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| Features |
| Black Rock Raceway, Karting's Oasis in the Desert |
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By Scotty Nielsen
In the movie A Field of Dreams one of the most memorable lines was, "If you build it, they will come." Perhaps that's the way to express racing and motor sports in Utah, a high plateau desert painted with truly amazing scenery. There are forests of green in the North covered by world famous powder snow in the winter, deserts to the West and canyon lands of red rock in the South. All are known around the world for their beauty and recreational activities. Hardly the place where you would think racing and motor sports is thriving and growing ... yet it is.
The history of Utah motor sports is peppered with a variety of classes and styles of competition. One of the biggest hints that racing and speed lives in Utah is the long tradition of competing for world land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Imagine the passing thunder of strange vehicles hurtling by on a dazzling white plain. That’s the form of racing in Utah recognized by most motor sports enthusiasts.
 | | Utah offers a beautiful backdrop for racing |
The Bonneville Salt Flats is a deposit of salt covering roughly 159 square miles left by ancient Lake Bonneville. In 1912, this area was tested as a racetrack and has since proven to be the greatest automobile speedway in the world. In the 1950's and 60's, the salt flats were a motor sports Mecca. Today, hundreds of competitors arrive twice every year to attempt to break world land speed records. Now, just a mere 75 miles east from that hallowed ground, is a new kart track known as Black Rock Raceway located in Salt Lake City.
In the 60's and 70's, karting in Utah was typical of the era with several local tracks, none of any length or stature. In the early 1990's a track was built in a cornfield just south of Salt Lake City with the intentions of, "If you build it, they will come." That track was known as Wasatch Race Park (WRP) and was the training ground for several racers that have since become names in the karting world – Bonnier Moulton, Chris Farrell, Mike Beeny, Rob Mathis and Curtis Cooksey just to name a few. For twelve years, Wasatch Race Park served the local karting population well. But the evolution of karting equipment and the deterioration of the track surface gave rise to a growing number of racers demanding a bigger and better track suited to the modern karts of today. So, yet another "Field of Dreams" was constructed – only this time not in a cornfield but closer to the Mecca of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the heart of the desert.
During the 2002 racing season at Wasatch Race Park, a group of racers decided to create a business plan for a new track. This core group was comprised of successful local businessmen, developers, doctors, car dealers, engineers and construction professionals all with one thing in common: a passion for karting. After the plan was announced, a group of ten individuals stepped forward to form Intermountain Karting Complex, funding the seed money to start building the new track. In addition to the ten “founding members”, thirty "country club memberships" were sold to provide additional capital for the ongoing construction required to build this state-of-the-art track.
In the fall of 2002 construction began, and before the first winter snows blanketed the valley, the pavement was down for the eight-tenths of a circuit at its longest configuration.
 | | Aerial view |
During the course of the winter of 2002-03, additional paving was completed, all fencing was put in, special grass was planted and buildings were constructed. By the spring of 2003, Black Rock Raceway was open for business.
The track is named Black Rock Raceway (BRR), named after a unique rock formation on the south end of the Great Salt Lake, which is visible from the track. BRR (elevation 4,450 feet ASL) is located roughly 20 miles west from the Salt Lake International Airport in the Deseret Peak Recreation Complex, which is owned and operated by Tooele County. Deseret Peak houses a variety of recreational facilities ranging from a full-sized water park with slides, to a state-of-the-art horse arena and an eight-furlong horseracing track. The complex is also home to Utah's premier motocross track, a lighted stadium motocross facility and a BMX track that is one of 250 national caliber tracks sanctioned by the American Bicycle Association. On the northwest corner of the complex on a 25-acre parcel of land, is the newest addition to Utah's legacy of speed - Black Rock Raceway.
The track was constructed utilizing FIA-CIK construction specification for length, width and curbing. No small task. One of the first wishes on the dream list for the new owners was to have the pits large, open and fully paved. Some of the finest kart tracks in North America have less than desirable pits and parking areas. That would not be the case at BRR. All 140 main and 100 back-up pits are concrete and have full paved access to the track. There is no slogging through dirt or gravel at BRR, not even where your trailer or RV is parked.
