Laguna Seca has been around since the late 1950s, making it over 50 years old which is the minimum for a site to be considered historic. These houses are FAR newer. IMO the track should be deemed a historic site and the idiots who bought houses next to a RACE TRACK and have a problem with the noise told to pound sand or buy earplugs.
I should add, @S1apShoes made a similar video covering local race tracks that close up due to noise complaints by newer developments that choose to build houses close to race tracks then complain about the noise. Hell a similar thing happened with Cleetus' Freedom Factory. We're seeing an assault on our sport, and for some, our livelihoods by rich NIMBYs.
@Asytra It is a land grab. All done by developers with foreign money. Yeah. Believe it or not. Much of US privately owned land is owned by foreign companies. I won't name where. All because this comment would be censored. And deemed as "hate speech". When it is the truth.
That one lady said it perfectly, imagine moving somewhere near a racetrack - knowing it's a racetrack - and then complaining about about it and trying to get it shut down. Real smooth brain stuff.
People have done that when they bought their home next to Luke Air Force base near Phoenix. They do a lot of training there. Pilots from many our allied countries go there to train.
@@nuckels188 realtors are literal parasites that contribute 5-10% to overall home prices, which scales with inflation because they're percentage based. They're garbage human beings.
@@carabooseOGeven if they don't, and let's assume you buy a property sight unseen, I think a simple google of the overhead area is the bare minimum one should do to at least see what the area looks like. This is on the buyer, full stop.
Watching you guys make this video has brought me so much joy. As a former employee at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I have tears in my eyes because this track makes dreams come true.
right lol. and i feel like it’s not actually that loud- i used to live by dixie speedway and i couldn’t hear the races from a mile away even before they put up sound barriers
i currently live next to one of the busiest interstates in the state and i don’t complain about the noise because i willingly moved to a house close to a busy interstate. my friend used to live by hartsfield-jackson and he never complained about the sound of the planes going over his apartment because he willingly lived in an apartment a mile from the airport.
Didn’t watch the video before you posted did you? They couldn’t find a resident that cared about the sound. I get it though, you gotta get those sweet sweet 👍
@@misseselise3864 i also live next to a busy local airport here in the uk, have done for nearly 40 years. not only do i not complain but it got me into planes. Moving next to one of THE most famous racetracks in the world and then complainiing it is loud, when it was there first, is just sanctimonious, arrogant, selfish and spoiled behaviour. if you are that rich, you can move somewhere else and let someone who will enjoy living there do so.
In most cases when you buy a house next to a race track, military base, rock quarry, whatever…you have to sign a noise waiver. So why the complaints now?
When F-35s got stationed in Vermont to replace the outgoing F-16s the locals in Burlington threw a tantrum over the noise. If you live near an airport with a fighter wing attached it's going to be loud no matter what. No complaints when F-16s took off with full afterburner (read: loud as shit) for transatlantic flight but an F-35 taking off for routine operations was now too loud. In reality it was an anti-war/anti-nuke stance couched in a noise concern. What this group wanted was to change the Air Force's mission there to logistics because reasons. The Air Force told them to sit down, shut up, and color. This looks like a bunch of rich CA types trying to abuse CEQA and other laws like it to screw over a historic racetrack because reasons. Anything from keeping out the riffraff racing fans to a landgrab. NIMBYs gonna NIMBY.
Simple answer: rich people want to be more rich so they are gonna complain to tear down track and more house and more and more increase in their property value
This is probably one of the most important and sobering vids yall have done. Despite many others covering this, what you add to the end about protecting tracks, and adding your own story to the legacy, this is what car culture is about. Perfect
when the somber music comes in and Jer hits us with "when i was a kid, my favorite track when playing Gran Turismo, was Leguna Seca." MAN that hit home. 100% didnt expect tears this vid
That’s twice in months now he’s managed it. Donut really knocking it out of the park recently with a cast of people that really make you care about the subject
Man, here in Chile, we had the Codegua International Speedway built not too long ago, it was in the middle of nowhere and since it was kind of a hassle to get there from the capital where most people live, a small town was settle close to the track, who complained about noise and had it closed, it's a story that will repeat as long as there's people who don't think ahead. (Thankfully it was reopened some time later)
They did this exact thing to Bandimere Speedway in Colorado. No one had issues with the speed way that had been there for DECADES until people started building houses on the other side of the mountain and complaining about noise, knowing it's been there well before they moved in. Now the Speedway is shut down, and being demolished and forced to move out East by the Airport.
Fellow Colorado native here. it’s a damn shame what these people complain about. Instead of complaining about noise from a race track they moved next to,how about the put more effort into cleaning up downtown Denver with the homeless and all the immigrants. In the last 5 years it’s turned into a shithole
Getting rid of the tracks will just make people drive much more dangerously on the road. Then they'll complain for a "place" where people can drive fast.
It is disgusting, last I heard they are putting an amazon warehouse where it is, which is going to mean all those whiners are now going to be dealing with ugly buildings and 18 wheelers on the highway, thanks you bunch of bitches
@noahs2135 yup I was born and raised in CO. Spent 26 years there, in the last..8-10 it's gone down hill fast. So I moved to MT to get out of that cesspool. I used to live in Morrison too, we'd always climb the backside of the mountain when I was a kid and get some good views while the funny cars sped down the track. It was a blast. It was also a hotspot for Morrison and the businesses there cause of the Red Rocks entrance and the speedway generated a ton of revenue for that beautiful little town.
There was a dirt circle track in my hometown that had been there for many decades, not sure how long, but I was going there as a kid in the 90s. It was built in a very rural part of California, near Santa Maria. Very little homes, mostly ranchers and farmers. Around 2012, a developer built a couple dozen homes DIRECTLY next to the track. Eventually, the HOA and others sued this local track for noise complaints. In 2021, the track shut down indefinitely due to the ongoing legal issues. I'm sure they just ran out of money fighting it. Wasn't a fancy track, just your usual stock cars running around, snacks for a dollar, tickets for like $5, kids enter free, that kind of place.
Very needed video, glad to see Donut calling out frivolous lawsuits. As a general aviation enthusiast, small GA airports are being hurt by the same people.
Agreed! If you cannot cope with the noise then... DON'T buy or build a house next to an airport, racetrack, etc. I am fine with opposing a new thing like that being planned, but the track was built before the houses, so the track should not get sued.
@@WordsRelyReal I want to see these type of people suing military bases for being "too noisy" when the entire idea of these bases is training the soldiers which gonna save their sorry asses one day.
The difference is. One thing just transports people to places and burns a lot of fuels and isn't needed. The other is an entertainment complex enjoyed by people. If it was up to me, each state would be allotted 1 airport for the entire state. I live in Montana which is huge, but I would rather drive 600-800 miles to get to an airport. I think we could do with about 1/50th of the flights we currently have. If you find that you can't work without constant travel. Relocate, or get a better job. Nobody wants to listen to airports, nobody wants planes flying over their houses, and certainly nobody wants to be anywhere near the airport when they do their mandatory fire response tests and burn about 5,000 gallons of fuel every month sending the giant clouds of thick sticky smoke over homes and schools.
We used to have a drag strip here in Paulding County, but it was bought out by a strip mall developer that was never developed. I wish I could've seen it in action
You should file an amicus brief in support of the defendants (Leguna Seca). Honest,y, the decibel readings is pretty persuasive evidence that the plaintiffs are full of crap.
To be fair, the track day he measured was a sound limited event. Most track days are limited to 100 decibels. Cars louder than that can't run those days. If he wanted to do a real test, he would go out for a big event with no restrictions.
@@ripn929707Given the statistics provided let us say the reading was 120db in theory would equate to about 62-65db in the same neighborhood measured. So the equivalent of an EV passing your house from tire noise. The whole lawsuit is a desperate attempt at a land grab. For reference, the rifle range would be 140db+ and is far far closer to the impacted residents
@ripn929707 you mean... the big events run in accordance with the land use permit? It's actually exactly the type of event he measured which is the crux of the argument.
@@ripn929707 Like when the banned mazda 787B rotary from racing lamans due to decibels but it was really because they kicked everyone's ass. It was pumping out 130 decibels though. 😅
our small local track had these issues this past summer. basically, there was a land dispute between the land the track was on and a neighbor and suddenly it meant that the track was too loud. then the neighbor was caught driving up and down the road on his ATV trying to skew the sound readings, when the track hired a company to come in to take readings at all of the neighbor's homes.
@RetroGamerr1991 if that's true? Doesn't change the fact that they have been weponized and are/ where givin too much power by the current administration!
I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and we had an iconic race track maybe an hour from the city called the Autodrome Saint-Eustache. It’s been there since 1965 and was owned and run by the same family until its closure. Was a race track that became popular overtime and started hosting the only Formula Drift events in Canada. Once that was done the residents who lived near the track complained about the noise, traffic, racing, etc. and ended up shutting its doors in 2019 because of these complaints. I often drive by it when I’m in the area and still see the huge track signs leading up to the entrance then see that it’s a land development now. I’m hoping this won’t happen to a track as iconic as Laguna Seca. 🥺
In the UK a person bought a house near Mallory Park and then complained about the noise. They had an ulterior motive in that they wanted to buy the land and build on it. Fortunately the track is still going. Believe it or not there have been cases of people moving out of large cities to the country and then complaining about the smells, noise of cows and even church clocks striking the hour.
i know of one case where someone built a house in the middle of a farming area, and then immediately proceeded to bitch and moan about all the farming and farm animals, they were rightfully told to fuck off pretty quickly.
People have started to build houses near me, and I know it's only a matter of time before someone starts bitching about my chickens, especially the rooster.
@@bblasphemous The track was granted to the county by the U.S Army. Any changes to its land use must be negotiated through them first as they placed clauses in place directly because of situations like this. At worst the land can only revert back to just be a public park with rv hookups.
the closest house to Laguna Seca is 612 Belavida Rd. and it is 2378ft away or about half a mile from the track. Assuming 0 wind and 0 obstacles (theres plenty of obstacles, like hills and trees, so on) that 100db at the track would equate to about 40db on their lawn. That's literally the same as a refrigerator running. Inside their house it would be practically impossible to detect. Also the home was literally built in 2002. Meaning nobody inhabited that space until 45 years after people have been racing at that track.
The sound of the cars on the track is more than 100dB mate - 115-130dB That is roughly the same as a rock concert I lived over 1 mile away from a stadium that had frequent concerts and I could always hear what songs they were playing Your theory is theory. Reality is different
Checking pictures on google and the track on Street view there is an entire hillside between the house and the track. You ain't hearing shit from the track there.
We got a super cool new race track near us, And there are 3 people that make up 90% of the noise complaints. Track has incredibly tight sound restrictions, and you can't hear the track sitting in your car in the pits. The track is right beside a highway, and the track gets noise complaints when there's no one is even on the track. Group of Harleys drives by? Racetrack noise. Loud sportsbikes? Racetrack noise. The track installed an insane state-of-the-art sound measuring system and can provide data for any moment in time for the entire season of operation, and recently sued the county over the noise issue and won. There are some wins for the motorsports crowd!
