Thunder raceway coming to NJ.

Check it out, looks like it will be nice.

http://www.njmotorsportspark.com/index.html

Nice. Someone/people put alot of money into that!

Yup, can't wait. 40 mins from my house. It is being done by the same guy who did VIR. We are def. getting a membership there

Thats amazing! I can't wait...

There is a market for these types of tracks. So far, Barber has set the standard and Miller should be interesting to see what it turns out to be. I know that Barber spent $65 million on that track and Miller is spending ????. So, Thunderbolt better be on par with Barber or at least VIR (if VIR would finally pave the paddock it would be a nice place).

It will def. be as good, if not better than VIR. Its done by the same guy!

Originally Posted by ///M3Matt

It will def. be as good, if not better than VIR. Its done by the same guy!

I thought it looked alot like VIR, and I havent even been to VIR . I would love to go though.

niceeeeeeee

Sounds like it will be awesome, but with awesome also comes expensive.

From what I've seen / read about VIR and the Texas track that Vaio runs, these facilites are about being on the track, not about a "country club", and therefore are not overly expensive.

There is (or was) a group in the Atlanta area that was talking about doing a park like this one in NJ, but I haven't seen or heard much in the last year. I met one of the guys that was behind it, and it seemed to me that it was all about status and having a fancy place to hang out and brag about at cocktail parties - more catering to the Ferrari type posers than real people that want a nice safe place to play with thier cars.

With regards to Barber, I did a DE there in July 04, and it's an awesome facility without being way over the top with club houses, swimming pools, etc. It is a funky track to drive - with the 180 and 180+ degree corners that are very wide that have no perfect line - which also makes it interesting. You can see that it would be really cool on a bike which is what it's originally intent was but expanded to a degree to be "car friendly". The track surface is just unbelieveable - he used the same asphalt that was used on the new F1 track in Barain, and it cured for a year before anyone was allowed on it. He also has nice run off areas in most places, but given the size of the grounds I think they could have added some more to the run offs, and they did miss one important area which is the short straight between 12 & 13 - you go up a hill off 12 and your car gets reall light, I mean WAY light at the crest. I got twitchy there once -, and in any case, is only about 10 ft of grass then the wall. It's certainly a fun place to do a DE, and I plan to go again next year.

No desire to join "The Club". My family already belongs to a golf club and there are enough pretentious pricks there to last me a lifetime.

From what I understand on the website, membership is $500/year and then track days which seem pretty plentiful are then $150. Seems like only if you go to this specific track on 5 of the predesignated days will the membership fee make sense. It would be nice if they simply had open track days like on a sunday every other week throughout the season. Then I would CERTAINLY join just because I'd be going every frickin time I could!! Seems like the way they're working it is very similar to like PDA or BMW CCA events. So, in the end, join PDA or CCA and go whenever they go to this track cuz I'm sure NJBMWCCA is going to LOVE this when it opens!

(PS - This has strengthened my desire to keep my car for a long long time now)

Here is how the place here works out:
Regular initiation fee: $2,400
(one time only)
Regular monthly dues: $75
Regular half-hour run session: $20

Executive initiation fee: $12,000
(one time only)
Executive monthly dues: $50
Executive half-hour run session: $15

"Executive members have session priority on normal club days."

Originally Posted by vaio76109

Here is how the place here works out:
Regular initiation fee: $2,400
(one time only)
Regular monthly dues: $75
Regular half-hour run session: $20

Executive initiation fee: $12,000
(one time only)
Executive monthly dues: $50
Executive half-hour run session: $15

"Executive members have session priority on normal club days."

Whew! Guess the Jersey track is a bargain in comparison. Though the track runs are markedly more expensive at $150. Though it is for a day, not a half hour which seems kinda pointless... Can you double up those half-hour run sessions just out of curiosity?

Actually I think Motorsports Ranch is a better bargain than "Thunber Raceway". 30 minutes is pretty long. I wouldnt really want to run my car that hard for an hour.

Im not shure if you can double them up or not. Im shure you can do several sessions in a day but you may not be able to go an hour straight for liability reasons.

Originally Posted by vaio76109

Actually I think Motorsports Ranch is a better bargain than "Thunber Raceway". 30 minutes is pretty long. I wouldnt really want to run my car that hard for an hour.

Im not shure if you can double them up or not. Im shure you can do several sessions in a day but you may not be able to go an hour straight for liability reasons.

Oh well yeah running the car steadily for an hour is crazy especially if its technically a street car. Can you say brake fade?! What I guess I'm trying to get at is that 30min straight is alot. I'd much rather have like 2 hours to be able to go out, do a run, come back in, chill and make some adjustments maybe, and then go back and test things out and maybe go back in and out one more time....

Actually im special and suck at math. $500/yr and $150/day isnt bad at all. Althought still for me I can get an entire BMWCCA or PCA weekend(8 25-30 minute sessions) for $200.