Several of the founding members are involved in the oil, asphalt and paving businesses. This obviously was a plus when it came to the construction of the track as "overkill" may be the best term to describe the construction. Ground preparation was performed as though the race surface was going to incur wheel loads similar to that of an international airport. All construction was crafted to the highest standards of asphalt super-pavement construction including laser leveling and using the same asphalt surface mix as was used on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The land for BRR was acquired from Tooele County on a thirty-year lease. One of the conditions of this lease was that the track must have permanent facilities that are built to code. As a result, nothing about this track is "homemade" though many long hours of member work went into the construction. One of the founding members stated that if you had to hire the manpower used in the construction of the track it would have added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the construction cost. Fortunately the eclectic mix of the founding members, in terms of professional experience and specialty, coupled with the enthusiasm of the local kart club membership, led to savings in almost every aspect of construction including paving, concrete work, painting, computer networking and labor.
As you drive up to Black Rock Raceway, the first thing you see is a two-story control tower looming over the massive front straightaway (shown above). In front of the tower, extending over the track is a full freeway 56-foot single mast arm semaphore housing two street-legal stop lights which are used for F1-style standing starts (see picture).
There is no trailer with timing and scoring housed in it, or homemade starting lights for the shifters at BRR. Everything here is absolutely first class. As you enter the track facility, track personnel will issue you your track credentials from the main entrance building. This building is tied into the main tower through a fully integrated and networked computer system. The main control tower is fully air-conditioned (useful in midsummer when temperatures can easily reach into the 100's) and has a great panoramic view of the track and of the Great Salt Lake.
Moving through the front gate, credentials in hand, you pass a fuel building housing a multitude of octanes to meet the needs of every racer from 4-cycle to shifters. You are then faced with the massive paddock area, fully paved with concrete pads for each pit area. The paddock boasts a state-of-the-art sound system that reaches the furthest corners of the paddock to keep racers up-to-date without deafening them.
 | | Note hot lane to right of grid |
The hot-grid area is fully concrete and is large enough to easily accommodate any parc-ferme that might be required for a large national race. The hot-grid area also incorporates a "hot lane" for in's-and-out's as well as enough space to handle over 100 karts.
The track itself is a full 26 feet wide and is ultra-smooth. In its longest configuration, it is slightly over 8/10ths of a mile long. By utilizing various strategically placed shunts, BRR can be configured into 16 different race configurations. The track's design was based on several of the world's most legendary racetracks. It then underwent extensive reviews and modifications by world-class and championship kart drivers who incorporated some subtle, but unique changes to create a wonderfully challenging track, that will be appealing to both the top pro-shifter driver as well as the youngsters just coming up in the sport and the over-40 amateur driver. The infield has been seeded with a special salt grass seed that will take a few years to fully develop in the alkaline soil. The grass is maintained by a fully automated sprinkler system with over 5,000 sprinkler heads that was designed and installed before paving began.
When you stand on the main straightaway, it seems more like the Salt Lake International Airport's landing strip with over 800 feet of ultra smooth asphalt. An 880-foot oval has been incorporated into the front straight for use as a warm-up area for classes not requiring the full circuit for warm-up laps. The oval serves, as an integral part of the track in some of its 16 multiple configurations.
The track has CIK-FIA curbing on all corners. Some of the curbing can be beneficial to a quick lap time if used properly, and other sections are not meant to be run up on. The track, because it's constructed on such a large (25 acre) piece of ground, has plenty of run-off room and these areas have 6-inch deep pea-gravel areas to catch any off track excursion. Run off damage is minimal other than perhaps taking off one of the 5,000 pop-up sprinkler heads and to one's pride!
A Lap of Black Rock Raceway
Heading down the monstrous front straight, you shift into sixth gear just as you cross the start/finish line. Approaching turn one, you are nearing 100 mph. A quick dab of the brakes while downshifting to fourth gear, you quickly get back on the throttle for the deceivingly fast turn one. Avoid the apex curb as it will upset the kart and pitch you toward the gravel on the exit.
Exiting turn one leads onto a short 300-foot chute and the entry to the turn two/three complex. A good exit from turn one may allow an opportunity to pass as you enter turn two. Turn two is a 225-degree off-camber right-hander that immediately transitions to a tight uphill left-hander. Downshift to second gear and hug the inside, riding high on the curbing and staying to the right to set up for turn three. Use all the curbing in turn three. A good exit here sets you up for the long, slightly curved chute (past turn four) leading to the area known as "the box."