@@kevinmcnutt3415 i live 2 miles away from Interlagos, F1 cars are loud as fuck everytime they corner in the corner near my house i can hear at 2 miles, but i close the window and the sound is gone, closer is worst but again we just close the windows if we want to. Race track is only annoying because of the traffic in big events, but everywhere that get 20k+ people is annoying, Taylor Swift makes the same amount of traffic compared to F1 😅
I live near Laguna Seca and my family and I have loved going there for indycar recently. Biggest annoyance is the added traffic, but it's already bad in Monterey during school season, beach season, then car week season. Just the reality of living in a beautiful coastal area with prominent car culture. Noise is only an issue if you live in the surrounding neighborhoods but dissipates quickly as you go farther. I don't think this lawsuit is supported by many monterey bay residents.
It doesn't affect that though. most street racing is people that cant afford track fees. i have 3 big tracks near me and still tons of street racing because its cheaper to just race on the roads nearby. so unless track cost decrease then people will continue to street race and the people that can afford it wont mind just driving to the next one
@ethanacton408 you're not entirely wrong ofc but it does cause more street racing because if you're closing the places to race people are just gonna go to the street it's like underground fighting yes you can do it legally but you're gonna have people that can't afford that life do it underground and if you shut down all the combat sports it would go harder in the street same concept
@@ethanacton408you think street racers can’t afford track fees…. Your joking right? You think the guys who race gtrs, zl1s, vettes, lambos, hellcats, stangs, etc. all 70k+ vehicles with heavy modifications can’t afford track fees? I’ve seen poor drifters in Miata’s go to the track, that’s not why they race in the road, if there were more open test days at a local drag strip, there would be less drag racing, lot of the times the fee is only $50 for a pass
@@ethanacton408the problem is only how many drag strips there are locally, in Dallas, the closest 1/4 mile strip is a he Texas Motorplex, and thats a good 40~hour long drive from the middle of Dallas.
I worked at an industrial facility that had a neighborhood butted up against it. The neighborhood was built after the facility, and they'd complain all the time about noise and anything that they considered a nuisance. My thinking every time I'd hear about them complaining was, "Why did they move in right next to this place? What did they expect?" It seems like sometimes people move places specifically to have something to complain about. Some people just have nothing better to do.
had it in my town as well someone built a house next to the local airfield and then constantly complained about the noise of the planes. The other one bought a house next to the curch and complained about the curchbell
Same thing happened to brands hatch in the uk, council gave permission to build a housing estate next to a race track, then started enforcing noise limits and curfews on them!
China's Zhuhai Circuit also has this problem, but the court and the government rejected the complaint. The reason is that the circuit was built earlier. The developers knew that this was a disadvantage, but still chose to develop residential areas. Those residents need to bear the consequences themselves.
I love coming home from my second shift on the weekends and I can hear the late models and modifieds from over a mile away! It’s a relaxing sound! Just to hear engines screaming at high rpm on a dirt track
The whole argument that the cars are loud is so funny to me. Just because I don't live next to Monaco doesn't mean I don't have neighbors in their eg civics with five inch radius exhaust pipes thinking they're Ayrton Senna. If anything, I'd rather hear the actual racecar than some kid who thinks he's driving one.
Come to, Well actually, No dont come here, the crimes here is to basically cry, but Rosario has an racetrack that can be heard. And still no one is bitching about it.
I’ve lived next to an airport for over 20 years. When a plane flys over, guests will ask me how I deal with it. I always ask, deal with what? I don’t even notice it because you get so used to it. Edit: I completely forgot to add that i also live next to a major highway AND I hear train horns in the distance because I’m near tracks. Goes to show you get used to this stuff.
As I'm reading your comment I hear a plane flying into DFW airport lol. Right under one of the flight paths, but you get used to it! It's not bad. Sometimes the squeaky landing gear coming down is louder than the engines.
I used to live right up against the railroad tracks. When I moved to a house a good 1/4-mi from the trains, I couldn't sleep for weeks unless I opened my windows to let in the soothing sound of those choo-choos.
I've heard stories of people who moved away from airport or from area where an airport shut down that it took them a long time to get used to the quietness again. People were so used to the sound that they can't go to sleep without it.
That ending hit hard. I grew up going to my local track El Cajon Speedway watching the Saturday night guys and the destruction derbies after. Then as I got a little older I got to race on it with my local karting club right before it closed. Now it's just an empty lot next to the airport. They didn't even develop it despite all the whining about housing or expanding the airport. Such a damn shame.
Great video, in 1985 I won the 125 pro class at the CMC motocross race at Laguna Seca. A few years ago I took my daughter to a mountain bike race there and after a good google search, I was able to find the remnants of the old moto track. The start pad was still there and you could see the outline, berms and jumps under the brush and grass. So that was cool for me. I even found the old Cycle News article. If my memory serves me correct, Factory Honda’s Johnny O’Mara won the 250 pro class that day. Ironically I won the 125 class with 4-3 moto scores, not ideal but it was my first professional motocross win. This video makes me now want to go back and do a track day so I can experience the legendary auto racing circuit. Thanks for doing this video guys.
I lived about 5 miles as the crow flies to the west of LS from 2013-2015 (basically on the coast in Seaside). Some heavy fog mornings, you could hear the cars on track from my backyard. Personally, that just made me excited. It was an extra treat I didn't expect when I moved there. 500 miles later on that track, I can say it was everything I ever wanted it to be. This was a case where it was great to "meet" my hero.
I guess trees along the edges of the race track closest to the houses would be the best solution. They'll block out most of the sound, and be the cheapest option. Also, Laguna Seca might be able to call it 'Carbon Offsetting'.
If it wasn't on a dry ass area. Then they will complain the trees are taking their water away from their gardens. People are dumb. And I bet it's the ones in the walled neighbourhood who are making the fuss, not the people they interviewed.
Here in Phoenix AZ we are very fortunate to have Firebird (formally Wildhorse Pass, formerly formerly Firebird) sticking around. It has some incredibly fun tracks and is in a really convenient location. While most the courses are in a desperate need of a repave and maintenance, I have hopes the track will be able to return to it's former glory. It was the site of my first few track days, and countless number of events and memories. Plus it has 4 separate circuits and combining two of them, the longest track in Arizona which incorporates the drag strip as the main straight!
Radford/Firebird is offering a country club membership option. I put my name on the list to become a member when they open membership which will be 3/16/2024.
They were supposed to demolish it to build an overpass, more shopping (like we need that) and a entertainment venue (again like we need another one here in AZ) Im sure the Indian tribe would make more money with shopping and such but Im glad to see the track sticking around. Now if they just put some money into it to make it more modern and host more events there it would be perfect. Radford Racing actually owns their section so that was staying regardless of what was going to happen to the rest of the facility.
The Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, IL closed in 2023 & sold off to be redeveloped as a commercial zone. The track was built in 1947 and was/is a 1/4 mile oval track with 22° of banking. The track surface was about as smooth as the surface of the moon, but it was FAST. As of the day I'm typing this out, the reception hall next door & 90% or so of the tracks facilities have all been torn down & destroyed, leaving only the track itself behind for however long it'll be before they get started on breaking down the concrete. It really hurts to see and experience your local raceway being demolished without so much as a sliver of hope that it will be saved. The sale of the land was done soon after the death of the track owner Jody Deery and was subtlety and privately sold to a developer. The sale was only made public once the deal had been finalized, offering zero chance for the racetrack's fate to be changed. Having lived 15 minutes from the track almost my entire life, the sound of late model stock cars racing on Sunday afternoons and practicing on Saturdays will be forever missed. Not to mention the trailer races, figure 8 races, and spectator drags to name a few.
The same thing is happening in Portugal with the Estoril circuit.. noise complaints from people that bought the house years after the circuit was built
Thank you for mentioning palm Beach international raceway. It used to be my local track and was heart breaking when it closed down. Was an awesome spot that used to be in the middle of nowhere, until wealthy people moved near it in new houses
It wasn’t any housing development that shut it down. It was the owners who bought it and didn’t want the track. They just wanted the land and they wanted to rezone it and sell it.
It still hurts, I was the 3rd generation in my family to race there and unfortunately the last, but just know it had nothing to due with a housing development with it closing. Owners just sold it to the wrong people.
@GardsFTW not to start something, but I'm genuinely curious if Trump (or other republicans) has said anything about removing the regulation on cars that have been inplaced on them so far or any other laws that have badly affected the car market.
This would be a great series, one track per episode. A series that covers the history as well as the modern operations of racetracks around the country (then the world). A LOT of potential content that hasn't been tapped.
I recently bought a house near Pacific Raceways near Seattle. We knew we were buying very near an active race track. The only thing that bothers me is the NHRA NW Nationals. The top fuel and funny cars will make your heart skip a beat when they launch. Simple. We just use it as an excuse to take a little weekend trip out of town. In my case proximity to a race track was actually a selling point as I enjoy going to races and events. The first guy he talked to summed it up for me.
While funny, that's not how nuclear power works and jokes like this hurt climate change efforts by unfairly painting nuclear as "un clean" when it's in reality one of the best sources of energy we have currently.
Same thing here in Oregon. Our only drift track in the PDX area, Parc ( Pats Acres) shut down. Someone new moved into the area knowing it was a go kart/drift & dirt bike track. Now they are shut down. Its a shame because some of us, including myself, are building a drift car with no track nearby. Now I have to travel 3+ hours to get seat time. Hoping it all gets worked out & motorsports becomes a respected category & keep it off the streets.
Happened with Riverhead Raceway out here on Long Island a bunch of times. If you know where Riverhead is, it's basically as far as you can possibly get away from NYC without hitting the Hamptons. Up until the late 90's it was in the middle of nowhere but all of a sudden a land developer decided 100ft away from a track that had been there since 1951 was the best place to put new homes. Now if you've never been to a Modified race, those are some of the loudest cars you'll ever hear outside of a Top Fuel of Funny Car race. People of course complained that the track was too loud and when the HOA board was asked to point out their respective houses on an aerial photo, they couldn't find them. The defense said something along the lines of "Oh I'm sorry about that. This photo was taken in 1965. Tell me again when was your house built?". Now the only threat to the track is a scumbag developer that was foaming at the mouth for the elderly owners to pass away so he could build a strip mall. Thankfully it was sold to new owners before that could happen under the stipulation that it cannot be converted into anything outside the realm of being a race track.
Yooo. Funny enough looking at your channel, I think I met you at NYR SCCA autocross at the Coliseum a couple years ago. I was the guy in the gray Crown Vic lol. @@CountersteerGarage
This reminds me of a lawsuit back in the 90's where I lived at the time (Laguna Hills). The county at the time had been planning for years to put in a bypass (what became highway 73). It was funny to see all these homes spring up, with a wide swath of land go undeveloped. We knew even back then, that a freeway was coming, and any original home owner (my parents included) were warned that a free was coming. Yet, when the day finally came, of course thousands of home owners tried to sue to stop it. The judge basically told them all (rightfully) to go get bent.
Part of it is because this land is marked as less desirable..cuz it's next to a nuisance. Then after a decade or two some developer comes along and sees how cheap it is and thinks, "I can make a profit from this" so they buy the land, build the homes, and then the homes get bought up by people who generally aren't told about the nuisance. Then, 20-30 years later people start going over the legal documents to find any/all ways they can get the nuisance removed.
