Best Rovals for a championship or just best rovals?

[gttouring]

As Grand am has been trying these now that ALMS has moved away from them, and we still segreat races there, DTM and FIA supertrucks have a fun frolic at lausitz...
so what are the best Rovals?

i'd vote on a purely Course layout (not historical perspective.) in no real order,
Lausitzring, Rockingham UK, Homestead, Daytona
my thought is Daytona is such a speed ring and then the stopping at the infield is a nice mix to the driving skills shown, but Lausitz is really great layout and the long straights and hairpins-so cool. and rockingham has a nice bit of hairpinnery happening with a slight toss of elevations
homestead is just a nice varied layout (the old one) more roady coursed than the new one with banking...
California speedway is close to a good one but with so much space there the layout and course should be stellar...but it isn't
Darlington has a nice one but a bit small, as does New Hampshire Intl Speedway- good course but not really all it could be (especially as it leaves the oval itself.)
So what are good Sports car and GT rovals? (consider sprawling suburbia may move and close down many of our favorite road courses!)

[jhansen]

Sprawling urban growth can affect any type of motorsports complex. I'm not sure why you would say that only road courses would be threatened.

[skycafe]

The great lost Riverside track in California being probably the most painful one in the US.

[jhansen]

They lost a large oval in Southern California as well. Was it Ontario Speedway? Anyways, it's gone now to. The great San Jose dirt oval track was bulldozed also.

[skycafe]

Yes, Ontario, which also had a road circuit inside. Ascot would be another dirt oval gone from that area as well.

[gttouring]

well most rovals onad ovals are high walled and can be sound walled in where a lovely road course has a street laid out already for a lovely neighbor hood, and the nice uninhabited gorunds make for ncie real estate, ovals are like stadiums (stadia?) which can be in a city center without really being pressure on growth sort of..i remeber elkhart lake being threatened (road america)
and hasn't silvestone been complaigned about by the "nieghbors saying its too loud?
and Limerock park never can race sunday because a church is nearby...

[skycafe]

The Southern Califonia losses had nothing to do with noise issues, all were caused to be huge increase in value of the land, far beyond projected earnings at the tracks for decades probably.

[jhansen]

There is a good quality 1/2 mile oval facility located east of Bakersfield, CA known as Mesa Marin. Quality track that has some great racing. It has hosted a few NASCAR Craftsman Truck events. It is far removed from the urban area of Bakersfield. However, a sub-urban development was started in the area and growth has been strong. And you guessed it, the complaints about noise have been strong also. It could very well be shut down even though it was there first. So ovals, road courses, or drag strips can all be closed down for a variety of reasons which are not limited to: noise, urban sprawl, land appreciation, poor economy and environmentalists.

But this is way off topic. Like I said, I just didn't understand why you stated that road courses have the greatest threat of closure. As for which one I like best...I don't. Well it's not that, it's just that none of them jump out at me. I suppose they are fine for racing, they just lack character. Seen one seen em all.

[Edmonton]

Pheniox is a nice track that makes good use of its infield.
MIS and Texas World look interesting.
Darlinton dosen't have a roadcourse.

[billnchristy]

from playing video games (toca race driver) I like Lausitz and Rockingham.

For the US tracks, NHIS is good because it actually has an outside road portion, California speedway has multiple options and even though ive never seen pocono, it sounds pretty decent for a roval too.

[BSchneiderFan]

I don't like rovals at the best of times (remember the God-awful ALMS race at Charlotte in 2000?). Daytona is OK because, well, it's Daytona; unlike Le Mans, it's not a great track, but a great event because of the challenge and the history. The Lausitzring is all right, I suppose, and perhaps Rockingham, but, as I say, I dislike rovals as a concept.

[gttouring]

well we can all say we dislike rovals, but which are the best of the worst is really the Q.
(if it isn't darlington it maybe lowes or charlotte or some thing (i never get those southeastern US tracks right- one has a decent infield with a good little hill, i saw it on a panoz race once on SPeed)
Rovals many don't have character but the few that do, like Lausitz and Rockingham UK, and the homestead...of course the US rovals can do well in learning how to "dress up" the track with barriers and adverts to make it more real of a track anyway. they tend to have some silly patterns Usually, but a few stand out and i was looking for a few that i could look at again, there is always passing on Rovals consistantly at least...banking or big brake zones or something.
Sad about Mesa Marin, what will it take people to stop being poopheads and let gear heads move near a track instead, if you move next to an oil reinery i bet these people would complian bout the smell too, and zoos and etc etc.
back on topic, the E-Tracks site doesn't even list the Infield courses as a track in the track maps..
yes yes you akk said they suck, but let's be optimistic and openminded about this, when you race on them they are quite fun, even that poor excuse of an infield at Lakeland florida's International Raceway

[gttouring]

I almost forgot- IMS, the indy motorspeedway has done well with its infield, maybe TV coverage is what saves it, although it is a tad soulless and it seems they can use more of the oval itself (dam the FIA rules!) it think that may make for a better track - as was proposed many a time in the "my tracks" thread, but no roval is a soul less as any Tilkering i am sure the sepang layout could fit inside California...

[independent]

Which of these circuits plays most heavily in drafting and getting the slingshot for a pass?

[Edmonton]

Daytona
Also Talladega's roval looks pretty intersting.
I didn't TMS track was all that bad.

[Purist]

Well, Ontario had one of the best I think, but that's long gone.

The best in my mind are Lausitzring, Pocono, Daytona, Talladega, and Homestead. Rockingham is really qrapped around itself it seems. Phoenix is just really tight through the infield, and Indy seems generally uninspired and that double hairpin is pointless.

Michigan's rovals haven't been used in at least 20 years, so I think that one is out of the question. TWS is listed as still being active, and might produce some good racing, though it has been nearly 10 years since a major championship used the rovals there.