NOLA Motorsports Park

NOLA Motorsports Park is a road race track in Avondale, Louisiana, approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. The kart circuit and North Track circuits opened in Q4 2011.

NOLA Motorsports Park
Location11075 Nicolle Boulevard, Avondale, Louisiana 70094
Time zoneUTC-6 (UTC-5 DST)
Coordinates29°53′1″N 90°11′52″W
OwnerLaney Chouest
Broke groundDecember 2009
Opened2011
Construction cost$62 million
ArchitectAlan Wilson
Major eventsTriumph Big Kahuna New Orleans (2012)
Cooper Tires WinterFest (2014)
Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana (2015)
Full Track
SurfaceAsphalt
Length5.37 mi (8.64 km)
Turns27
North Track
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.75 mi (4.42 km)
Turns16
South Track
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.69 mi (4.33 km)
Turns11
Websitewww.nolamotor.com

Future plans include completion of a South Track. When linked with the North Track will form a five-mile course, making it the longest race track in North America.[1]

Design

NOLA Motorsports Park was designed by Alan Wilson, whose other designs include Utah Motorsports Campus and Barber Motorsports Park. In addition to the two international standard race tracks, the facility also features three karting tracks, full service seven acre kart center, paddock, on-site speed shop, clubhouse, eight acre autocross pad, single lane dragstrip and luxury villas for residents.[2]

The park has also been designed with forward thinking electronic systems including over 100 miles of fiber optics and the latest timing and scoring equipment to allow for accurate timing.[3]

Activities

East of the main track is a short and thin track. Usually being divided up in the center, it serves its north side as the rental go-kart track. The south can be rented out and holds smaller events such as motorcycle races.[4] Behind the track is a gift shop with racing memorabilia and a plethora of other items. The two-story building also houses two private balconies and an upstairs lobby with a small kitchen, which can be rented out for parties. [5]

There is motorcycle safety training [6] and on-track exotic car rentals provided by Xtreme Xperience.[7] Housed at Nola Motorsports Park for rental are the Huracán LP610-4, the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Porsche 911 GT3, and the Slingshot SLR.[7]

Accidents

In chronological order

On April 15, 2017, Jesus Martinez was riding an unspecified motorcycle on the east track about 8:30 p.m. when he inadvertently hit another rider and suffered life-threatening injuries. [8] He later died of injuries shortly after getting an ambulance to University Medical Center. The accident was found to be a manual mistake and no outside debris on the track was found.[8]

On September 22, 2018, Jeff Hagaman was topping out his 2000 hp heavily modified 2010 Nissan GTR during a wannagofast[9] event. He was at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour down the track parking-drag section of the park when he lost control of the vehicle. He flipped upwards landing on the front right side of the bumper; this was the collision that was assumed killed him.[10] "It was surprising" friends and family said. Jeff was 52 years old and has been racing most of his life, from Granite Falls, North Carolina, he was experienced.[11]

Major events
2012
2014
2015

Maps
  • North Course C
gollark: I have it *open* lots, I'm not actively using it that much.
gollark: I don't think that should count.
gollark: It appears that the selection for temperature tolerance might need increasing.
gollark: It's possible, but I think most of the selection is just done by the sorter bit?
gollark: 5 percentage points, I mean.

References
  1. Paul Rioux (2012-01-30). "Avondale getting 750-acre, $60 million racetrack". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  2. "Facility Features". nolamotor.com/. Archived from the original on 2012-03-03. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  3. Alejandro de Los Rios (2012-10-02). "NOLA Motorsports innovates with new track". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
  4. "Karting – Arrive & Drive – NOLA Motorsports Park". nolamotor.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  5. "NOLA Motorsports Park – Parties / Groups – NOLA Motorsports Park". nolamotor.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  6. Academy, NOLA Riding. "Racetrack Training". NOLA Riding Academy. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  7. "Exotic Driving Experience New Orleans". Xtreme Xperience. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  8. rvargas@theadvocate.com, RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS. "44-year-old Houston man killed in motorcycle accident at NOLA Motorsports Park". The Advocate. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  9. "wannaGOFAST - 1/2 Mile Racing Events". wannaGOFAST. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  10. Jnowak@theadvocate.com, JEFF NOWAK. "Driver was going over 200 mph at time of fatal crash Saturday at NOLA Motorsports track". The Advocate. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  11. "Fatal wreck at NOLA Motorsports racetrack during 'wannagofast' event". WWL. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  12. "NOLA Motorsports Park announces The Big Kahuna New Orleans AMA Pro Racing Season Finale". m1powersports.com/. 2012-12-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  13. "IndyCar commits to New Orleans race at NOLA Motorsports Park in 2015". The Times-Picayune/nola.com. May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  14. "IndyCar commits to New Orleans race at NOLA Motorsports Park in 2015". The Times-Picayune/nola.com. May 4, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
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