@@CRneu I'm sure some didn't know, but a vast majority did know. It was very well known at the time. My friends dad was a lawyer, and bought one of those homes (to sell later). He got one right next to where the freeway was going in, for much cheaper than other homes in that area. He kept arrogantly saying that he would personally see to it that freeway would never get built. He thought the home would triple in value, once he got the freeway stopped. He greatly over eatimated his position. He still made a money on the house though.
They win lawsuits too, I read about about a guy who bought into a golf course neighborhood and sued over it. I also saw a video where the guy would lay in his yard next to the ball and act concussed. I like the second guy a lot better.
You joke, but that actually happened in a club I used to hit balls at because golfers would cut through a residential neighborhood from one hole to the next. Long story short, the suit went nowhere, but the golf course tried to accommodate.
The Air Force Academy in Colorado has a similar problem. Amazingly people bought houses at the end of a runway. Then complained that planes were flying over their high dollar homes.
One of my favorite bars in New Orleans was this old neighborhood music venue and also had courtyard in the back. Some New Yorkers moved next door, complained to the city, and got their music liscense taken away. They've been fighting to get music back there for almost 10 years now
As someone who lives in Monterey and loves going to Laguna Seca, this is such hogwash. The people who live in the first neighborhood Jeremiah went to are literally in the flight path of the airport here. ‘Plainers gon’ ’plain.
@@FyTube12 dude, it’s so dumb. And like they said, there’s a gun range attached to Laguna Seca that’s even closer to that neighborhood. Some people suck.
That's the problem with rich doofuses getting away from the city (for whatever reasons they have, I can't blame them) and feeling the need to go beyond the suburbs and into the country, where they can find the space to build their little MEGA-MANSIONS or gated/fenced-off enclaves and give themselves a sense of safety from the rest of the world. But once they see an airport or a racetrack, be it a full-circuit road course, an oval, hey...Even a dragstrip, within their sight or ears... ...then all Hell breaks loose. A vicious cycle
Nazareth speedway was mentioned on here and I love that. It’s just about 45 minutes away from my house and in the back yard of my friends house. Used to be able to walk out to the track to take a look at the oval and the things that were left there after it was bought and shut down for Watkins glen. Andretti had driven that track a few times too from what I was told, he lives right up there. Most of the tracks in the area up here have been shut down or replaced for dirt tracks. Taking a trip out to see a buddy that lives out near salinas, gonna make a stop at seca
From what I heard here on Brazil. The last phase of Ultimate Drift was going to be hosted in an abandoned football camp in the middle of the city, which was going to be restaured by the event and used furthermore for other stuff (maybe football itself). But they gave up when someone from the government stopped the repairs because it "weren't bring repaired for the correct reason that was built at first place". They hosted the event on the airport near, but the camp still abandoned for more than 7 years.
@@retromaniaco_br7422 The camp isn't "modifiable" so after the event it could be reverted to another sport? From what I heard the idea was to do that. And since it's abandoned, I think I prefer the modification anyways...
Same type of lawsuite ended the international curitiba racetrack in Brazil. People moved too close to the track and started complaining about the noise. They ended up having to shut it down and sell the land to companies that wanted to build houses and building on top of it
@@felipeferreira00 it was actually in Pinhais. But it was called the Curitiba race track (AIC) stock car and formula truck races where common there and multiple track days and events every year. An amazing track that ended up being destroyed. With no safe place to race people will be racing jn the streets
Watch the video. Homeowners don't care. It's one rich guy who has been suing the county for different stuff for decades. No one is hanging out protesting events. This is like those guys who go around suing older mom and pop places for ADA violations, and you're hating on all handicapped people for it.
Same thing happened to my local track, Illiana Motor Speedway. Built in 1947 with nothing but farms around it. 50 years later the farmers sold their land to build houses. The people complained about the noise and won. The track closed in 2016. I'm happy to say I had a chance to drive on it for a few laps before it closed.
I miss Illiana so much!! One of my friends & his wife was one of the complainers. I never worked on their cars again once I found out....gets better: they bought the house for the better school district and their former 7 year old who is now 16 is a certified car nut.
@@2muchspl sounds like you should rally to ban what they love so their investments are a waste of money and passion too. It'd be ironic if their now car nut kid was on board too lol
Same thing happend a few years ago after developers built condos in downtown Monterey right next to a favored nightspot where local bands played at for years, and then they sued them over the noise to the point where they no longer had live music. "Saucito Land Company, which owns the adjacent building, sued Bull & Bear on June 1, 2017, arguing the noisy venue was making Saucito’s residential tenants unhappy and depriving the company of rent." I grew up in Monterey in the 60s, wrenched in several auto repair shops in the 70s and used to go to the La Guna Seca races every summer. I moved away in the 80s, returned in the 2010s and one of the first things I did was go to a few La Guna Seca races. In the 70s during the annual La Guna Seca historic car races week, Monterey came alive with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance going on and the masses of historic cars and car buffs everywhere. Those two events birthed what now has grown to become, in the last 45 years, a massive publicity production featuring thousands of vintage and rare cars, car shows, vintage and expensive car auctions, car related events and night life, including numerous street car shows and street festivals in the neighboring cities of Seaside, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Marina, Carmel, Carmel Valley and Salinas. Thousands and thousands of tourists and car owners come to Monterey for what now takes a month to put together, enjoy and then dismantle. In the 1990s La Guna Seca hosted several summer concerts including Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, G. Love & Special Sauce, Joan Osborne, Leftover Salmon, Ratdog, Wavy Gravy, Wilco, Bob Dylan, George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, The Black Crowes, Dick Dale, Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, Gin Blossoms, Phish, The Freddy Jones Band, 4 Non Blondes, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Meat Puppets, The Mother Hips, Blues Traveler, Shawn Colvin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Jeff Healey Band, 10, 000 Maniacs, The Samples and Wailing Souls. Monterey should not bite the hand that feeds them.
Up here in Oregon something similar-ish happened with the Cottage Grove Speedway. They built the speedway a long time ago right outside of town. Well, over time the town expanded and folks started building houses closer and closer to the speedway. Like 15 or so years ago a bunch of residents tried to sue to get the race track to close. The agreement they came to was that all racing had to be finished by 10pm. It's mind boggling though that folks would buy/build houses close enough to a race track to have complaints. Maybe don't move into the house if you don't want to deal with the noise?
One of the most important Donut episodes I've seen in a while. My heart tears every time I hear about another track closure. And there have been a lot.
In New Zealand, one of my favourite tracks, Pukekohe just shut down. I have been fortunate enough to race at every track in New Zealand and I agree with your sentiment of getting out there and supporting your local tracks
I camped there, the rifle range woke me up at 8:00 am sharp every morning. Those people filing lawsuits need to get over it or move, that track is so historic it would be a huge shame if the track closed because of a bunch of HOA Karens
Similar thing happened to Wakefield Park in NSW Australia. A new owner is thankfully getting to work with the neighbours and mitigate the noise (at great expense) to keep the track open. Frustrating situation
One better mate is Calder Park thunderdome. The track been there for ever and they built houses pretty much on the fence line and then they complained about the noise.
This is why I left. Everything cool is illegal. Everyone is out trying to sue everyone else. Everyones self entitled. taxes are through the roof. Half of everyones a Karen. It's a shame what they did to the place.
I grew up in that neighborhood!!! It's a car lovers dream seeing all the super cars and project cars drive by on my way to school. I have the best memories watching races every weekend with my family. Everyone who lives there knows about super bike week because its the loudest but even then its just sounds like bees in the background. I wish I could have been there to meet Jerry walking around on my street.
I've been going to at least 1 event a year at Laguna for decades. It's a great time to enjoy with friends. I really hope the suit gets squashed. I think they do a good job of managing the noise levels for the smaller events. Big events the series (IMSA, Indycar, TransAm, etc.) have existing regs around how loud the cars can be, since they have to fit in all over the country/world.
I live a mile down the road from Road America in WI and I love it. Without it there would be no income to the town. And it's the whole reason why I love cars in the first place.
Happened to Pukekohe raceway in NZ just last year. Venue was owned by the horse club, and they couldnt use their horses while the cars were using it. So they shut it down last year to "focus on their horses". Track had been there since the 1960s and some true worldwide greats had learned to race there, such as Bruce Mclaren, Jim Clark etc.
Thank you, Donut Media. I’m happy for you all, and the success of the channel, but this video gives me joy. Thank you for leveraging your reach to highlight such an important issue for us SoCal enthusiasts. First class.
There is a local track by me Kalamazoo speedway that's been around since the early 60's and they had to fight with the same crap with people who moved in to houses that were built way later.
Happens here in Australia as well. Oran park is now a housing estate. Sandown has been under threat for decades as it's in the middle of a suburb (was once in the middle of a paddock) Wakefield park has been temporarily closed and will hopefully reopen after some works
Oran Park was on crown land on 50 year lease, the government didn't renew the lease as the land was intended for release and rezoning as part of the western Sydney 2025 initiative, people forget a lease is a set term , don't plan ahead of what isn't set in stone. Wakefield had always been on the chopping board and isn't really the same story as Laguna, infact it is the opposite. The surrounding residents of Wakefield had mostly been there first , first come first served principal, they had no restrictions on decibel until then began to run more events than the residents where initially told. They were never forced to close either, the originally owners went bankrupt and was bought out . The new owners then had to start again with proposal and business plan to local council. They were conditionally allowed to reopen pending major earthworks to create natural sound dispersal walls etc to meet new requirements. Marulan is another example where someone purchased land, decided to build a racetrack for all in the middle of moderate sized lots with residents living there way before they came along. They again where hit with constant sound complaints and ended up with decibel limits and curfews which in this case probably deserved as they knew exactly what the risks where when your closest neighbour is s 800m away from the track
Living near Laguna Seca right now, building a house near a racetrack gets you racetrack noises. Some of these houses were built in the late 60's early 70's well after the track was built. Just like living near an airport, which also exists there and sometimes has flights going over the racetrack. Or a US Army base that was active until the 90's. More annoying is the traffic that comes through clogging up Hwy 68, which happens basically every day but is worse on track days.
The main issue is location its in California. Grew up next to a dirt track, it was kinda of a thing to sit out and drink beer barbecue and listen to the races. But im in the south. If you dont like the noise, go inside It's a historic site. If you dont like it, move
The FAA works with some regional airports to determine which homes are impacted by airplane noise associated with the airports, then provides funding to those airports to run programs that pay for eligible homeowners to install improved soundproofing and noise mitigation on their properties. One example is the Louisville Regional Airport Authority's "Quieter Home Program," which is completely funded by the FAA (shoutout to James's hometown). I think most people here would agree that the track is historic and was there first, so the complainants don't have much right to complain. But i think it would be great if organizations like the SCCA, ADRA, or even larger racing organizations like Arca, NASCAR, and Indycar would cooperate to establish funding to help both big and small tracks under threat in the US fund similar programs in their areas. Even if some of us don't think they should have to, helping people soundproof their homes/properties around tracks could be a great good-faith/good-neighbor program to help get ahead of complaints/lawsuits, drum up more support for the tracks, appease the most upset neighbors, and keep them from closing down. Showing some effort to help mitigate the problem (however small it is in reality) could give them a better chance at survival than outright resistance. It would surely give the track(s) more ground to stand on in court.
i dont think thats completely fair, the faa is funded by the government and the other organizations arent. its not a half bad idea but instead of the organizations running the track being on the hook for the noise abatement it should be on the developers to foot the bill.
