkies Rejoice!
Not sure if many of you saw this yet, but this is cool:
Portland, Oregon (March 11, 2004) - The 1500 members of Oregon Region,
Sports Car Club of America took the first steps toward building and
operating their own racetrack, planned for the rolling hills outside
Goldendale, in Klickitat County, Washington.
On Thursday, March 4, the board of directors of Oregon Region voted to form
a Limited Liability Company to obtain land and construct a multi-purpose,
non-spectator motorsports park. The new company will be seeking investors
this year and plans to build the track in 2005.
The park will initially include facilities for road racing,
autocross/skidpad, and performance rally.
The club will make a purchase offer on 700 acres of farmland just outside
the Eastern Washington farming community. The typically arid land east of
the Cascade Mountain Range makes the site an ideal location for a track the
club hopes will be in use most of the year.
The Goldendale area recently rediscovered its motorsports history. It is
just a few miles from the historic Maryhill Loops Road, the first paved road
in Washington. That road, now owned by Maryhill Museum, is used for the
annual Maryhill Loops Hillclimb for vintage race cars. It also has been used
for numerous automobile television commercials. There is also an active
motocross facility in operation in the area.
"We are still a long way from realizing our dream of actually having a
track there," said Holly Remington, Regional Executive for Oregon Region
SCCA. "But for us this is an important first step."
The Oregon Region is best known for its participation in the annual Rose Cup
races held each June at Portland International Raceway. The Rose Cup remains
one of the signature events in amateur racing in America and attracts
drivers from throughout the western states.
Remington said the club intends to continue to use PIR for many events and
will continue to provide safety, corner workers and other staffing for
events such as Champ Car and American Le Mans.
Unlike the Portland road course, the planned race track at Goldendale will
be designed for amateur races, not expected to draw the crowds that often
attend events at PIR. The plan is for a 3-mile road racing circuit that can
be run as two tracks of approximately 1.5 miles each, if desired.
"It is important to note that this facility is not designed to accommodate
large numbers of spectators and major commercial events, but rather to
provide a venue for amateur and club events, similar to Thunderhill Raceway
Park in Willows, CA.," said Jeff Zurschmeide, chairman of Oregon Region's
New Track Committee. Thunderhill was developed by Oregon Region's sister
club, San Francisco Region SCCA.
The 60-year-old Sports Car Club of America is the nation's oldest and
largest amateur motorsports organization, with a national membership of
about 65,000.
The Oregon Region was established in 1962.
Portland, Oregon (March 11, 2004) - The 1500 members of Oregon Region,
Sports Car Club of America took the first steps toward building and
operating their own racetrack, planned for the rolling hills outside
Goldendale, in Klickitat County, Washington.
On Thursday, March 4, the board of directors of Oregon Region voted to form
a Limited Liability Company to obtain land and construct a multi-purpose,
non-spectator motorsports park. The new company will be seeking investors
this year and plans to build the track in 2005.
The park will initially include facilities for road racing,
autocross/skidpad, and performance rally.
The club will make a purchase offer on 700 acres of farmland just outside
the Eastern Washington farming community. The typically arid land east of
the Cascade Mountain Range makes the site an ideal location for a track the
club hopes will be in use most of the year.
The Goldendale area recently rediscovered its motorsports history. It is
just a few miles from the historic Maryhill Loops Road, the first paved road
in Washington. That road, now owned by Maryhill Museum, is used for the
annual Maryhill Loops Hillclimb for vintage race cars. It also has been used
for numerous automobile television commercials. There is also an active
motocross facility in operation in the area.
"We are still a long way from realizing our dream of actually having a
track there," said Holly Remington, Regional Executive for Oregon Region
SCCA. "But for us this is an important first step."
The Oregon Region is best known for its participation in the annual Rose Cup
races held each June at Portland International Raceway. The Rose Cup remains
one of the signature events in amateur racing in America and attracts
drivers from throughout the western states.
