Searching for New Pavement

[monta]

What is the procedure for trying to aquire a new lot? Is there some information packet or a particular club member that represents BRR in such discussions? If this process is better known there might be members that can start conversations/contacts regarding obtaining new lots.

Now that we've lost LeeHi, and with planes getting on my nerves a little, it seems a good time to start a search for virgin pavement.

-Monta

[monta]

I don't know how to re-edit a poll

[DSPDA3]

I can edit it for you if you tell me what you want.

[monta]

Just delete item 4 in the poll

(that was fast)

[DSPDA3]

Done.

[monta]

Thanks.
-Monta

[Imprezivblue]

Autocrossers are always on the search for new sites. Some people I know sit on google earth at work searching for pavement in their area. In all honesty you can never have too many sites. This is the one thing autoxers struggle with is pavement acquisition. With 9/11 a lot of airport sites were lost due to security constraints. The plane thing is probably my biggest turn off about mercer. I've heard nothing about good things about huntsville alabama but i don't feel like driving 10 hours for a local event on awesome pavement to drive like crap.

So which millionare (maybe billionaire) are we going to convince to pave a huge flat area for autox?

As am interesting side note, the ETR region has recently added an autox at Bristol scheduled at the end of september.

[SierraFox]

More the merrier right?!

[monta]

Its just hard for me to imagine the conversation going well.

ME: [knocking on manager's door at Kmart (put big parking lot site here)]
Them: whaddya want
ME:I'm with the BRR-SCCA and we'd like to race in your parking lot
Them: This is some kind of joke right?
ME: no, we've got some kind of insurance I think.
Them:You think?!? I think I'm calling security to escort you out; don't ever come on our property again....

I'm looking for pointers on how or who should have that conversation; so that everyone could potentially make site contacts.

[SierraFox]

Its just hard for me to imagine the conversation going well.

ME: [knocking on manager's door at Kmart (put big parking lot site here)]
Them: whaddya want
ME:I'm with the BRR-SCCA and we'd like to race in your parking lot
Them: This is some kind of joke right?
ME: no, we've got some kind of insurance I think.
Them:You think?!? I think I'm calling security to escort you out; don't ever come on our property again....

I'm looking for pointers on how or who should have that conversation; so that everyone could potentially make site contacts.

Funny. Because Kmart actually should be a bi issue considering they have been closing a ton of thier stores. Downsizing of the company is how I lost my job some months ago. BTW security wont escort you unless you stole something, that also depends on the $ amount.

[monta]

Does anyone have a letter that says something like:

[Fancy looking letterhead here]
Dear Mr. Big,

We're part of a very respectable and longstanding organization; and would like to use your pavement (when it is not otherwise in use) for peaceful purposes. Many other fine organizaions like yours (list airports and lots etc.) in our area have made their lots available for our nobel cause. Any of them would be happy to sing our virtues to you. (list of lot contacts here- exclude hertz-bozo).

We are neither dangerous, nor destructive; but instead strive to keep our local streets safe for old ladies to cross by providing a legitimate venue for amateur motorsports.

Enclosed please find numerous articles from various magazines about how the SCCA is insured; kills fewer people than swimming pools, feeds the starving (drivers at events); and generally makes the universe safe for humanity.

Signed,
President, Secertary, Treasurer and other official sounding titles....
BRR_SCCA

[iiibbb]

We have 6 pretty good lots to use right now. I wouldn't mind seeing us gain one or two more prime locations.

Top 3 lots

Salem - Best lot we have IMHO. Long courses with lots of variety. We seem to have ready access, but we're obviously not a priority for them.
Staunton - We seem to have very stable access to this lot. Lots of variety for course designs. One of my favorites.
Mercer - I love Mercer, but our time there seems tenuous.

Good lots

Danville - Long drive for most of us. We don't seem to use it as much as we could.
Radford - Radford is actually a good/great lot, it just is a little narrow. I enjoy racing there.
Lynchburg - do we even have that lot any more? Maybe Saturday autocrosses

Not my favorites lots.

Lynchburg community college - Those lots are a little small.
King Tire - love the welcome, but that lot is too small, with those ugly transitions, for a real event.

[DSPDA3]

Does anyone have a letter that says something like:

[Fancy looking letterhead here]
Dear Mr. Big,

We're part of a very respectable and longstanding organization; and would like to use your pavement (when it is not otherwise in use) for peaceful purposes. Many other fine organizaions like yours (list airports and lots etc.) in our area have made their lots available for our nobel cause. Any of them would be happy to sing our virtues to you. (list of lot contacts here- exclude hertz-bozo).