Same thing happened to Lions Drag strip off Alameda. People moved next to race track knowing race cars are loud... Then complained that race cars are loud.
The houses and condos built along the Highway 68 corridor long after the track are far more intrusive and more of an eye sore than Laguna Seca is even close to.
The crazy thing is, I did an English project for class the other day talking about this as a societal issue and how it’s going to impact car enthusiasts as a community. So seeing you guys cover this issue is pretty cool.
I literally work in residential construction and I absolutely hate land developers. Tearing down historic places for cookie cutter homes filled with the most uptight people ever. It truly is a sad world we live in
Some residents in Bakersfield did the same thing against Mesa Marin Raceway. The NASCAR Southwest tour race track was there years before the housing development was put in. But the neighborhood won and NASCAR was out. Mesa Marin Raceway was also the track that developed the Super Trucks there. I saw the first one go around the track there. This sucks.
11:32 I grew up going to Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR). It was my local track and I have countless, priceless memories there. I miss it immensely, and it’s heartbreaking to see more and more historic racetracks disappear.
Thankfully Radford Racing school is keeping the dream alive here in Arizona and they just came out with a yearly track membership that’s pretty dang affordable in the scheme of things. We are fortunate for now
I would love to live next to a track. Our local track was on its last leg and was purchased and now they have multi races and had a new one built at an old saw mill and has a awesome atmosphere with the history or the old mill getting a new life. My son and I drove from Idaho to Laguna Seca one year only to pull into the gates and realize we left the tickets at home, they let us in and we had the time of our lives. That track has national historic value still making unforgettable memories. If California allows that track to shut down it would surprise me but I hope it never does. Thanks for the videos
The larger issue is that it's time for each state to begin cutting into its unused lands to spread out the roadways and make more zoning areas. These real estate developers come in and build up an area without any regard to the infrastructure, and then the town usually does nothing to improve it. The people running the town just care about getting more rateables to pay for their own pay raises, and then they end up retiring and leaving anyway! The houses built nearby that track should have never been built that close to the track in the first place!
I'm from Missouri so totally different scenario... but I moved from STL city 10 years ago, and I just keep moving farther away. It's crazy to me that people want to live in such congested areas and deal with traffic and crime when you can get farther away and have twice the house and 10x the yard. Humans aren't built for living on top of each other. Edit: especially when everyone's working from home nowadays.
Unfortunately, something similar to this has happened in the UK too. Closure of several race circuits, drag strips and oval tracks. It makes motorsports harder and harder to access in such a relatively small country
We lost Rockingham this way I think, and Bedford Autodrome has strict noise sensors that go to the council office which can shut a track day down for noisy cars. Stupid really, but it lies with the council and the ability for them to allow building near this and not have it in the contracts for the houses that sets limits of acceptable noise over an average year for the race track that's been there. If its in the contacts that a decibel reading of 120dbm is acceptable, they they cant complain on the noise when buying the house. I'm sure, give it 5-10years, Cleatus is going to be going through the same thing at the Freedom Factory and detailing it all in a blog
What's going on with Laguna Seca is the biggest issue with racing and certain entertainment in America specifically. These normally noisy venues are normally built a little away or on the outskirts of cities to keep the noises down for neighborhoods. Only now we have developers buying up land and building houses near all these places leading to stupid noise complaints and closures of these places( especially the racetracks) because someone moves in who does like the noise but knew of the racetrack.
PBIR was our closest dragstrip to us in Miami Ft. Lauderdale area. My friends used to race the road course as well. I never got to enjoy much racing there. Thank goodness for Cleetus Mcfarland and the Freedom Factory. It's still a 4 hour drive to watch racing, but at least it is open. For now.
In fact is there a track south of Rampa that will be closing after the coming season-part the NIMBY’s and part the age of the owners? (Heard about it in an odd place: on the page of the railfan Danny Harmon, who live in the Tampa area.)
Where I live in indiana we had a dirt track here. It was so old that at one time the track was the only thing there lol it was literally made in a corn field and racers would have to dig out corn stalks that would pop up in the track. Years later a church was built and years after that subdivisions were built and the church filed a lawsuit on the track and so did the subdivision saying it was too loud so eventually it got shut down. It passes me off when people build by a track then complain about noise
I can’t stand the idea that this small community (that knew damn well what they were getting into) are trying to stop Laguna Seca from operating. THAT BEING SAID, if there are threats to wildlife or a lack of data on those threats, that needs addressed. For the wildlife, not property values. I know there are some fellow Motorsport lovers out there that still care about the environment. We can do both baby!!!
This is such a recognizable track to me, because Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo introduced me to these tracks when I was younger. The twisty and hilly parts of the course made me remember it all, especially the very top of it where you have to brake and turn down the hill. I would crash so many times on that part since it came up many times in the games. I would love to visit this track one day if it stays open, and I really hope it does not close.
China's Zhuhai Circuit also has this problem, but the court and the government rejected the complaint. The reason is that the circuit was built earlier. The developers knew that this was a disadvantage, but still chose to develop residential areas. Those residents need to bear the consequences themselves.
The corkscrew is literally up there with eau rouge/raidillon, ascari chicane, maggotts/becketts, etc as one of the most iconic series of corners in the world. Hopefully it never dies
Theres a local oval track in vernon British Columbia was built out of town. Ran for years, even hosted cascar races, then one day some greasy developer got cheap land next to the track for nothing because you guessed it the noise. Fast forward, greasy builds a old folks home, clients complain of the noise. Sue the track and force them to shut down. It was truely pathetic.
Normal Drivers: "You're a nuisance on the streets! Please take it to the track! Me: okay Homeowners near the track: Hey you there! You're a nuisance! Y'know that? Also You're car is too damn loud! Do me a favor and take that damn thing to the streets! Me: okay...
@@MusicWispyeah but there’s a loophole, this 68 coalition is using the same loophole. The homeowners can’t sue, but the homeowners can band together to form an LLC and said company can then sue.
This is a problem everywhere. People feel the community they move to should cater to their preferences. Donut media should spearhead the petition to kill this lawsuit. And a second one to evict the idiots who buy a home near a racetrack, then complain about the racetrack....
🤔 I don’t know but…sounds like the “coalition” may have coerced the elderly neighbors into signing a petition based on the decibel readings. “Coalition” wins, Laguna Seca gets shut down, some “random” developer buys up prime real estate, the “Coalition” gets their cut, wham bam money gram! And to think I had ill feelings towards the NIMBYs..shameful.
its starting to become a huge trend that rich or wealthy people move into houses next to race tracks,drag strips,or motor tunning shops and sewing them cus there "a nascence" alot of places are being closed down and its starting to take away from the motor enthusiast life style. 83 drag strips , 58 race tracks have been closed down this year
Laguna Seca has been around since the late 1950s, making it over 50 years old which is the minimum for a site to be considered historic. These houses are FAR newer. IMO the track should be deemed a historic site and the idiots who bought houses next to a RACE TRACK and have a problem with the noise told to pound sand or buy earplugs.
People just always love to try to ruin anything and everything.
@@SFbayArea94121 Truth. This whole thing smells like a massive landgrab for developers of fancy gated housing communities.
I should add, @S1apShoes made a similar video covering local race tracks that close up due to noise complaints by newer developments that choose to build houses close to race tracks then complain about the noise. Hell a similar thing happened with Cleetus' Freedom Factory. We're seeing an assault on our sport, and for some, our livelihoods by rich NIMBYs.
@Asytra It is a land grab. All done by developers with foreign money. Yeah. Believe it or not. Much of US privately owned land is owned by foreign companies. I won't name where. All because this comment would be censored. And deemed as "hate speech". When it is the truth.
Pound sand is the best part.
That one lady said it perfectly, imagine moving somewhere near a racetrack - knowing it's a racetrack - and then complaining about about it and trying to get it shut down. Real smooth brain stuff.
Realtors rarely ever disclose that as they’re afraid it’ll hurt the sale
@@carabooseOG realtors are scum
People have done that when they bought their home next to Luke Air Force base near Phoenix. They do a lot of training there. Pilots from many our allied countries go there to train.
@@nuckels188 realtors are literal parasites that contribute 5-10% to overall home prices, which scales with inflation because they're percentage based. They're garbage human beings.
@@carabooseOGeven if they don't, and let's assume you buy a property sight unseen, I think a simple google of the overhead area is the bare minimum one should do to at least see what the area looks like. This is on the buyer, full stop.
I lived 2 blocks from the IMS for 2/3 of my life. These people can cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.
面白いvideo😆
His name is Mike weaver and he needs to be harassed
Then that settles it. Lawsuit is over.
That’s what I was thinking. Live in Indianapolis and was just thinking there’s no Fkin way it’s loud at all from a mile away
Speedway Indiana my home away from home
Watching you guys make this video has brought me so much joy. As a former employee at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I have tears in my eyes because this track makes dreams come true.
The track was there before the houses!
And it gives their houses value
yeah they say that like 90 seconds in that video
@@catz3144hell yeah!
@@misseselise3864I know that now lol I jumped the gun, but man people knew what they were buying into.
Indy car use that track and herbie use in 1977
If you don't want to hear racecars, don't buy a house next to a racetrack. People are dumb as hell.
right lol. and i feel like it’s not actually that loud- i used to live by dixie speedway and i couldn’t hear the races from a mile away even before they put up sound barriers
i currently live next to one of the busiest interstates in the state and i don’t complain about the noise because i willingly moved to a house close to a busy interstate.
my friend used to live by hartsfield-jackson and he never complained about the sound of the planes going over his apartment because he willingly lived in an apartment a mile from the airport.
Didn’t watch the video before you posted did you?
They couldn’t find a resident that cared about the sound.
I get it though, you gotta get those sweet sweet 👍
Watch the video. It's one guy.
@@misseselise3864 i also live next to a busy local airport here in the uk, have done for nearly 40 years. not only do i not complain but it got me into planes. Moving next to one of THE most famous racetracks in the world and then complainiing it is loud, when it was there first, is just sanctimonious, arrogant, selfish and spoiled behaviour. if you are that rich, you can move somewhere else and let someone who will enjoy living there do so.
In most cases when you buy a house next to a race track, military base, rock quarry, whatever…you have to sign a noise waiver. So why the complaints now?
In most cases, people sign the waiver without reading it, and then complain...
that is true@@Bob-fq9nw
When F-35s got stationed in Vermont to replace the outgoing F-16s the locals in Burlington threw a tantrum over the noise.
If you live near an airport with a fighter wing attached it's going to be loud no matter what. No complaints when F-16s took off with full afterburner (read: loud as shit) for transatlantic flight but an F-35 taking off for routine operations was now too loud.
In reality it was an anti-war/anti-nuke stance couched in a noise concern. What this group wanted was to change the Air Force's mission there to logistics because reasons. The Air Force told them to sit down, shut up, and color.
This looks like a bunch of rich CA types trying to abuse CEQA and other laws like it to screw over a historic racetrack because reasons. Anything from keeping out the riffraff racing fans to a landgrab.
NIMBYs gonna NIMBY.