"The Box" is actually two corners (five and six) but it is driven as a single, double apex corner. Depending on gearing you either enter in third and quickly shift to fourth or enter in fourth and carry it all the way through. Avoid the curbing in turn four and use all the curbing in turn six. Passing as you brake to enter the box is possible only if you have gotten an excellent exit from turn three and through turn four.
Turn seven is a kink in the chute leading to the entrance to the "Carousel" (turn nine), the signature turn at Black Rock Raceway. Make sure you don't exit turn seven too far to the left or you will not be set up properly for turn eight which is critical for the Carousel and the subsequent run down the long back straight. Brake, drop two gears to third, jump the curb at turn eight and you're in the Carousel.
Wow, the Carousel! As you exit turn eight you start rolling on the throttle and shift up to fourth gear. The Carousel (turn nine) is a long, banked 180-degree right-hander. This turn will test your physical limits, seriously straining your neck muscles at full acceleration against 11 degrees of banking. As you exit the Carousel in fourth gear, try to hold to the center of the track – any wider and you are losing precious tenths.
The back straight is actually a long slight right-hander (turn ten) that abruptly kinks to the left as you approach turn twelve, which is a second gear 180-degree hairpin. The normal tendency is to drift to the left in an attempt to straighten the slight jog out. However, a better approach is to stay to the right and straighten the jog (turn eleven) out sooner. This gives you a straighter approach to turn twelve with better control under heavy braking. As you approach this section, you are flat-out in sixth gear once again nearing 100 mph.
Now at full speed and with passing opportunities as you approach turn twelve, you brake hard, hopefully in a straight line, and drop to second gear for the first section of what has come to be known as the "Buttonhook" which comprises turns twelve, thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. Through turn twelve (a 180-degree right), directly into thirteen (a 90-degree left) and onto a short chute. A good exit from twelve and thirteen may give you the opportunity to pass on the 200-foot short chute, but keep in mind that turn fourteen is tight with only one line. A mis-timed pass attempt here and you may end up in the gravel.
Turn fourteen is subtle but critical as it is essentially part of the complex of corners that leads onto the front straight. Use the curb in fourteen staying to the left on exit. Avoid the tendency to turn in early into fifteen. Set up your entry for turn fifteen, another 180-degree right-hander, for a mid to late-apex. Get on the throttle early for the long run down the front stretch and the completion of a lap.
Other Details
New for 2004 will be the addition of a 1,500 square foot administration and meeting building that will also contain full, permanent restrooms and showering areas. Ahhhh... the comforts! It will serve as a training/instruction and meeting area for arrive-and-drive classes and corporate events as well as the medical and emergency area. The track’s medical needs are serviced by two of the founding members who are doctors. As a result, the track has immediate medical care within seconds for any type of incident that may occur.
Black Rock Raceway is open for practice on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with races on every other Saturday throughout the season that runs from mid-March through late October. The track is also available for private and corporate rental.
 | | Map to Black Rock Raceway |
Black Rock Raceway is easily accessible, lying just 20 miles West of the Salt Lake City International Airport, just off Interstate 80 (exit #99) near the world famous Great Salt Lake. Salt Lake City, host of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, is nestled in a valley at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains. The city combines the amenities of a major metropolitan area with the friendliness of a small western city. Both the scenic canyon resorts and historic Park City offer a variety of activities and attractions.
Black Rock Raceway is the product of a group of kart racers who had the determination and desire to create a world-class karting facility in the heart of Utah and the intermountain area. In less than one year the track progressed from concept to completion, and it now stands as perhaps the premier kart-racing track in the U.S. For additional information and a schedule for the 2004 season, check out the Black Rock Raceway website at http://www.blackrockraceway.com
To read other stories regarding Black Rock Raceway and upcoming events, visit http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=2409 or http://www.ekartingnews.com/news_info.php?n=2435
To view more shots of the facility, visit the EKN Photo Gallery located by clicking on the top “Photos” link on the EKN navigation bar. Once inside the gallery, select, “Black Rock Raceway.” |
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