Grattan Yesterday...

And I would be willing to bet Gingerman is probably one of the only road race tracks you can see the entire course from at the bleachers on top of the hill. You can see the whole course besides when the riders go down into turn 10b

 

yeah. i've been gone since 2012. that does look better.

the CCS thing was always an oddity of Chicago culture. folks just didn't want to come around the lake for some reason.

 

Now Putnam Park turn 10 is a whole different story. You crash there and you are getting into the wall.

 

Sorry to hear that Grattan is in bad shape. Haven't raced there in years, but I do remember having to force myself not to look at the sealer snakes when I was pushing hard. Summit Point is about as good as it has ever been. I can remember racing there when there were corners that had been milled before repaving. Sorry I couldn't make the event this past weekend. Sounds like it was a winner!

 

It’s the Joliet soil type. It consists of shallow, poorly drained soils formed in loamy drift overlying limestone or dolostone bedrock. It’s not particularly attractive for farming as well. Then just North you have the Chicago swamp dynamic. It’s just not a good place for a race track to be built upon.

https://soilseries.sc.egov.usda.gov/OSD_Docs/J/JOLIET.html

 

I think SV’s should be pretty safe.

 

Your quote game needs improvement,

 

Thats exactly what I experienced two years ago.

 

Seems Grattan was better back in the mid-late '90's than it has been in recent years.

Did the Team Chicago school there, got my license with GLRRA and then onto WERA. Lotsa podium finishes there as a novice back in the day.

I prefer CCW myself. Makes the 'jump' less technical. And always felt safer and less 'busy', to me anyway.

 

I was at Grattan on Saturday, and raced there in the late 90's too. Turn one is definitely worse, and is probably the biggest issue for most people. There are a couple of bumps to be aware of (one in the bowl for example), but otherwise I don't think it's much different. Conditions were really good on Saturday and I was able to run 22's when I could get free track. The sealer does freak some people out and you have to respect it in the morning before it warms up.

I haven't been to Gingerman this year, but was there last year. Overall it's better, but it has some sneaky bumps too. For me, Grattan races much better than Gingerman.

 

It sucks from a racer's perspective too. I remember the "WE SWEAR WE WILL RACE IT MONGO".."BOOK IT AND WE WILL COME".. Those of us that did go saw a better turnout at Beaverrun when it snowed.

 

It might be that you have to drive 94 thru the shitty traffic & road surfaces around Gary IN to get from WI to MI and the other way. That route is the worse and I hate it. I would rather drive in Milan Italy during rush hour towing a 30 ft trailer than deal with that shit show.

 

Good point. That stretch of roadway is fucking terrible and inevitably under construction until the end of time.

 

Mongo, you should run a race at Gingerman. Double the entry fees and that you must prepay 21 days before the event with no refunds. And with the stipulation that if you can't at least break even the event will cancel.

 

It's been under construction since the last time I raced CCS at Blackhawk in 1985, so hell yes!

 

I'd pay 2x for Road America, Barber, or Road Atlanta. I'd probably pay 2x for Putnam Park (only because it's 30 minutes from home.) Gingerman does not have that appeal. I'd go for a trackday but I raced it for several years and never fell in love with it.

 

Well POO POO!!!

 

Years ago I quit going to Grattan. I've been there a lot of times and, to the best of my knowledge, I've never been there when someone wasn't seriously injured.

 

Traffic and more traffic. Getting around the southern end of Lake Michigan and Chicago is a major choke point. It was easier traveling for us when we raced at Nelson or Beaver because traffic was much lighter at the later hours.

We would leave Thursday or Friday AM after rush hour and returning late enough Sunday to miss most of the vacationer traffic.