In the news this week there were 2 big stories about street racing that went wrong. The media attacked the drivers, which very well deserve the scrutiny for being unsafe drivers on public streets, but I’m upset because they seem to be missing a serious point. There are no road courses in Southern California that people with pent up angst and horsepower to visit on the weekends. Instead, of a safe environment for them to find out what the horsepower in their car does when they mash their right foot down, they do it in your neighborhood and hurt innocent people.

Nobody wants a raceway in their backyard, so it seems they prefer the horsepower crazy people to use the streets in their neighborhood as their test track instead.

I realize there are some alternatives, but they’re not the most realistic. First off, there is California Speedway. They open their drag strip to the public about once a quarter or so. When it is open, they only allow 200 cars into the facility. The line starts outside the raceway around 2:30 am and the track opens at 8. Yes, there are that many cars. What do the other 1,000s of people do? Race on the streets.

Then there is Irwindale, but they only run an 1/8th mile drag strip. Woohoo, 3rd gear and then hit the brakes. Yes, they are open during the weekdays, but as anyone knows in Southern California, getting anywhere you want to be on a weekday during rush hour is impossible. And who wants to do some racing after sitting in traffic for 2 hours? Not I.

And then theres the third issue. Not everyone wants to just go fast in a straight line. This may sound absurd, but there are cars out there that can do more than go straight or turn left. They can even turn Right.

Willow Springs Raceway is 2.5 hours away from everything and is in the middle of nowhere. The track is surrounded by dirt and the pavement needs to be redone as of 10 years ago. Its too much effort to get there and too far away if something breaks.

Realistically Southern Californian’s need a raceway in the Inland Empire. This venue could have many uses. First of all, it could have direct involvement with law enforcement. CHP could be invited to create a driver safety course one day a week, and on a different day of the week, different learning courses could be created to help make the entire community better drivers. On top of that, it would take the races to a track instead of on public streets.

One major issue is cost. Attending a track day is never affordable. Deep down I have the feeling that “if you build it, they will come”. If enough people were to come to the track, prices could be affordable enough for drivers of all ages to attend.

I suppose this subject is neither here nor there. Land large enough to accommodate such a venue would cost 10 million dollars, and it would probably be another 2 million to construct the facilities and race track.

If it were up to me, it would be an atmosphere that invited the whole family. It wouldn’t be dirt roads with portapoties and cracked asphalt pits. It would be a respectable place people could go to have a good, it would be clean and modern. The complex would be a two story building and have large glass windows that opened to the track so spectators could watch in the comfort of A/C. The laps could be broadcast on LCD screens so viewers could have a more inside look at the action down on the tarmac. The roads into and out of the raceway would be smooth and clean. Roads nice enough that true high performance sports cars could drive on before getting to the track. Roads I would be willing to drive my own car on. It could be the next step in automotive entertainment in the Inland Empire.

South Corona would be the ideal place. Lots of land, its off the 15 freeway which is a main artery to and from many of the Southern California’s counties. It could also put Corona back on the map as a place for people to come and spend their money. Corona was founded around a race track, why can’t it be recognized as such a place today?

All in all, such a venue would be a significant contribution to the surrounding communities, and it would promote safer driving on our public roads since many would be racers could actually find out what true speed is without endangering the lives of others.