Simple answer: rich people want to be more rich so they are gonna complain to tear down track and more house and more and more increase in their property value
There's an air force base that donated land to the town and a few years later the town is suing the AF base over noise. America's gotten weird
This is probably one of the most important and sobering vids yall have done. Despite many others covering this, what you add to the end about protecting tracks, and adding your own story to the legacy, this is what car culture is about.
Perfect
when the somber music comes in and Jer hits us with "when i was a kid, my favorite track when playing Gran Turismo, was Leguna Seca." MAN that hit home. 100% didnt expect tears this vid
The corkscrew is amazing.
His eyes were looking watery and I don't blame him a bit
my favorite was ss2 (wet) and ss11 and ss11 (2)
loved those tracks
That’s twice in months now he’s managed it. Donut really knocking it out of the park recently with a cast of people that really make you care about the subject
Reminds me of where I came from 🥲
Man, here in Chile, we had the Codegua International Speedway built not too long ago, it was in the middle of nowhere and since it was kind of a hassle to get there from the capital where most people live, a small town was settle close to the track, who complained about noise and had it closed, it's a story that will repeat as long as there's people who don't think ahead. (Thankfully it was reopened some time later)
what was the reason it opened up again?
@@fetBthey wanted to race
Seremos o no seremos.
They shouldn't build residences around race tracks only commercial and industrial properties. Businesses won't complain about race car noise.
They did this exact thing to Bandimere Speedway in Colorado.
No one had issues with the speed way that had been there for DECADES until people started building houses on the other side of the mountain and complaining about noise, knowing it's been there well before they moved in.
Now the Speedway is shut down, and being demolished and forced to move out East by the Airport.
Wow, such loser behavior from those people 🤦♂️.
Fellow Colorado native here. it’s a damn shame what these people complain about. Instead of complaining about noise from a race track they moved next to,how about the put more effort into cleaning up downtown Denver with the homeless and all the immigrants. In the last 5 years it’s turned into a shithole
Getting rid of the tracks will just make people drive much more dangerously on the road. Then they'll complain for a "place" where people can drive fast.
It is disgusting, last I heard they are putting an amazon warehouse where it is, which is going to mean all those whiners are now going to be dealing with ugly buildings and 18 wheelers on the highway, thanks you bunch of bitches
@noahs2135 yup I was born and raised in CO. Spent 26 years there, in the last..8-10 it's gone down hill fast. So I moved to MT to get out of that cesspool.
I used to live in Morrison too, we'd always climb the backside of the mountain when I was a kid and get some good views while the funny cars sped down the track. It was a blast.
It was also a hotspot for Morrison and the businesses there cause of the Red Rocks entrance and the speedway generated a ton of revenue for that beautiful little town.
There was a dirt circle track in my hometown that had been there for many decades, not sure how long, but I was going there as a kid in the 90s. It was built in a very rural part of California, near Santa Maria. Very little homes, mostly ranchers and farmers. Around 2012, a developer built a couple dozen homes DIRECTLY next to the track. Eventually, the HOA and others sued this local track for noise complaints. In 2021, the track shut down indefinitely due to the ongoing legal issues. I'm sure they just ran out of money fighting it. Wasn't a fancy track, just your usual stock cars running around, snacks for a dollar, tickets for like $5, kids enter free, that kind of place.
They'll destroy all of those
Very needed video, glad to see Donut calling out frivolous lawsuits. As a general aviation enthusiast, small GA airports are being hurt by the same people.
Agreed! If you cannot cope with the noise then... DON'T buy or build a house next to an airport, racetrack, etc. I am fine with opposing a new thing like that being planned, but the track was built before the houses, so the track should not get sued.
@@WordsRelyReal I want to see these type of people suing military bases for being "too noisy" when the entire idea of these bases is training the soldiers which gonna save their sorry asses one day.
@@WordsRelyRealall of this frivolous garbage should be shut down. stop wasting resources
The difference is. One thing just transports people to places and burns a lot of fuels and isn't needed. The other is an entertainment complex enjoyed by people. If it was up to me, each state would be allotted 1 airport for the entire state. I live in Montana which is huge, but I would rather drive 600-800 miles to get to an airport. I think we could do with about 1/50th of the flights we currently have. If you find that you can't work without constant travel. Relocate, or get a better job. Nobody wants to listen to airports, nobody wants planes flying over their houses, and certainly nobody wants to be anywhere near the airport when they do their mandatory fire response tests and burn about 5,000 gallons of fuel every month sending the giant clouds of thick sticky smoke over homes and schools.
We used to have a drag strip here in Paulding County, but it was bought out by a strip mall developer that was never developed. I wish I could've seen it in action
You should file an amicus brief in support of the defendants (Leguna Seca). Honest,y, the decibel readings is pretty persuasive evidence that the plaintiffs are full of crap.
To be fair, the track day he measured was a sound limited event. Most track days are limited to 100 decibels. Cars louder than that can't run those days. If he wanted to do a real test, he would go out for a big event with no restrictions.
@@ripn929707Given the statistics provided let us say the reading was 120db in theory would equate to about 62-65db in the same neighborhood measured. So the equivalent of an EV passing your house from tire noise. The whole lawsuit is a desperate attempt at a land grab. For reference, the rifle range would be 140db+ and is far far closer to the impacted residents
@@carownervirus4438exactly, I personally think they just want more land for more residential area because greed
@ripn929707 you mean... the big events run in accordance with the land use permit? It's actually exactly the type of event he measured which is the crux of the argument.
@@ripn929707 Like when the banned mazda 787B rotary from racing lamans due to decibels but it was really because they kicked everyone's ass. It was pumping out 130 decibels though. 😅
our small local track had these issues this past summer. basically, there was a land dispute between the land the track was on and a neighbor and suddenly it meant that the track was too loud. then the neighbor was caught driving up and down the road on his ATV trying to skew the sound readings, when the track hired a company to come in to take readings at all of the neighbor's homes.
Hopefully he got slapped with the cost of getting those readings.
The governments EPA GANG taking freedoms.....
Bidens America!
@@theglitch99 The EPA was founded by a Republican
@RetroGamerr1991 if that's true? Doesn't change the fact that they have been weponized and are/ where givin too much power by the current administration!
HOA gated community...
I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and we had an iconic race track maybe an hour from the city called the Autodrome Saint-Eustache. It’s been there since 1965 and was owned and run by the same family until its closure. Was a race track that became popular overtime and started hosting the only Formula Drift events in Canada. Once that was done the residents who lived near the track complained about the noise, traffic, racing, etc. and ended up shutting its doors in 2019 because of these complaints. I often drive by it when I’m in the area and still see the huge track signs leading up to the entrance then see that it’s a land development now. I’m hoping this won’t happen to a track as iconic as Laguna Seca. 🥺
In the UK a person bought a house near Mallory Park and then complained about the noise. They had an ulterior motive in that they wanted to buy the land and build on it. Fortunately the track is still going. Believe it or not there have been cases of people moving out of large cities to the country and then complaining about the smells, noise of cows and even church clocks striking the hour.
This is likely to be the same story, they want to buy the land and put up more matchstick mcmansions.
i know of one case where someone built a house in the middle of a farming area, and then immediately proceeded to bitch and moan about all the farming and farm animals, they were rightfully told to fuck off pretty quickly.
People have started to build houses near me, and I know it's only a matter of time before someone starts bitching about my chickens, especially the rooster.
@@Oddman1980bitch about their houses back :)
@@bblasphemous The track was granted to the county by the U.S Army. Any changes to its land use must be negotiated through them first as they placed clauses in place directly because of situations like this. At worst the land can only revert back to just be a public park with rv hookups.
the closest house to Laguna Seca is 612 Belavida Rd. and it is 2378ft away or about half a mile from the track. Assuming 0 wind and 0 obstacles (theres plenty of obstacles, like hills and trees, so on) that 100db at the track would equate to about 40db on their lawn. That's literally the same as a refrigerator running. Inside their house it would be practically impossible to detect. Also the home was literally built in 2002. Meaning nobody inhabited that space until 45 years after people have been racing at that track.
Thanks! Saved me a trip to an attenuation calculator.
The sound of the cars on the track is more than 100dB mate - 115-130dB
That is roughly the same as a rock concert
I lived over 1 mile away from a stadium that had frequent concerts and I could always hear what songs they were playing
Your theory is theory.
Reality is different
@@jasonhulford16 except that Laguna seca specifically has a decibel limit unlike your local stadium
@@jasonhulford16 except Laguna Seca like most race tracks has a db limit, and that limit is 95db or 90db depending on day.
Checking pictures on google and the track on Street view there is an entire hillside between the house and the track. You ain't hearing shit from the track there.
😂 the cars driving by are louder than the race track! 😂
lol
highway 68 gets very congested, yet...lets complain about racecars.
Yup at night when I’m up late I hear guys on freeway or streets driving in their loud cars 😂 I don’t care as much
We got a super cool new race track near us, And there are 3 people that make up 90% of the noise complaints. Track has incredibly tight sound restrictions, and you can't hear the track sitting in your car in the pits.
The track is right beside a highway, and the track gets noise complaints when there's no one is even on the track. Group of Harleys drives by? Racetrack noise. Loud sportsbikes? Racetrack noise.
The track installed an insane state-of-the-art sound measuring system and can provide data for any moment in time for the entire season of operation, and recently sued the county over the noise issue and won. There are some wins for the motorsports crowd!
@@kevinmcnutt3415 i live 2 miles away from Interlagos, F1 cars are loud as fuck everytime they corner in the corner near my house i can hear at 2 miles, but i close the window and the sound is gone, closer is worst but again we just close the windows if we want to. Race track is only annoying because of the traffic in big events, but everywhere that get 20k+ people is annoying, Taylor Swift makes the same amount of traffic compared to F1 😅
I live near Laguna Seca and my family and I have loved going there for indycar recently. Biggest annoyance is the added traffic, but it's already bad in Monterey during school season, beach season, then car week season. Just the reality of living in a beautiful coastal area with prominent car culture. Noise is only an issue if you live in the surrounding neighborhoods but dissipates quickly as you go farther. I don't think this lawsuit is supported by many monterey bay residents.
I'm so glad you guys tackled this topic because, let's face it, this lawsuit is bullsh*t...
The problem with racetracks closing is that it promotes street racing, which, in my opinion, is more annoying and dangerous...
It doesn't affect that though. most street racing is people that cant afford track fees. i have 3 big tracks near me and still tons of street racing because its cheaper to just race on the roads nearby. so unless track cost decrease then people will continue to street race and the people that can afford it wont mind just driving to the next one
@ethanacton408 you're not entirely wrong ofc but it does cause more street racing because if you're closing the places to race people are just gonna go to the street it's like underground fighting yes you can do it legally but you're gonna have people that can't afford that life do it underground and if you shut down all the combat sports it would go harder in the street same concept
@@ethanacton408you think street racers can’t afford track fees…. Your joking right? You think the guys who race gtrs, zl1s, vettes, lambos, hellcats, stangs, etc. all 70k+ vehicles with heavy modifications can’t afford track fees? I’ve seen poor drifters in Miata’s go to the track, that’s not why they race in the road, if there were more open test days at a local drag strip, there would be less drag racing, lot of the times the fee is only $50 for a pass
@@ethanacton408the problem is only how many drag strips there are locally, in Dallas, the closest 1/4 mile strip is a he Texas Motorplex, and thats a good 40~hour long drive from the middle of Dallas.