We are neither dangerous, nor destructive; but instead strive to keep our local streets safe for old ladies to cross by providing a legitimate venue for amateur motorsports.

Enclosed please find numerous articles from various magazines about how the SCCA is insured; kills fewer people than swimming pools, feeds the starving (drivers at events); and generally makes the universe safe for humanity.

Signed,
President, Secertary, Treasurer and other official sounding titles....
BRR_SCCA

I wrote a similar letter to Echostar a few months ago, with no luck. Apparently they work around the clock, and they need access to the parking lot as they only have one entrance to the entire lot. Someone may have a better worded letter, but this is what I wrote...

http://www.g1teg.org/brrscca/echostar_proposal.doc

[05GrayWRX]

Monta,

The folks in the East Tennessee Region (hometown) have been looking too, enough that they have added a topic in their forum for the search. I haven't read all of the posts yet but there might be something in there worth using.
http://www.etrscca.org/sccaforum/

There are two of us at my office - a local planning agency - that run autox and we've been looking at the aerial images for nice big pieces of pavement. Roanoke area has several - GE on Rt 419, Lots near ITT at exit 146. We were thinking more along the lines of industrial sites that aren't open on weekends.

Another question is how far out to look? Harrisonburg, Cville, others?

[LynnCombs]

I'm glad to see that so many are interested in pursuing new lots. This is a constant issue to deal with. There is specific information to be given to the lot owner, and a careful request must be given, to hopefully meet the questions and reservations that will come up.

The best advice I have is to be always looking for a lot. As a point of reference, Augusta County Government Center is approximately 450' X 550' Be aware of the issues of crowd control and things like light poles and retaining walls and drain culverts. Preferrred distance from the line of a course to the edge of pavement is 25' to 50', required distance from the course to the location of a spectator is 75', or as in the case of the Government Center, a physical barrier such as the covered viewing area.

It is best if the official request for the lot comes from our Regional Executive, Glen Thompson, or the Solo II Chairman, Lynn Combs, or one of our board members. You can find contact phone numbers for all of these people under the "Staff" cone, and their email addresses by clicking on the name. If you find a lot that you think is appropriate, try to determine what company owns the lot, and who is the correct contact person for making our request. AT NO TIME in your inquiry should you mention the word "racing", but should instead emphasize the timed, car-control aspect of our sport. The idea of "racing" a car on a business lot is more than most risk management departments will even consider. Just ask if a representative of our region may call to explain what we do, and to answer all the questions they will have.

Roanoke is the "center" of our region, so lots in that area would be good, but any usable lot should be considered.

[914geezer]

As Jim said, in the "First Autocross'' thread, the shopping centers used to be closed on Sundays and most seemed to be glad to have any group use the space that might buy some lunches, etc.

"Those were the days"!

As Lynn says, avoid the four letter word, RACE, in any communication and let the officials who have done it before make the contacts seems like good advice.

Did anyone ever investigate the police driving range in the area? There is one in FL associated with a community college that welcomes autocross clubs. Not sure what they pay, entry fees are as ours so must not be too much.

[Chiketkd]

We have 6 pretty good lots to use right now. I wouldn't mind seeing us gain one or two more prime locations.

Top 3 lots

Salem - Best lot we have IMHO. Long courses with lots of variety. We seem to have ready access, but we're obviously not a priority for them.
Staunton - We seem to have very stable access to this lot. Lots of variety for course designs. One of my favorites.
Mercer - I love Mercer, but our time there seems tenuous.

Good lots

Danville - Long drive for most of us. We don't seem to use it as much as we could.
Radford - Radford is actually a good/great lot, it just is a little narrow. I enjoy racing there.
Lynchburg - do we even have that lot any more? Maybe Saturday autocrosses

Mark,

I've raced at most of the lots you've listed and after competiting at Danville this past weekend with Triad, I must say it's my favorite! It has a super large pit area, great area for staging cars, and a large grippy pavement for autoX's! Plus they're no interruptions from airplanes like Mercer.

I also love the lots at Staunton & Salem, but have a sour taste in my mouth about the Lynchburg lot when the community college cancelled our event at the last minute earlier this year and Lynn had to scramble to secure the lot in Staunton at the last minute.

All in all, we could use another good lot or two and it would be nice if one could be found around the same area as Lee Hi as the location of that lot was a perfect middle ground for several people.

