FCA Annual Meets 2025 and beyond...

The latest gripe from locals about Laguna Seca is that they claim there's more and more events held there. To get an idea of the noise they object to, when an event is held at Laguna Seca, you can actually hear the sound at Quail Lodge (site of The Quail). If you're familiar with the area, there's a good size hill separating Highway-68 (where Laguna sits on its north side) and Quail. That's approx 8 miles as the crow flies, up and over that hill, or 15mi drive via Laureles Grade.

 

Thats a tall enough and steep enough hill I cannot believe people on one side hear whats going on, on the other. Its not like Carmel Valley Rd and highway 68 have no local traffic.

 

Given that I've heard Laguna Seca event noise numerous times while playing golf at Quail, believe it. I keep my cars in a space very close to Laguna Seca and am quite familiar with the type of sound events cause...the very distinct sounds of race cars accelerating and decelerating into turns. At Quail, it'll be the same sounds however much more muted, yet still easily identifiable as Laguna Seca event sounds.

 

spent the last weekend at the Hyatt Carmel Valley Ranch a mountain away listening to Ferraris on track at Laguna each morning.

 

CVR is closer to Laguna than Quail since it's loser to the Grade which dumps out right by one of Laguna's entrances...but still amazing how the sound travels.

 

I have stayed at a friends house near Laurles Grade a couple of times but never heard it. But it is at the base of the hill opposite side as Quail Lodge. But hey I dont live there. Based on geography it may also be one of those things here you can hear it and a mile up the road you cannot.

 

You won't hear noise from Laguna unless a race event is held. Car club track days, etc don't generate the decibels needed to carry far. The track also has decibel limits for non-race events, though I don't know how strict enforcement is.

 

Actually enforcement is very strict. The people manning the measurement equipment are employees of the community organization and answer to them, not the the race track owners. An F1 car owner at the last FCA annual there asked me how much to run his car and pulled out a roll of hundreds. I just laughed and walked away. It just wasn't going to happen.

 

Does anyone have the dates for next year in Charlotte?

 

What I recall being mentioned at the Awards Banquet last week in Elkhart Lake was September 14-18 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

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Thanks for clarifying.

 

You're welcome. I m looking forward to it too.

 

And I heard 2026 will be at Lime Rock in CT.

 

2027 at Columbus, Mid-Ohio, OH.

Marcel Massini

 

Both correct.

 

A great location for a future FCA Annual Meet would be Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

Nearby racetrack, great climate, plenty of lake activities, great leisure driving roads, ample restaurants and resorts/hotels…

 

I thought Brian mentioned awhile back that Lime Rock was supposed to be a location but was moved for some stupid reason (which might be the exact quote).

Anybody know for sure? Living in the northeast, obviously I’d love an annual meet at LRP.

 

Well I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure it will be at Lime Rock in 2025. I think the issue is there is no really large resort like the Osthoff to host a majority of the particiapnts.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves, were on to Charlotte!

 

Lime Rock has been announced as the location. Don't know what changed to make it back on the list.

 

There are a number of places that could be considered although they lack historical significance.

Lake of the Ozarks
The new private track outside of Nashville
Bowling Green, KY

But, as previously explained by others, considerations get into:
Track rental fee (this has been a problem for some track that were seriously considered including Indianapolis and COTA)
Ability to secure hard dates since the track wants to be able to kick out our event in case a pro event wants the date
Proximity to sufficient hotel accommodations
Solution for Welcome Reception, Concours, Mercato, Awards Banquet if not able to be at main hotel
Local FCA Region/Chapter willingness to truly commit to hands-on organizing the event. Some have done very well on this point while others have not.

 

Probably because that brain trust discovered it is in Connecticut and not Massachusetts.

 

The draw is not a race track. There are race tracks everywhere. What creates the draw is famous race tracks with history. Laguna Seca, Road America, Watkins Glen. Road Atlanta etc. The club has held nationals at a variety of small unknown or private race tracks and for the work involved have been a waste of time.

 

The last line is a major, major issue. It takes a lot of work on the part of a lot of people and many areas simply cannot make that happen.
People want to go to a party. They dont want to throw one.