PLAYDAY ANNOUNCEMENT at Thompson Speedway an interesting old racing track in Ct

[David Luciani]

Hi guys, here's a random post (maybe ).
Read the third post by me events moved very fast and we now have a demostration Kart Show Playday Scheduled. Very Last Minute but read on to see why.

Thompson Speedway Web Site


Thompson Speedway has one of my favorite swap meets. i go every year and in the past have been to a few of the car races.
The car races were roundy track affairs so to me not hugely interesting.
In the past they'd had a big road course but that has been moth balled as long as i could remember. there was bits of it left notably the elevation change which is nearly 30" from the base to the high point.

thompson history

About two/three years ago that all changed. Getting out of the truck for the swap meet at five a.m. i dimly noticed that i was standing on pavement instead of the grass parking from years past. i then noticed i could see the pavement which in the fall was wrong and realized there were huge light illuminating everything. I was amazed to see the ROAD TRACK WAS BACK!!! Instead of grass a road course .  
Here's a quote from the track website "Our 1.7 mile road course is the rebirth of the first purpose-built closed-circuit road racing track in the United States. It offers elements to challenge amateur and professional drivers alike – and includes the nostalgia inherent in its history."

Hit the highlited area to see the road course layouts available.

Anyway i thought wow a great ENDURO track. So naturally i put out a few feelers. Sadly they were wasted time as the track rental for one day is ALOT of money. But determined i thought there must be a way.

The best idea was to convince the track to built a racing kart track at the facility. so far that hasn't worked out. The next best idea was to get them to allow us track time with a auto event.
     The issue was who to talk to as access is very important. Our idea is to have an event like V.I R. where we get access during a car event. Vintage Enduros is the natural track fit but if we could get some barriers to make a sprint track in the pit/track paved ares even better.
 Naturally it wouldn't be a pure vintage karting full weekend event , more like an Exhibition Rally and Kart Show at an Auto Racing event.
I suppose we'd have lot of fun watching the "main" event with full access while still getting in some track time. If nothing else it would be a Great Opportunity to expose Vintage Karting to a broader Group of people. The main idea if we do this would be a really fancy Fun Day with Great Exposure for our sport.

Anyway that's where we're at with ideas. Any comments are welcome . Hopefully what we have panned will be supported by the vintage karting drivers in the area.

This is actually BEING Negotiated , right NOW , by Ted Tine. The way we are trying for access may not be perfect or easy to schedule but we are trying to sell an idea to the track that we feel would be an awesome opportunity.
   So please DO NOT CONTACT THE TRACK. Negotiating something like this takes ALOT of finesse and we have somebody experienced and capable of pulling this off in our favor.Cross your fingers and please take a look at the track



google map view of track
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[David Luciani]

Just got off the phone with Ted.
Things moved way faster than anyone expected.
Announcement to follow later Today.

[Brian Santee]

That is great Dave. Always good to see another place opening up to the Vintage karts.

[David Luciani]

Sorta great sorta oh brother how the heck are we gonna pull this off.

First the Great.
After several years of trying to get access through many people i finally found an effective person.
Ted Tine , new to us , but long involved in racing has managed to get us track access to The Thompson Speedway running our vintage karts.
Most everyone had said it was impossible.
The track rental is $12-15,000.00 per day on weekends.

Well Ted Did It.


We are invited to run our karts in a track situation but not a proper go kart track.
We've got that in writing and the idea is "to get our feet wet" .
They are providing Emt and ambulance service.
insurance is also in place and as i'm told the first event is a free be!!!
early info has us using the skid pad area from 12-5 pm they have plastic jersey barrier style stuff and will set up a layout for us.
it's possible part of the track will include the infield.
it's on a high dollar weekend the Porsche club will be on the main track.