Gets the racers off the road....
I worked at an industrial facility that had a neighborhood butted up against it. The neighborhood was built after the facility, and they'd complain all the time about noise and anything that they considered a nuisance. My thinking every time I'd hear about them complaining was, "Why did they move in right next to this place? What did they expect?"
It seems like sometimes people move places specifically to have something to complain about. Some people just have nothing better to do.
Speculate, sue, sell!
America is full of whiney losers now its sad to see
had it in my town as well someone built a house next to the local airfield and then constantly complained about the noise of the planes. The other one bought a house next to the curch and complained about the curchbell
Same thing happened to brands hatch in the uk, council gave permission to build a housing estate next to a race track, then started enforcing noise limits and curfews on them!
China's Zhuhai Circuit also has this problem, but the court and the government rejected the complaint. The reason is that the circuit was built earlier. The developers knew that this was a disadvantage, but still chose to develop residential areas. Those residents need to bear the consequences themselves.
Nothing would soothe my soul more than a drink/joint while sitting on my porch and listening to engines roar. I would love a house close to a track 😂
I love coming home from my second shift on the weekends and I can hear the late models and modifieds from over a mile away! It’s a relaxing sound! Just to hear engines screaming at high rpm on a dirt track
The whole argument that the cars are loud is so funny to me. Just because I don't live next to Monaco doesn't mean I don't have neighbors in their eg civics with five inch radius exhaust pipes thinking they're Ayrton Senna. If anything, I'd rather hear the actual racecar than some kid who thinks he's driving one.
Come to, Well actually, No dont come here, the crimes here is to basically cry, but Rosario has an racetrack that can be heard. And still no one is bitching about it.
I’ve lived next to an airport for over 20 years. When a plane flys over, guests will ask me how I deal with it. I always ask, deal with what? I don’t even notice it because you get so used to it.
Edit: I completely forgot to add that i also live next to a major highway AND I hear train horns in the distance because I’m near tracks. Goes to show you get used to this stuff.
As I'm reading your comment I hear a plane flying into DFW airport lol. Right under one of the flight paths, but you get used to it! It's not bad. Sometimes the squeaky landing gear coming down is louder than the engines.
I used to live close to a large Airforce base. Big military jets a few hundred feet up are always a pleasure and never a problem.
I used to live right up against the railroad tracks. When I moved to a house a good 1/4-mi from the trains, I couldn't sleep for weeks unless I opened my windows to let in the soothing sound of those choo-choos.
@@25aspoonerRight? If I hear something interesting flying over I run outside to check it out haha.
I've heard stories of people who moved away from airport or from area where an airport shut down that it took them a long time to get used to the quietness again. People were so used to the sound that they can't go to sleep without it.
That ending hit hard. I grew up going to my local track El Cajon Speedway watching the Saturday night guys and the destruction derbies after. Then as I got a little older I got to race on it with my local karting club right before it closed. Now it's just an empty lot next to the airport. They didn't even develop it despite all the whining about housing or expanding the airport. Such a damn shame.
Man, I grew up in lakeside and forgot all about the demo derbies as a kid…damn
Great video, in 1985 I won the 125 pro class at the CMC motocross race at Laguna Seca. A few years ago I took my daughter to a mountain bike race there and after a good google search, I was able to find the remnants of the old moto track. The start pad was still there and you could see the outline, berms and jumps under the brush and grass. So that was cool for me. I even found the old Cycle News article. If my memory serves me correct, Factory Honda’s Johnny O’Mara won the 250 pro class that day. Ironically I won the 125 class with 4-3 moto scores, not ideal but it was my first professional motocross win. This video makes me now want to go back and do a track day so I can experience the legendary auto racing circuit.
Thanks for doing this video guys.
I lived about 5 miles as the crow flies to the west of LS from 2013-2015 (basically on the coast in Seaside). Some heavy fog mornings, you could hear the cars on track from my backyard.
Personally, that just made me excited. It was an extra treat I didn't expect when I moved there.
500 miles later on that track, I can say it was everything I ever wanted it to be. This was a case where it was great to "meet" my hero.
I guess trees along the edges of the race track closest to the houses would be the best solution. They'll block out most of the sound, and be the cheapest option. Also, Laguna Seca might be able to call it 'Carbon Offsetting'.
Like the park of Monza racing circuit
If it wasn't on a dry ass area. Then they will complain the trees are taking their water away from their gardens. People are dumb. And I bet it's the ones in the walled neighbourhood who are making the fuss, not the people they interviewed.
How expensive are stone walls the ones you get in cages or a wall of unusable tires would look cool
Here in Phoenix AZ we are very fortunate to have Firebird (formally Wildhorse Pass, formerly formerly Firebird) sticking around. It has some incredibly fun tracks and is in a really convenient location. While most the courses are in a desperate need of a repave and maintenance, I have hopes the track will be able to return to it's former glory. It was the site of my first few track days, and countless number of events and memories. Plus it has 4 separate circuits and combining two of them, the longest track in Arizona which incorporates the drag strip as the main straight!
I'm so glad it reopened. Is it RadFord racing that owns it now?
Radford/Firebird is offering a country club membership option. I put my name on the list to become a member when they open membership which will be 3/16/2024.
it stays because its on tribal land and gila river doesnt bend over for the nearby suburbs outside the border
They were supposed to demolish it to build an overpass, more shopping (like we need that) and a entertainment venue (again like we need another one here in AZ) Im sure the Indian tribe would make more money with shopping and such but Im glad to see the track sticking around. Now if they just put some money into it to make it more modern and host more events there it would be perfect.
Radford Racing actually owns their section so that was staying regardless of what was going to happen to the rest of the facility.
The Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, IL closed in 2023 & sold off to be redeveloped as a commercial zone. The track was built in 1947 and was/is a 1/4 mile oval track with 22° of banking. The track surface was about as smooth as the surface of the moon, but it was FAST. As of the day I'm typing this out, the reception hall next door & 90% or so of the tracks facilities have all been torn down & destroyed, leaving only the track itself behind for however long it'll be before they get started on breaking down the concrete. It really hurts to see and experience your local raceway being demolished without so much as a sliver of hope that it will be saved. The sale of the land was done soon after the death of the track owner Jody Deery and was subtlety and privately sold to a developer. The sale was only made public once the deal had been finalized, offering zero chance for the racetrack's fate to be changed. Having lived 15 minutes from the track almost my entire life, the sound of late model stock cars racing on Sunday afternoons and practicing on Saturdays will be forever missed. Not to mention the trailer races, figure 8 races, and spectator drags to name a few.
The same thing is happening in Portugal with the Estoril circuit.. noise complaints from people that bought the house years after the circuit was built
Thank you for mentioning palm Beach international raceway. It used to be my local track and was heart breaking when it closed down. Was an awesome spot that used to be in the middle of nowhere, until wealthy people moved near it in new houses
It wasn’t any housing development that shut it down. It was the owners who bought it and didn’t want the track. They just wanted the land and they wanted to rezone it and sell it.
VOTE REPUBLICAN AND SAVE COMBUSTION ENGINE AUTOSPORTS
It still hurts, I was the 3rd generation in my family to race there and unfortunately the last, but just know it had nothing to due with a housing development with it closing. Owners just sold it to the wrong people.
@GardsFTW not to start something, but I'm genuinely curious if Trump (or other republicans) has said anything about removing the regulation on cars that have been inplaced on them so far or any other laws that have badly affected the car market.
Now I want to see the Donut Team trying out different race tracks in the US and maybe have new hi-lo made exactly for that purpose
Excellent idea 💡
This would be a great series, one track per episode. A series that covers the history as well as the modern operations of racetracks around the country (then the world). A LOT of potential content that hasn't been tapped.
@@aadams3316 even some of the smaller race tracks could get exposure and help keep tbe lights on
@@aadams3316 it could show the local communities the new for a track and benefit. Especially in places with takeovers
the hi-lo tour
I recently bought a house near Pacific Raceways near Seattle. We knew we were buying very near an active race track. The only thing that bothers me is the NHRA NW Nationals. The top fuel and funny cars will make your heart skip a beat when they launch. Simple. We just use it as an excuse to take a little weekend trip out of town. In my case proximity to a race track was actually a selling point as I enjoy going to races and events. The first guy he talked to summed it up for me.
I built my house next to a nuclear waste dump and I am now suing the city because my dog has two tails.
While funny, that's not how nuclear power works and jokes like this hurt climate change efforts by unfairly painting nuclear as "un clean" when it's in reality one of the best sources of energy we have currently.
Pah my dog can fly because i live next to the red bull plant and there is a leak.
He is constantly hunting the flying deere
@@KuRsAwow he said nuclear waste, not nuclear power.
HLW does fall under nuclear waste...
2 tails would be cool tho
That just means that’s a double good dog
Same thing here in Oregon. Our only drift track in the PDX area, Parc ( Pats Acres) shut down. Someone new moved into the area knowing it was a go kart/drift & dirt bike track. Now they are shut down. Its a shame because some of us, including myself, are building a drift car with no track nearby. Now I have to travel 3+ hours to get seat time. Hoping it all gets worked out & motorsports becomes a respected category & keep it off the streets.
I heard about the track here in Oregon but I had no idea it shutdown what a shame
What about pir?
@@Bussdownbandit they don’t do many open drift events unfortunately
Damn I never got a chance to drift it I was planning a trip up there this year as well but nevermind now
similar thing happened at the cottage grove dirt track. it's still open but has a curfew now, or least the last time i looked into it.
Happened with Riverhead Raceway out here on Long Island a bunch of times. If you know where Riverhead is, it's basically as far as you can possibly get away from NYC without hitting the Hamptons. Up until the late 90's it was in the middle of nowhere but all of a sudden a land developer decided 100ft away from a track that had been there since 1951 was the best place to put new homes. Now if you've never been to a Modified race, those are some of the loudest cars you'll ever hear outside of a Top Fuel of Funny Car race. People of course complained that the track was too loud and when the HOA board was asked to point out their respective houses on an aerial photo, they couldn't find them. The defense said something along the lines of "Oh I'm sorry about that. This photo was taken in 1965. Tell me again when was your house built?". Now the only threat to the track is a scumbag developer that was foaming at the mouth for the elderly owners to pass away so he could build a strip mall. Thankfully it was sold to new owners before that could happen under the stipulation that it cannot be converted into anything outside the realm of being a race track.
Hey Long Island friend!
Yooo. Funny enough looking at your channel, I think I met you at NYR SCCA autocross at the Coliseum a couple years ago. I was the guy in the gray Crown Vic lol. @@CountersteerGarage
@@RetroGamerr1991 hahaha yup that’s me!
Same here in Colorado, Bandimere speedway was shut down because of noise complaints from newly built houses. Track was built in 1958.
And nobody saw the business opportunity of a lifetime to sell noise-cancelling headphones?! So much for capitalist opportunism...
This reminds me of a lawsuit back in the 90's where I lived at the time (Laguna Hills). The county at the time had been planning for years to put in a bypass (what became highway 73). It was funny to see all these homes spring up, with a wide swath of land go undeveloped. We knew even back then, that a freeway was coming, and any original home owner (my parents included) were warned that a free was coming. Yet, when the day finally came, of course thousands of home owners tried to sue to stop it. The judge basically told them all (rightfully) to go get bent.