[iiibbb]

I meant the Lynchburg lot where they're going to build the church. If we could secure that lot after the church is built it would be a great one for us. I love the elevation changes there.

The ones at the community college are a bit small (but usable).

[tac911t]

The "When was your first Solo II" thread got some of the old lots we use to run on, in my mind.

Many lots are usable, not all lots are like Roanoke/Salem Civic Centers, Verona, Mercer, etc. One can setup a challenging/competitive course on
smaller lots with lower top speeds and more car control. For those of you living in Roanoke, look at the parking lot in front of the Transportation Museum and the 1/2 of the Towers Shopping center upper parking lot (the side with the movie store, of course the movie store was not there when we used the lot). Both of these lots were used in the past. The Transportation lot was small, and tight, but before we had access to the Salem Civic center (and to some small amount, the Roanoke Civic center), that was all we could get in Roanoke.

Central Va is Central Va, there is a limit to the amount and size of lots we have access to. We have to be very good neighbors and borrowers of the lots that we do use and that we have a good relationship with. I would hope that some of these lot owners would be willing to provide a reference, once the negotiation of a new lot got to that point.

I always liked the fact, that with Solo II every event was different, since every lot was different, and even when you reused the same lot, a different course could be setup.

[Chiketkd]

I meant the Lynchburg lot where they're going to build the church. If we could secure that lot after the church is built it would be a great one for us. I love the elevation changes there.

Gotcha! That makes sense.

[redfiero]

As my first post, I put together a few photos of possible sites in the Roanoke-Salem area. Sorry the PDF's are rather large. I think some have looked at the Ingersoll-Rand site before, but the pavement is poor. The Greenwood Trucking and Wachovia sites would be great and seem large. The Roanoke-Salem plaza site is ok, but has houses nearby. The Roanoke Civic Center probably has a lot of conflicts and they keep building on the pavement. WVCC may be an option since they already use the lot for motorcycle and tractor trailer training.

http://www.roanokevalley.org/brr.htm

[SedonaRedRex]

The GE lot in roanoke is massive, the back lot. The lot that VWCC uses for motorcycle training is pretty small, I don't know if we could make a good course out of it or not. If the effort was organized well enough I"m sure we could find a few more lots for next season.

[mroberts]

Has anyone talked to Motormile speedway abotu using the infield of the oval track ?

[iiibbb]

I walked through "The Cage" (on campus student parking lot) at Virginia Tech today. What a great piece of empty pavement. It might take some cooperation from the Virginia Tech Car Club to get it... and a dual member might have to approach Virginia Tech with a BRR officer. VTCC might have to do a lot of legwork to get it to happen... but it is huge and pretty empty most of the summer and it would be absolutely great.

[Chiketkd]

I walked through "The Cage" (on campus student parking lot) at Virginia Tech today. What a great piece of empty pavement. It might take some cooperation from the Virginia Tech Car Club to get it... and a dual member might have to approach Virginia Tech with a BRR officer. VTCC might have to do a lot of legwork to get it to happen... but it is huge and pretty empty most of the summer and it would be absolutely great.

I've seen the 'Cage' before and it's a pretty large parking lot from what I remember. Pavement was also pretty decent.

[King Tire]

We at King Tire Store enjoyed the Test and Tune event that we had at our location this past spring. As hard as it is to find pavement to hold an event, we are hoping to change the event that is scheduled for August 19th so that we will use the front and north parking lots of the facility.

Those in attendence enjoyed the Mini Coopers. The public response was great and many people who missed the first event, have told us that they will not miss the August event.

We had a safety concern and a concern for the bump on the transition from the front lot to the side lot. Our plans for the august event is to use the lot that the auto cross was on as the parking and grid lot, then use the front and huge side lot next to the Food City side as the approx 100' x 800' course. I have enclosed an email to Lynn about our plans.

Our plans are to close the store for the Saturday event and use the whole parking lot for parking, staging and xcrossing.

Dear Lynn:

Thanks for your safety concern. We also have discussed this at Kings and are planning to close the store for the day of the 19th and use the lot that has the light poles as the grid area and use the front and complete side of the lot that parallels the Food City lot as the autocross course.

This lot is nearly 800 feet long and 100 feet wide plus the front of the building parking lot. This will give the higher powered cars a better course to run on and also give us a much smoother lot to run on. There is no transition "bump" like we had on the last event.


Sincerely:
Craig Emerson Strain
King's Tire Service