Summit Point Motorsports Park

Motorsport venue
Name = Summit Point Motorsports Park


Location = Summit Point, WV, USA
Broke_ground = 1969
Opened = 1973
Owner = Bill Scott Racing, Inc.
Operator = Bill Scott Racing, Inc.
Events = The 12 Hours at the Point - SCCA
Capacity = open seating without capacity limitation
Layout1 = Summit Point Main Circuit
Length_km = 3.22
Length_mi = 2.0
Turns = 10
Layout2 = Jefferson Circuit
Length_km2 = 1.80
Length_mi2 = 1.12
Turns2 = 7
Layout3 = Shenandoah Circuit
Length_km3 = 3.54
Length_mi3 = 2.2

Summit Point Motorsports Park is a road racing and driver training facility located in Jefferson County, West Virginia about two hours west of Washington, D.C. in the state's Eastern Panhandle, depending on traffic.

Current status

Owned and operated by Bill Scott Racing, Inc. [ru icon [http://www.bsr-inc.com/ BSR Inc ] ] , Summit Point Motorsports Park features three road racing circuits that are currently used for amateur automobile, kart, and motorcycle racing, high performance driver education and emergency training for local and federal law enforcement, as well as foreign service officers who may be posted to dangerous locales.

History

Built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Summit Point Motorsports Park — then, simply "Summit Point Raceway" — opened in 1973 as a professional racing venue. Falling into dire financial straits, the track closed in the late 1970s and was purchased in the early 1980s by 1970 Formula Vee World Champion Bill Scott, who added two additional road courses in 1996 and 2004.

Circuits

ummit Point Main

"Summit Point Main" is a 10-turn, convert|2.0|mi|km|1|sing=on road course that features a convert|2900|ft|m|-1|sing=on main straight. The Track opened in 1970. Based on personal knowledge and belief the very first races held there were IMSA International Sedans, [Results of Spring Sprints for Sedans, Summit Point Speedway, 30/5/1970 http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/Races/1970%20Summit%20Point.html] later to become The Radial Tire Series, and Pro Formula Ford. The event was held on Memorial Day, 30/5/1970. The holiday was still celebrated on the 30th back then. Rasey Feezell won in an Alfa Romeo 4 door sedan, whose modifications were very questionable. Five of the eleven entrants were from Raleigh, NC. A Pro Formula Ford race was also held. The track was host to a number of professional races organized by IMSA and the SCCA Trans-Am Series through the late 1980s.

No longer a professional track, it hosts many SCCA, BMWCCA and NASA club races and schools, in addition to amateur motorcycle races.

The Main Circuit is also the annual home of the "Jefferson 500" vintage race and "The 12 Hours at the Point" endurance race.

The Main Circuit was repaved in the Fall of 2007. [http://www.trackpedia.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3293 retrieved November 12, 2007]

Jefferson Circuit

The "Jefferson Circuit" is a seven-turn, convert|1.12|mi|km|2|sing=on road course that was designed and built by Bill Scott as a dedicated course for high-performance, accident avoidance and emergency operation driver training. Opened in 1996 or 1997, the Jefferson is a course that demands constant attentiveness and smooth inputs from drivers. [ [http://www.nccbmwcca.org/index.php?id=17,167,0,0,1,0 http://www.nccbmwcca.org/index.php?id=17,167,0,0,1,0] retrieved November 12, 2007.] [http://www.rtr-pca.org/50th-Anniversary/driversed/Making_Tracks07.html retrieved November 12, 2007.]

The Jefferson hosts a number of driver training schools, as well as a handful of motorcycle trackdays each year.

henandoah Circuit

The "Shenandoah Circuit" is a convert|2.2|mi|km|1|sing=on road course that first opened in 2004. Widely considered one of the most technical circuits of the recent crop of race courses, the Shenandoah also boasts a smaller scale replica of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife's famous banked "Karussell" turn. It's also known as the concrete jungle.Fact|date=November 2007

Since opening in late 2004, the Shenandoah has played host to a number of high performance driver education clinics, a handful of road races and a number of motorcycle races. After a number of races and schools, minor changes were made to the track layout in late-2004/early-2005, including the addition of a straight between turns 5 and 7.

References

External links

* [http://www.summitpoint-raceway.com/ Official Site]
* [http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Summit_Point_Raceway Trackpedia guide to driving this track]
* [http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/WV/SummitPoint.html Main Circuit track maps and hot lap description]