Part of it is because this land is marked as less desirable..cuz it's next to a nuisance. Then after a decade or two some developer comes along and sees how cheap it is and thinks, "I can make a profit from this" so they buy the land, build the homes, and then the homes get bought up by people who generally aren't told about the nuisance. Then, 20-30 years later people start going over the legal documents to find any/all ways they can get the nuisance removed.
@@CRneu I'm sure some didn't know, but a vast majority did know. It was very well known at the time. My friends dad was a lawyer, and bought one of those homes (to sell later). He got one right next to where the freeway was going in, for much cheaper than other homes in that area. He kept arrogantly saying that he would personally see to it that freeway would never get built. He thought the home would triple in value, once he got the freeway stopped. He greatly over eatimated his position. He still made a money on the house though.
didn’t expect a donut video to almost make tears come to my eyes but i’ll take it. What a great video
They have gone way up in quality the past 2 years, just killing it
I agree too. This was a proper mini documentary.
It’s like people who complain about golf balls who bought a house on an golf course
They win lawsuits too, I read about about a guy who bought into a golf course neighborhood and sued over it.
I also saw a video where the guy would lay in his yard next to the ball and act concussed. I like the second guy a lot better.
You joke, but that actually happened in a club I used to hit balls at because golfers would cut through a residential neighborhood from one hole to the next. Long story short, the suit went nowhere, but the golf course tried to accommodate.
The Air Force Academy in Colorado has a similar problem.
Amazingly people bought houses at the end of a runway. Then complained that planes were flying over their high dollar homes.
One of my favorite bars in New Orleans was this old neighborhood music venue and also had courtyard in the back. Some New Yorkers moved next door, complained to the city, and got their music liscense taken away. They've been fighting to get music back there for almost 10 years now
As someone who lives in Monterey and loves going to Laguna Seca, this is such hogwash. The people who live in the first neighborhood Jeremiah went to are literally in the flight path of the airport here. ‘Plainers gon’ ’plain.
When you put it like that it makes it sound more stupid
@@FyTube12 dude, it’s so dumb. And like they said, there’s a gun range attached to Laguna Seca that’s even closer to that neighborhood. Some people suck.
That's the problem with rich doofuses getting away from the city (for whatever reasons they have, I can't blame them) and feeling the need to go beyond the suburbs and into the country, where they can find the space to build their little MEGA-MANSIONS or gated/fenced-off enclaves and give themselves a sense of safety from the rest of the world. But once they see an airport or a racetrack, be it a full-circuit road course, an oval, hey...Even a dragstrip, within their sight or ears...
...then all Hell breaks loose. A vicious cycle
Nazareth speedway was mentioned on here and I love that. It’s just about 45 minutes away from my house and in the back yard of my friends house. Used to be able to walk out to the track to take a look at the oval and the things that were left there after it was bought and shut down for Watkins glen. Andretti had driven that track a few times too from what I was told, he lives right up there. Most of the tracks in the area up here have been shut down or replaced for dirt tracks. Taking a trip out to see a buddy that lives out near salinas, gonna make a stop at seca
It's even been immortalized in song, Mark Knopfler's Speedway at Nazareth.
From what I heard here on Brazil. The last phase of Ultimate Drift was going to be hosted in an abandoned football camp in the middle of the city, which was going to be restaured by the event and used furthermore for other stuff (maybe football itself). But they gave up when someone from the government stopped the repairs because it "weren't bring repaired for the correct reason that was built at first place".
They hosted the event on the airport near, but the camp still abandoned for more than 7 years.
@@retromaniaco_br7422 The camp isn't "modifiable" so after the event it could be reverted to another sport? From what I heard the idea was to do that.
And since it's abandoned, I think I prefer the modification anyways...
Same type of lawsuite ended the international curitiba racetrack in Brazil. People moved too close to the track and started complaining about the noise. They ended up having to shut it down and sell the land to companies that wanted to build houses and building on top of it
Didn't even knew Curitiba had a racetrack. Shame that people are assholes
That's the issue: real estate speculators wanted the land all along.
@@felipeferreira00 it was actually in Pinhais. But it was called the Curitiba race track (AIC) stock car and formula truck races where common there and multiple track days and events every year. An amazing track that ended up being destroyed. With no safe place to race people will be racing jn the streets
the home owners should be sued. it should be illegal to build near race tracks
You would think environmentally, it wouldn't be allowed. The 50s and 60s didn't take too much notice of fuel and oil spills, let alone lead.
Watch the video. Homeowners don't care. It's one rich guy who has been suing the county for different stuff for decades. No one is hanging out protesting events. This is like those guys who go around suing older mom and pop places for ADA violations, and you're hating on all handicapped people for it.
@@TheSolidSnakeOil absolutely. also, from an urban planning perspective it is so stupid to allow houses near race tracks
Most of us don't care. It doesn't even exist most of the time.
Same thing happened to my local track, Illiana Motor Speedway. Built in 1947 with nothing but farms around it. 50 years later the farmers sold their land to build houses. The people complained about the noise and won. The track closed in 2016. I'm happy to say I had a chance to drive on it for a few laps before it closed.
I miss Illiana so much!! One of my friends & his wife was one of the complainers. I never worked on their cars again once I found out....gets better: they bought the house for the better school district and their former 7 year old who is now 16 is a certified car nut.
@@2muchspl sounds like you should rally to ban what they love so their investments are a waste of money and passion too. It'd be ironic if their now car nut kid was on board too lol
Same thing happend a few years ago after developers built condos in downtown Monterey right next to a favored nightspot where local bands played at for years, and then they sued them over the noise to the point where they no longer had live music.
"Saucito Land Company, which owns the adjacent building, sued Bull & Bear on June 1, 2017, arguing the noisy venue was making Saucito’s residential tenants unhappy and depriving the company of rent."
I grew up in Monterey in the 60s, wrenched in several auto repair shops in the 70s and used to go to the La Guna Seca races every summer. I moved away in the 80s, returned in the 2010s and one of the first things I did was go to a few La Guna Seca races.
In the 70s during the annual La Guna Seca historic car races week, Monterey came alive with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance going on and the masses of historic cars and car buffs everywhere.
Those two events birthed what now has grown to become, in the last 45 years, a massive publicity production featuring thousands of vintage and rare cars, car shows, vintage and expensive car auctions, car related events and night life, including numerous street car shows and street festivals in the neighboring cities of Seaside, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Marina, Carmel, Carmel Valley and Salinas. Thousands and thousands of tourists and car owners come to Monterey for what now takes a month to put together, enjoy and then dismantle.
In the 1990s La Guna Seca hosted several summer concerts including Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, G. Love & Special Sauce, Joan Osborne, Leftover Salmon, Ratdog, Wavy Gravy, Wilco, Bob Dylan, George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, The Black Crowes, Dick Dale, Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, Gin Blossoms, Phish, The Freddy Jones Band, 4 Non Blondes, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Meat Puppets, The Mother Hips, Blues Traveler, Shawn Colvin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Jeff Healey Band, 10, 000 Maniacs, The Samples and Wailing Souls.
Monterey should not bite the hand that feeds them.
You forgot to mention the Pope! Seriously!🙏
I believe he came there in the late 80s.
Up here in Oregon something similar-ish happened with the Cottage Grove Speedway. They built the speedway a long time ago right outside of town. Well, over time the town expanded and folks started building houses closer and closer to the speedway. Like 15 or so years ago a bunch of residents tried to sue to get the race track to close. The agreement they came to was that all racing had to be finished by 10pm.
It's mind boggling though that folks would buy/build houses close enough to a race track to have complaints. Maybe don't move into the house if you don't want to deal with the noise?
One of the most important Donut episodes I've seen in a while. My heart tears every time I hear about another track closure. And there have been a lot.
In New Zealand, one of my favourite tracks, Pukekohe just shut down. I have been fortunate enough to race at every track in New Zealand and I agree with your sentiment of getting out there and supporting your local tracks
Sandown in Australia is similar to Pukekohe, and is under threat too.
I camped there, the rifle range woke me up at 8:00 am sharp every morning. Those people filing lawsuits need to get over it or move, that track is so historic it would be a huge shame if the track closed because of a bunch of HOA Karens
Similar thing happened to Wakefield Park in NSW Australia. A new owner is thankfully getting to work with the neighbours and mitigate the noise (at great expense) to keep the track open. Frustrating situation
One better mate is Calder Park thunderdome. The track been there for ever and they built houses pretty much on the fence line and then they complained about the noise.
This is why I left. Everything cool is illegal. Everyone is out trying to sue everyone else. Everyones self entitled. taxes are through the roof. Half of everyones a Karen. It's a shame what they did to the place.
you wouldn’t stand a day in germany brother 😂
Just please don't move to Arizona. We don't want anymore Californian's here. Y'all don't learn your lesson and keep voting for what you fled.
Dont come to France if you think that your taxes are high :D
mostly blame it on the rich my man
Why I love Florida, no emissions, no inspections, no regulations, open headers = legal, no windshield = legal, but got mad mosquitoes and gators.
I grew up in that neighborhood!!! It's a car lovers dream seeing all the super cars and project cars drive by on my way to school. I have the best memories watching races every weekend with my family. Everyone who lives there knows about super bike week because its the loudest but even then its just sounds like bees in the background. I wish I could have been there to meet Jerry walking around on my street.
I've been going to at least 1 event a year at Laguna for decades. It's a great time to enjoy with friends. I really hope the suit gets squashed. I think they do a good job of managing the noise levels for the smaller events. Big events the series (IMSA, Indycar, TransAm, etc.) have existing regs around how loud the cars can be, since they have to fit in all over the country/world.
I live a mile down the road from Road America in WI and I love it. Without it there would be no income to the town. And it's the whole reason why I love cars in the first place.
Happened to Pukekohe raceway in NZ just last year. Venue was owned by the horse club, and they couldnt use their horses while the cars were using it. So they shut it down last year to "focus on their horses".
Track had been there since the 1960s and some true worldwide greats had learned to race there, such as Bruce Mclaren, Jim Clark etc.
Thank you, Donut Media. I’m happy for you all, and the success of the channel, but this video gives me joy. Thank you for leveraging your reach to highlight such an important issue for us SoCal enthusiasts. First class.
There is a local track by me Kalamazoo speedway that's been around since the early 60's and they had to fight with the same crap with people who moved in to houses that were built way later.
Happens here in Australia as well. Oran park is now a housing estate. Sandown has been under threat for decades as it's in the middle of a suburb (was once in the middle of a paddock) Wakefield park has been temporarily closed and will hopefully reopen after some works
Yeh Australians cry too much
Always a victim of something
Don't forget Amaroo park too
Wakefield Park is surrounded by farms... and still people complained.
Same thing happened with Calder Park although it's been back up and running for a while.