The bad??
it's in 37 days on May 28th.
the other issue is no Track flaggers will be provided.
that part is easy we'll just run exhibition as it's a one day event.
Think of it as a interesting play day with other things to do besides just vintage karting.
That's actually all of the bad which is in MHO quite enough.

To prove we're a serious option we need at least 10 preferably 20 drivers.
Though  the offer was a surprise the opportunity to have access to one of the best tracks in the area couldn't be ignored.

What i haven't gotten to is this has the potential to be an opportunity to run at the bigger car events.
Which would be HUGE for promoting Vintage Karting as a growing Sport.

As i mentioned they want us "to get our feet wet" to see how things go.
The Track is looking into letting us run at other Full Race events as an extra attraction.
At that point there will be entry fees same as everywhere else i expect.
The Track loves all sorts of racing and feels we would go over well as filler demo races during big events. There was talk about us doing an exhibition at one of the Nascar races they have there during the season.

Anyway i'm hoping we can pull off the impossible.
More Details to come as i get them.

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[David Luciani]

i was asked about rules for the event.
We will be using VKA guidelines as per usual with minor modifications.
We are considering inviting a few modern karts to fill out the ranks for this event but we'd rather keep it pure vintage if possible.
Since it's more like a playday than a full event tier two of VKA guidelines are probably what we're using.

We will also be setting up an information table for the Clubs so if VKA and VKCA would be kind enough to provide some hand outs it would be great.

The main purpose of this and future events is to get Vintage Karting more exposure .
If we get enough people who want to do race grids we certainly will try to accommodate the drivers wishes .
We are definitely having a kart Show and will try to have trophies ready though the time frame is pretty tight.

Right now it would be nice if people would contact me with any interest in going even as a spectator.
Also since we have more karts than drivers it's possible we can arrange a kart loan to qualified drivers.
And finally we are considering food after but aren't sure of interest so we are asking for comments.
For this event i think the old school i'll provide and cook the burgers everyone else bring something might be best bet.

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[Ted Tine]

There is a very nice restaurant on the grounds,

[David Luciani]

Ted and i were talking a few moments ago. my phone died so i didn't get everything but heres the newest info.


First we are wondering whether a lunch or dinner should happen.
i definitely like the burger idea and thought maybe lunch but it would mess with our track time. as i'm told we have from 12-5 to run the karts. we are assuming we'll get access well before then so trailers can be unloaded and karts readied. more details forthcoming.
so unless we hear different we're leaning towards burgers after five so people won't have to find food before running home.
any comments are welcome on this thought.

So far we have a bunch of people that are going to come on down.
we probably have ten drivers already even though this is very last minute.

i want to emphasize this is a KART SHOW and driving event. if you have a kart not quite ready to run or don't want to run them that is fine. we would love to have you come down with what ever you have.

there will be some items available as trunk swap meet sorta stuff i am bringing some excess with me prices will be better than what they'll list in at the store.

we would love static displays of vintage kart items too.
The end game for this event is to get Vintage Karting to the next level. our goal is to get vintage karting included as part of bigger vintage racing events and this is our first opportunity since V.I.R. to make this happen for Vintage Karting.
The event we are aiming for is vintage Enduro Karts AND Sprint Karts being run at the same track the same weekend
So a real show with displays,restored karts,swap meet and live racing heat demonstrations is our ultimate goal.
of course this will take a while to establish but it's very doable with the track being willing to merge us in Car events.
Normally this track is not something we can afford as it rents at 15,000.00 per day.
so  if you have a vintage kart or are interested in vintage karting show up on May 28th.
It'll be a whole lotta fun.



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[David Luciani]

quick post.
am working the last days of the circus at civic center so very busy this week.
kinda a sad event watching barnum close shop.
i am happy to say i'm hearing from a bunch of people that are planning on gong to thompson.
this is great as a first attempt that's so last minute. with luck we'll impress the track. ted has mentioned a possible date in september too if this goes well.
gotta go am working alot rest of weekend can't be missing sleep tonight.