General History
Reno-Fernley Raceway came into existence in 1998, as part of
a 3000 acre master plan project. The 500 acre motor sports complex started to
take shape when one of the employees, a motor cross rider, asked if he could
build a Motorcross track on the southern section of the property.
Soon after the idea for a motor sports
complex began to take shape in the mind of developer Rich Cable.
That winter with an idea and some spare time
on their hands Rich and his crew began to build a clay oval.
People kept kidding us about the saying in
the movie Field of Dreams "If you build it they will come." So we actually
trademarked the slogan "Racings Field of Dreams".
It seemed natural, because through the years with a commitment to
the vision and hard work from everyone involved "Racings Field of Dreams" has
taken form and become one of the largest, and fastest growing motor sports
facility in the country.
Clay Oval
In 1998, we started modifying a natural bowl in the terrain
into a 3/8 mile dirt track. By placing the track in the bowl, the noise would
be dissipated. and the site was far enough off the highway that lights would
not create a problem for traffic. After listening to many opinions on how to
build a dirt track, the facility enlisted the aid of Fred Nagle, a partner, who
designed dirt tracks in California at Chico, and Susanville.
The track was a
work in progress over the first two years, but matured into probably the finest
clay/dirt surface in the Western United States.
It also has added lots of spectator amenities over the years
making it user friendly.Such as fold
down bleacher seats, a "tailgate" viewing area, and fire pits for those cold
nights in the spring and fall. Over
five miles of underground conduit has been installed for lighting.
More improvements are planned including
permanent restroom facilities with showers for drivers and crew, 2000 to 3000
more bleacher seats, and box seats, which will be sold on a season basis.
The
existing fold down seats, have a unique history. They were originally used at
the ice rink for the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics.
Every other week during the
season there's a stock car and IMCA modified show and 318 Open Wheel Modifieds,
Vintage Midgets, Sprint 360's on alternate weekends.
Car counts have grown to an average of more than 100-120 for
IMCA/stock car nights and 80 to 90 for the open wheel events.
Special Events
With the building of the original motor
cross track, people would come out to ride and watch on weekends. Soon after
that Rod Hall, the famous
Reno based off-road racer, built an off-road course
that he uses to test Hummers and teach off-road driving.
The course includes a diabolical mud bog and
a steep bank that must winch over. Rod was also instrumental in helping set up
a new venue at Reno-Fernley Raceway, by encouraging several
Rock Crawl events
in the fist years. This led naturally
into the other 4x4 sports and we added regular Mud Bogs on 2004, and in 2005
Reno Fernley Raceway will host Sand Drags, Super Moto, Moto Cross, and Flat
Track racing.
Drag Strip
In the summer of 2000 Reno Fernley Raceway teamed up with IV
Motor sports to start street legal drags (a.k.a. Grudge Racing).
There was one problem, the facility did not
have a drags strip. Actually there
wasn't any asphalt at all. Quickly
everyone figured out that it could be done at the Tiger Field the adjacent
airport that was a part of the development.
After some logistics were worked out, Reno-Fernley Raceway started its
first street drag races, which continue today.
In 2003 with the paving of the road course, and the addition of a burn
out pad and timing equipment the Drags got a permanent ¼ mile home and have
been running regularly there since.
2004 saw the first drags during hot august for two days hundreds of
people came till the sun came up to watch or run there cars.
This year Reno-Fernley Raceway will continue
the tradition with monthly drags and two days of drags during hot august week.
Road Course
With the interest in road racing spawned from the drags,
plans were pushed forward for a paved road course in 2001.
It took nearly two years to lay out and
complete phase one of the road course.
It was a challenging process to layout the infrastructure and install
the first 1.2 mile course. With the
opening in 2003 the road course saw an influx of car clubs, and sports car
enthusiasts. Immediately the course was
being talked about as a true drivers course, requiring attention and
skill.
By mid 2004 Phase 2 had extended
the course 2.3 Miles and saw weekends start to fill up as more people heard how
this was an exciting and challenging course.
Many drivers began touting us as the fastest track in the west.
Our 2005 season is the most exciting
yet. We have nearly sold out every
available weekend and have programs running throughout the week.
By mid 2005 we will have added Phase 3,
another 2+ miles making it one of the longest road courses in the United
States. The road course is host to race
and club events by HMSA, NASA, Porsche, Audi and many more sports car clubs and
motorcycle groups. It is also host to full time driving and motorcycle
licensing schools. Finally this year we
will be implementing several new features for the course.
New facilities for timing and scoring, as
well as registration, also more access and routes for emergency vehicles and
personnel. We have expanded the
run-outs to more than 60', and we will be implementing a driver/rider safety
program, which will include racing safety.
We hope you enjoy your time at the track and continue to come support us
as we grow. Let's go Racing.
