Discussion
Just moved to Seattle (well 30 miles north; Marysville) from London on a permanent basis. Left my ZM Coupe behind and have replaced it with a 350z and an X3. Just wondered if there are any pistonheaders in the area. Also, is there anything to replace my yearly trip to Le Mans? What about a substitue for the 'ring'
Hi and welcome to the land of milk and honey!
Not overly familiar with PacNW - I'm in FL.
Motorsport opportunities are manifold here, but will require a bit of travel from your location (not a big deal, as I'm sure you'll discover).
Consider 12 Hours of Sebring - FL, mid-March. I've been going to Le Mans since 1983 and Sebring compares very favourably. It's much more fan friendly, you can actually get to see race cars, the weather is usually fantastic and the party is a mind-melter. I absolutely recommend it, if Le Mans is your kind of gig.
Indy 500 - Memorial Day Weekend is also a blast (and a lot closer to you). Critics will say it's roundy-roundy with emasculated machinery, but as a sporting occasion, 400,000 punters can't all be wrong. I've attended the 500 about 10 times and it is awesome in every sense.
Pepsi 400 'Cup' Race - Daytona FL - end July. My local track. Not a huge fan of NASCAR, but racing under the lights on a hot summer night is very cool.
Petit Le Mans - Road Atlanta, GA Sept/Oct. Utterly brilliant circuit (a bit like Brands) - superb party weekend. Best spectator track in the ALMS series. The business.
Rolex 24 hrs, Daytona FL - early Feb. If you absolutely have to have a 24 hour fix and can't make it over to France. Not the race it once was - but getting better recently.
I've sort of focused on Sportscar events - there are a billion other options.
Hope you get settled-in quickly.
Not overly familiar with PacNW - I'm in FL.
Motorsport opportunities are manifold here, but will require a bit of travel from your location (not a big deal, as I'm sure you'll discover).
Consider 12 Hours of Sebring - FL, mid-March. I've been going to Le Mans since 1983 and Sebring compares very favourably. It's much more fan friendly, you can actually get to see race cars, the weather is usually fantastic and the party is a mind-melter. I absolutely recommend it, if Le Mans is your kind of gig.
Indy 500 - Memorial Day Weekend is also a blast (and a lot closer to you). Critics will say it's roundy-roundy with emasculated machinery, but as a sporting occasion, 400,000 punters can't all be wrong. I've attended the 500 about 10 times and it is awesome in every sense.
Pepsi 400 'Cup' Race - Daytona FL - end July. My local track. Not a huge fan of NASCAR, but racing under the lights on a hot summer night is very cool.
Petit Le Mans - Road Atlanta, GA Sept/Oct. Utterly brilliant circuit (a bit like Brands) - superb party weekend. Best spectator track in the ALMS series. The business.
Rolex 24 hrs, Daytona FL - early Feb. If you absolutely have to have a 24 hour fix and can't make it over to France. Not the race it once was - but getting better recently.
I've sort of focused on Sportscar events - there are a billion other options.
Hope you get settled-in quickly.
dalecan said:
Just moved to Seattle (well 30 miles north; Marysville) from London on a permanent basis. Left my ZM Coupe behind and have replaced it with a 350z and an X3. Just wondered if there are any pistonheaders in the area. Also, is there anything to replace my yearly trip to Le Mans? What about a substitue for the 'ring'
My Mother and Step-father live in live in Smokey Point (North Marysville) and my sister and her husband live in Snohomish. The family is originally from Everett. Great place to live except for the traffic!As for an annual race replacement I would recommend a road trip to the Pikes Peak Hillclimb outside of Colorado springs, Colorado. For something more local you might try SIR (Seattle International Raceway) in Kent, Washington or PIR (Portland International Raceway) Portland Oregon. There is also some fine Sprint Car racing at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington on summer Saturdays not too far North of you just off Interstate 5. They race on a 3/8s miles clay track.
Agreed - Seattle to Central FL would be a bit of a schlep to drive.
North West fly direct to Orlando, for buttons.
Check-out www.sebringfans.com for a flavour.
If you like Le Mans - you'll really like Sebring.
North West fly direct to Orlando, for buttons.
Check-out www.sebringfans.com for a flavour.
If you like Le Mans - you'll really like Sebring.
Hmmm, yes, Bike Week is almost upon us. My understanding is that it is loosely arranged around the Daytona 200 AMA endurance race. I first checked it all out in 2002, shortly after I arrived in FL and there was a degree of culture shock - I can't deny it. Row upon row of Hardly Movingsons didn't do much for me, but the party atmo, drinking in the street (ordinarily somewhat frowned upon), wet teeshirt competitions - of quite varied quality, ranging from "Oh my Gawd, I've died and gone to heaven", to "Mine are better than hers", all made it an enlightening day out.
One of my irritations related to this type of gathering is the coming together of lots and lots of "individuals" you know, non-conformists, road-warriors, all expressing their individuality, but somehow all looking exactly the same - all wearing dirty Levi's, scuffed biker-boots, leather waistcoats and bandanas. Many of them also have an old slapper clinging to the sissy-bar with gnarly claws - basically suburban soccer-moms with fake tits, supplementing their stockbroker/orthdontist husband's Easyrider fantasy.
In some respects, I thought that Bike Week was trying too hard. In others I thought it was fantastic.
The pointless revving, "Look at me, I'm 'ard" and multiple yearly death toll (morons exercising their rights not to wear crash helmets in 95% of cases) make it tiresome. The influx of tourist cash, insane custom machinery and the higher than usual turn-out of scantily dressed eye-candy make it a lot of fun.
I wouldn't suggest traveling from Seattle to witness it, however. Sturgis is a good deal closer, with just as much mayhem.
One of my irritations related to this type of gathering is the coming together of lots and lots of "individuals" you know, non-conformists, road-warriors, all expressing their individuality, but somehow all looking exactly the same - all wearing dirty Levi's, scuffed biker-boots, leather waistcoats and bandanas. Many of them also have an old slapper clinging to the sissy-bar with gnarly claws - basically suburban soccer-moms with fake tits, supplementing their stockbroker/orthdontist husband's Easyrider fantasy.
In some respects, I thought that Bike Week was trying too hard. In others I thought it was fantastic.
The pointless revving, "Look at me, I'm 'ard" and multiple yearly death toll (morons exercising their rights not to wear crash helmets in 95% of cases) make it tiresome. The influx of tourist cash, insane custom machinery and the higher than usual turn-out of scantily dressed eye-candy make it a lot of fun.
I wouldn't suggest traveling from Seattle to witness it, however. Sturgis is a good deal closer, with just as much mayhem.
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