Las Vegas would certainly fit the bill for F1. It certainly has infrastructure needed......empty land, airport, cabs, hotel rooms, restaurants, night clubs,strip bars, gambling.......

 

Just imagine if part of the track went down the strip! Too dangerous though as it'd be very easy for a driver slide out going over the little business cards for all the VIP hookers littering the sidewalk/road.

 

Laguna Seca is in my backyard. They are having the ALMS and Indy Car races there next month. I have VIP and pit access! WOO HOO!

 

Las Vegas Grand Prix, screw New York that would never get off the ground

 

ALMS is there next month already? I thought Laguna Seca was always one of the last races of the season. Have fun bud! I'll be looking forward to some pics!

 

I'll be there for both races. Hopefully we can meet up. I am a member of the SCCA San Fran region, the group that runs all of the races at Laguna Seca (except for MotoGP) and Infineon. I will be working some part of the track during both of those races, most likely doing flagging/communications at one of the corners. I am also planning on being there for the historics. Already have my room booked in Carmel for the entire event. Cant wait for that one!!!!!!

Here is the schedule for Laguna Seca......you may not be heading up this way as soon as you think

2009 SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED FOR MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA

The 2009 season at the world-renowned Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will feature the best in motorcycle, historic and sports car competition on the 2.238-mile Monterey Peninsula race track.

Where else can you experience Valentino Rossi, Helio Castroneves and rare, priceless Porsches pushing their limits, said Gill Campbell, CEO/general manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The best drivers, riders and historic cars race here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The tracks heritage as the premier road racing circuit in North America is unmatched.

The 53rd season of racing officially kicks off May 15-17, with the Monterey Festival of Speed featuring the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with the Koni Sports Car Challenge, Mazda MX-5 Cup and Ford Racing Mustang Challenge as support series. The event will mark the fifth consecutive year for Grand-Ams Daytona Prototype and GT cars in Monterey.

The biggest event on the 2009 schedule, the fifth annual Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, is set for July 3-5 and features the prestigious MotoGP World Championship. At the 2008 race, Tom Cruise along with 131,250 fans watched Valentino Rossi score his first victory on American soil. It was an epic battle between Casey Stoner and Rossi, with many changes of the lead and some very close racing. Rossi sealed his victory with a kiss, parking his bike in Mazda Raceway Laguna Secas legendary corkscrew, a series of turns with a 300 foot elevation change and kissing the pavement.

The new race date will give extra incentive for American riders Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards as they take on the worlds best on the most patriotic weekend of the year. The 2009 event will include support races from the AMA Superbike Championship.

The 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, the premier historic race in North America, returns to the Monterey Peninsula on August 14- 16, 2009. Each year, a featured marque is chosen to commemorate the event. This annual celebration of a specific manufacturer has intrigued thousands of compassionate enthusiasts from around the world. In 2009, the featured marque will be Porsche.

The Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series race into the darkness will be on October 9-11. This race weekend concludes the 2009 season in dramatic fashion with the high-tech, high-speed Le Mans prototypes and GT machines of the American Le
Mans Series staging a Saturday afternoon-into-evening four-hour race. Sundays action features the season finale of both the SPEED World Challenge Touring and GT series, the IMSA Challenge, Atlantic Championship Series and Star Mazda Series.

 

Yeah, ALMS is there in like October...

 

You just gave me a fantastic idea! I'll be graduating on May 9th and will have a few weeks off. I am hoping to fly out West the following week to buy a car and then road trip home. I had no idea the Historics were that weekend. If all goes according to plan and I fly out that weekend to pick up a car, I hadn't planned on staying longer than a day or two in the area before driving back, but maybe I could crash with someone out that way and hit up the Historics as well! How far is San Fran from Carmel? I've got relatives in SF that I might be able to stay with for a couple of days. Ooooh! This could be AWESOME!

 

Alex, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the weekend in May you are referring to is the Rolex Sports Car Challenge that includes the Daytona Prototypes, the Speedworld (now Koni) Challenge, MX5 cup and the Mustang Challenge. The Historics are August 14-16. The ALMS race is Aug 8-10.

Laguna Seca is a solid 2 hour drive from San Francisco, and close to 3 hours from my house in Napa. I am working in figuring out lodging for the upcoming race in May. One option is that the SCCA provides free camping for its people working the race on site at Laguna Seca. I may rent an RV and go that route, or I may stay with some friends who live in Monterey. I am also thinking about getting a hotel room for the weekend nearby. If you are still thinking about coming down for the races in May, PM me and we can talk about lodging options.

Hope to see you out here in Cali in a few months!!!!!

Eric