Oran Park was on crown land on 50 year lease, the government didn't renew the lease as the land was intended for release and rezoning as part of the western Sydney 2025 initiative, people forget a lease is a set term , don't plan ahead of what isn't set in stone. Wakefield had always been on the chopping board and isn't really the same story as Laguna, infact it is the opposite. The surrounding residents of Wakefield had mostly been there first , first come first served principal, they had no restrictions on decibel until then began to run more events than the residents where initially told. They were never forced to close either, the originally owners went bankrupt and was bought out . The new owners then had to start again with proposal and business plan to local council. They were conditionally allowed to reopen pending major earthworks to create natural sound dispersal walls etc to meet new requirements. Marulan is another example where someone purchased land, decided to build a racetrack for all in the middle of moderate sized lots with residents living there way before they came along. They again where hit with constant sound complaints and ended up with decibel limits and curfews which in this case probably deserved as they knew exactly what the risks where when your closest neighbour is s 800m away from the track
Living near Laguna Seca right now, building a house near a racetrack gets you racetrack noises. Some of these houses were built in the late 60's early 70's well after the track was built. Just like living near an airport, which also exists there and sometimes has flights going over the racetrack. Or a US Army base that was active until the 90's. More annoying is the traffic that comes through clogging up Hwy 68, which happens basically every day but is worse on track days.
Property developers are up there with lawyers as one of the most despicable people around
The main issue is location its in California. Grew up next to a dirt track, it was kinda of a thing to sit out and drink beer barbecue and listen to the races.
But im in the south. If you dont like the noise, go inside
It's a historic site. If you dont like it, move
The FAA works with some regional airports to determine which homes are impacted by airplane noise associated with the airports, then provides funding to those airports to run programs that pay for eligible homeowners to install improved soundproofing and noise mitigation on their properties. One example is the Louisville Regional Airport Authority's "Quieter Home Program," which is completely funded by the FAA (shoutout to James's hometown).
I think most people here would agree that the track is historic and was there first, so the complainants don't have much right to complain. But i think it would be great if organizations like the SCCA, ADRA, or even larger racing organizations like Arca, NASCAR, and Indycar would cooperate to establish funding to help both big and small tracks under threat in the US fund similar programs in their areas. Even if some of us don't think they should have to, helping people soundproof their homes/properties around tracks could be a great good-faith/good-neighbor program to help get ahead of complaints/lawsuits, drum up more support for the tracks, appease the most upset neighbors, and keep them from closing down.
Showing some effort to help mitigate the problem (however small it is in reality) could give them a better chance at survival than outright resistance. It would surely give the track(s) more ground to stand on in court.
This is a great idea, boosting this
i dont think thats completely fair, the faa is funded by the government and the other organizations arent. its not a half bad idea but instead of the organizations running the track being on the hook for the noise abatement it should be on the developers to foot the bill.
Same thing happened to Lions Drag strip off Alameda. People moved next to race track knowing race cars are loud... Then complained that race cars are loud.
I bet they complain about the street racing in the area now too after the track closed
Adding more Trees can help with sound
So can not buying a house next to a race track
Then they'll get sued for using up too much water in a drought area. Hard to stop someone with a lot of money and a vendetta.
The houses and condos built along the Highway 68 corridor long after the track are far more intrusive and more of an eye sore than Laguna Seca is even close to.
As one that lost their local track this year, this hits hard. I will always remember the days at Bandimere that got me into cars to begin with.
The crazy thing is, I did an English project for class the other day talking about this as a societal issue and how it’s going to impact car enthusiasts as a community. So seeing you guys cover this issue is pretty cool.
Wild Horse Pass in Chandler Az is not closed. It has been renamed to Firebird Motorsports Park.
Funny how it went from firebird to wild horse back to Firebird 😂
And now Firebird is offering a country club type membership. See you at the track!
I literally work in residential construction and I absolutely hate land developers. Tearing down historic places for cookie cutter homes filled with the most uptight people ever. It truly is a sad world we live in
Thank you for giving Palm Beach International a shoutout, I miss going to test n tunes at my local track every week
Some residents in Bakersfield did the same thing against Mesa Marin Raceway. The NASCAR Southwest tour race track was there years before the housing development was put in. But the neighborhood won and NASCAR was out. Mesa Marin Raceway was also the track that developed the Super Trucks there. I saw the first one go around the track there. This sucks.
11:32 I grew up going to Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR). It was my local track and I have countless, priceless memories there. I miss it immensely, and it’s heartbreaking to see more and more historic racetracks disappear.
Thankfully Radford Racing school is keeping the dream alive here in Arizona and they just came out with a yearly track membership that’s pretty dang affordable in the scheme of things. We are fortunate for now
Yes! I put my name on the membership list, can’t wait!
I would love to live next to a track. Our local track was on its last leg and was purchased and now they have multi races and had a new one built at an old saw mill and has a awesome atmosphere with the history or the old mill getting a new life. My son and I drove from Idaho to Laguna Seca one year only to pull into the gates and realize we left the tickets at home, they let us in and we had the time of our lives. That track has national historic value still making unforgettable memories. If California allows that track to shut down it would surprise me but I hope it never does. Thanks for the videos
The larger issue is that it's time for each state to begin cutting into its unused lands to spread out the roadways and make more zoning areas.
These real estate developers come in and build up an area without any regard to the infrastructure, and then the town usually does nothing to improve it. The people running the town just care about getting more rateables to pay for their own pay raises, and then they end up retiring and leaving anyway!
The houses built nearby that track should have never been built that close to the track in the first place!
I'm from Missouri so totally different scenario... but I moved from STL city 10 years ago, and I just keep moving farther away. It's crazy to me that people want to live in such congested areas and deal with traffic and crime when you can get farther away and have twice the house and 10x the yard. Humans aren't built for living on top of each other.
Edit: especially when everyone's working from home nowadays.
I would build my house next to COTA if I could. These people are bitches that moved next the race track.
Unfortunately, something similar to this has happened in the UK too. Closure of several race circuits, drag strips and oval tracks. It makes motorsports harder and harder to access in such a relatively small country
We lost Rockingham this way I think, and Bedford Autodrome has strict noise sensors that go to the council office which can shut a track day down for noisy cars. Stupid really, but it lies with the council and the ability for them to allow building near this and not have it in the contracts for the houses that sets limits of acceptable noise over an average year for the race track that's been there. If its in the contacts that a decibel reading of 120dbm is acceptable, they they cant complain on the noise when buying the house.
I'm sure, give it 5-10years, Cleatus is going to be going through the same thing at the Freedom Factory and detailing it all in a blog
@oibren85 100% Rockingham was lost this way, same as Shakespeare County Raceway and more recently Birmingham wheels arena
And then people wonder why kids start racing on the streets, STOP TAKING AWAY THE TRACKS!
street race and if no alternative ram into people and complain of no race track
What's going on with Laguna Seca is the biggest issue with racing and certain entertainment in America specifically. These normally noisy venues are normally built a little away or on the outskirts of cities to keep the noises down for neighborhoods. Only now we have developers buying up land and building houses near all these places leading to stupid noise complaints and closures of these places( especially the racetracks) because someone moves in who does like the noise but knew of the racetrack.
PBIR was our closest dragstrip to us in Miami Ft. Lauderdale area. My friends used to race the road course as well. I never got to enjoy much racing there. Thank goodness for Cleetus Mcfarland and the Freedom Factory. It's still a 4 hour drive to watch racing, but at least it is open. For now.
In fact is there a track south of Rampa that will be closing after the coming season-part the NIMBY’s and part the age of the owners? (Heard about it in an odd place: on the page of the railfan Danny Harmon, who live in the Tampa area.)
Have to drive by moroso everyday and I always get nostalgic
Where I live in indiana we had a dirt track here. It was so old that at one time the track was the only thing there lol it was literally made in a corn field and racers would have to dig out corn stalks that would pop up in the track. Years later a church was built and years after that subdivisions were built and the church filed a lawsuit on the track and so did the subdivision saying it was too loud so eventually it got shut down. It passes me off when people build by a track then complain about noise
That happened here in Michigan. Local dirt track that had been in place for decades, and a person bought it for the sole reason of shutting it down.
Should be able to sue the county and state for shutting them down.
I can’t stand the idea that this small community (that knew damn well what they were getting into) are trying to stop Laguna Seca from operating. THAT BEING SAID, if there are threats to wildlife or a lack of data on those threats, that needs addressed. For the wildlife, not property values. I know there are some fellow Motorsport lovers out there that still care about the environment. We can do both baby!!!
This is such a recognizable track to me, because Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo introduced me to these tracks when I was younger. The twisty and hilly parts of the course made me remember it all, especially the very top of it where you have to brake and turn down the hill. I would crash so many times on that part since it came up many times in the games. I would love to visit this track one day if it stays open, and I really hope it does not close.
China's Zhuhai Circuit also has this problem, but the court and the government rejected the complaint. The reason is that the circuit was built earlier. The developers knew that this was a disadvantage, but still chose to develop residential areas. Those residents need to bear the consequences themselves.
How many ads for autos and bike were filmed using the Corkscrew in the ads?
Thank you! My local track (Atco Dragway) closed last year after 60 yrs of Drag racing. A couple years prior Englishtown Dragstrip closed. very sad
I was heartbroken when i heard Atco closed. Spent a lot of time there in the 90's and early 2000s.
The corkscrew is literally up there with eau rouge/raidillon, ascari chicane, maggotts/becketts, etc as one of the most iconic series of corners in the world. Hopefully it never dies
Theres a local oval track in vernon British Columbia was built out of town.
Ran for years, even hosted cascar races, then one day some greasy developer got cheap land next to the track for nothing because you guessed it the noise.
Fast forward, greasy builds a old folks home, clients complain of the noise. Sue the track and force them to shut down.
It was truely pathetic.
6:55 Giuseppie gives off “Nah i’d win” vibes he definitely him
Normal Drivers: "You're a nuisance on the streets! Please take it to the track!
Me: okay
Homeowners near the track: Hey you there! You're a nuisance! Y'know that? Also You're car is too damn loud! Do me a favor and take that damn thing to the streets!
Me: okay...
Really great video guys. Researched and boots-on-ground interviews for a case that’s more nuanced than one would expect.
If laguna Seca can be sued, it makes me worried for Cletus .
Didn’t he talk to a lawyer and started preparations to make sure it can’t happen? Either way I’ve been worried too
Anyone can try to sue anybody. Laguna Seca is not going anywhere.
@@MusicWispyeah but there’s a loophole, this 68 coalition is using the same loophole. The homeowners can’t sue, but the homeowners can band together to form an LLC and said company can then sue.
I’ve had the opportunity to race Laguna Seca several times. But never on the track or in a car. Sea Otter Classic
@@NollEngineeringPerformance oh shit
This is a problem everywhere. People feel the community they move to should cater to their preferences.
Donut media should spearhead the petition to kill this lawsuit. And a second one to evict the idiots who buy a home near a racetrack, then complain about the racetrack....
Nice bit of journalism there, Jer.
Thanks, guys!
It is awesome yall are bringing light to this and its not just being pushed through without people knowing!!!
🤔 I don’t know but…sounds like the “coalition” may have coerced the elderly neighbors into signing a petition based on the decibel readings. “Coalition” wins, Laguna Seca gets shut down, some “random” developer buys up prime real estate, the “Coalition” gets their cut, wham bam money gram! And to think I had ill feelings towards the NIMBYs..shameful.
The track is owned by the county so I doubt it. They want those dollars coming in from track events.
its starting to become a huge trend that rich or wealthy people move into houses next to race tracks,drag strips,or motor tunning shops and sewing them cus there "a nascence" alot of places are being closed down and its starting to take away from the motor enthusiast life style. 83 drag strips , 58 race tracks have been closed down this year