Remington said the club intends to continue to use PIR for many events and
will continue to provide safety, corner workers and other staffing for
events such as Champ Car and American Le Mans.
Unlike the Portland road course, the planned race track at Goldendale will
be designed for amateur races, not expected to draw the crowds that often
attend events at PIR. The plan is for a 3-mile road racing circuit that can
be run as two tracks of approximately 1.5 miles each, if desired.
"It is important to note that this facility is not designed to accommodate
large numbers of spectators and major commercial events, but rather to
provide a venue for amateur and club events, similar to Thunderhill Raceway
Park in Willows, CA.," said Jeff Zurschmeide, chairman of Oregon Region's
New Track Committee. Thunderhill was developed by Oregon Region's sister
club, San Francisco Region SCCA.
The 60-year-old Sports Car Club of America is the nation's oldest and
largest amateur motorsports organization, with a national membership of
about 65,000.
The Oregon Region was established in 1962.
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From: Portland
I've been following the development of this for over 2 years now, mainly through the Oregon SCCA Board-meeting minutes. (And I'm sure the idea has been "cooking" much longer.) To see that they have made enough progress to send out a press release and form an LLC is good news indeed! 
Just to imagine having a motorsports facility half as nice as Thunderhill just 2 hours away is reason enough to be excited!
Of course this is just a very small, but significant step on a long road to a completed facility. Interestingly, the letter to the membership also mentions the proposed price for each Investment share in the company. How about the local S2KI group belly-up to the bar $10,000 for a share!
Just to imagine having a motorsports facility half as nice as Thunderhill just 2 hours away is reason enough to be excited!Of course this is just a very small, but significant step on a long road to a completed facility. Interestingly, the letter to the membership also mentions the proposed price for each Investment share in the company. How about the local S2KI group belly-up to the bar $10,000 for a share!
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From: Portland
I suggest the Oregon SCCA website http://www.oregonscca.com
Or if you have some general questions, I can try to ask JeffZ personally at our Friday-night rally tomorrow if he is there.
Or if you have some general questions, I can try to ask JeffZ personally at our Friday-night rally tomorrow if he is there.
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From: Covington WA, USA
Just think, if this track gets built and the proposed NASCAR facility includes an infield road course, we could suddenly have six road courses between Mission, Spokane, and Portland. Seven if you count Bremerton. That would also put a lot of pressure on PR to improve their road course.
-Mike
-Mike
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From: Salem
I can provide some information, if desired. I looked at the aerials of the property last night and I know about how far along the development process is.
The Oregon Region SCCA has contributed the first $10,000 towards legal fees to form the corporation (LLC or not has not been finalized) and escrow of the property. The property owner will put the property in escrow for this group for $25,000 and allow property explorations and county zoning proceedings to begin. No actual development has begun yet.
Jeff Z., Holly, Kala Rounds, Matt or Monika Tabor... all of these folks are good contacts if you have money to throw at this project. The goal is to sell 500 shares at a cost of $10,000 a share.
There is no guarantee of a skidpad for Solo use at this time. The Oregon Region Solo board is interested in getting this in the preliminary plan and have the site be worthy of national solo events. We have money to invest, but are very interested to see how the planning proceeds.
Andy H.
The Oregon Region SCCA has contributed the first $10,000 towards legal fees to form the corporation (LLC or not has not been finalized) and escrow of the property. The property owner will put the property in escrow for this group for $25,000 and allow property explorations and county zoning proceedings to begin. No actual development has begun yet.
Jeff Z., Holly, Kala Rounds, Matt or Monika Tabor... all of these folks are good contacts if you have money to throw at this project. The goal is to sell 500 shares at a cost of $10,000 a share.
There is no guarantee of a skidpad for Solo use at this time. The Oregon Region Solo board is interested in getting this in the preliminary plan and have the site be worthy of national solo events. We have money to invest, but are very interested to see how the planning proceeds.
Andy H.