PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

New track in Western MA has opened up and is being referred to by a good friend of mine & driving instructor for the BMW school as "The most exciting track I've ever driven on!" Now, for most that may be a very generic statement but from my friend, an active competitor & instructor for decades with experience all over the Americas (including Canada & Mexico) that is A STATEMENT!

Anyone want to get together a track day?

https://www.palmermotorsportspark.com/default.aspx

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

My buddy took his 67 ProTour Camaro there and had a blast. I'd love to check it out but the IROC has a long way to go and the 68 would just become an obstacle.

Brother Al

Its been open for a little while now... unfortunately its not open to the public...., you have to be a "member" per the Town's business license... they had to jump through hoops to get it built... they started the process nearly 15 years ago. They now are at risk of being shut down by NIMBY... Some town residents commissioned a study to find out if the track was violating the Town's noise limit ordnance... turns out they were... So they need to solve the noise violation problem or face losing their business license.
Its crazy really, there were 3 seperate efforts going on back around 2000 to build tracks in Palmer. All but this one got NIMBY'd
1.) was headed up by Teddy Hebert of Teddy Bear Pools, Chicopee/Race Team. He had long raced at Riverside Speedway. When "Six Flags" tore out the historic track for its new roller coasters, Teddy bought everything he could... seats, P.A. system, bleachers... everything he could. He tried to build a new 1/4 mile circle track in Palmer, which would have been a half hour drive from Stafford Speedway. The town shot it down.
2.) I was involved with a few other guys, looking to buy the old Palmer Airport out of foreclosure and convert it into a 1/4 mile dragstrip... it was a good location, in a small valley, surrounded by very few homes, and just off Rt 32... the old town dump was right next door, (unusable land), and the airport itself was a few dilapitated hangars, a crumbling ashalt & concrete North-South runway, and it had some contamination. The runway sloped down towards the South, and would have required some clever leveling permits because of the nearby river/wetlands, but it was feasible. We had most of the money to purchase and get started, but would have needed investors for the a chunk of the site improvements. We approached the town, informally, and met immediate resistance. We also learned that a developer, with deeper pockets and local "friends", had purchased land across the street, for McMansion development... and had also shown interest in the airport... needless to say, we hung it up not long after.
3.) This road racing group began looking at another site, not far away from the airport. They had a decent chunk of change and had the will to jump through lots of hoops. They pulled it off and God Bless them, but the NIMBY people wont give up.

Ps...Sadly, none of us knew about each others efforts.

PurelyPMD

iTrader: (3)

Was Bretton the developer with deep pockets?

It wouldn't have been the first time cars had drag raced on that runway!

BTW, I grew up in Palmer up off Longview - the grandson of the airport owner was a good friend of mine & had a hot little 68 Mustang when we were in high school. Friday or Saturday nights after we got out of the drive in, some of us would head up there to mess around a little in the dark.

Brother Al

I dont remember who the developer was, but he did build a number of homes across the street. One thing we had discussed amongst ourselves was buying out that trailer park, at some point, as a defensive hedge and a short term revenue stream. It really would have been a sweet thing to have in Southern New England... the last dragway, down in CT, was bought by Consumer Reports and is used for their test track... "Jay" grew up down there and had said something about the town prohibiting public use as a condition... I understand any town's concerns about property values all too well, but too many miss the bus on the economic advantages. I grew up in Chicopee... spent many a night on the "Memorial Drive Dragway"...LOL. I had a few relatives and knew lots of people who raced at Riverside. Everyone loved to hate Teddy Hebert... but there were lots of speed shops, engine rebuilders, and other businesses that relied on Riverside Speedway... lots of those are businesses are long gone. Six Flags took a 50% business hit for several years after closing the speedway... Longmeadow loved it though...
I have only been to "Six Flags New England" once since the closure... between the races and the "old" concerts, I had a lot of great times there... "Cant Stop Progress"... sigh. All of the tracks are gone... even the old dirt circle track at the Big E, is now a memory, only visible from Google Earth... the last vestige of it that was the turn 1 & 2 Joey Chitwood Show... ah well.

sleepsinshed

iTrader: (10)

Seems Massachusetts has a policy of banning anything that's fun. Fortunately I'm close to NH where they still have a number of tracks. I hear there's a road course similar to the one in Palmer being built in the Ossipee NH area. They seem to be more tolerant of motor sports up there.

Brother Al

Yup... but there's enough bleeding hearts from the Boston Metro overtaking parts of S.NH...

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

moonbats suck they destroy everything they touch

KJ1H

It's that awesome. I drove it last July.


I've driven all of the road courses currently open in New England (can't wait to try Canaan and Club Motorsports), and this is by far my favorite. Very little of it is straight - even the front straightaway is a 100+mph curve. The elevation changes are awesome too - more than Watkins Glen or Laguna Seca. It's literally like they closed down your favorite twisty mountain road, made it one way, and revoked the speed limits!

Brother Al

Sweet!