NOLA Motorsports Park

Last updated
NOLA Motorsports Park
NOLA Motorsports Park IndyCar Series.png
IndyCar A Course (2015–present)
Location11075 Nicolle Boulevard, Avondale, Louisiana 70094
Time zone UTC-06:00 (UTC-05:00 DST)
Coordinates 29°53′1″N90°11′52″W / 29.88361°N 90.19778°W / 29.88361; -90.19778
FIA Grade 2
OwnerLaney Chouest
Broke groundDecember 2009;14 years ago (2009-12)
Opened2011
Construction cost$62 million
Architect Alan Wilson
Major eventsCurrent:
Trans-Am Series (2015–2016, 2023–present)
FR Americas (2018, 2022–present)
USF Pro 2000 (2015, 2024)
USF2000 (2015, 2024)
24 Hours of Lemons (2018–2019, 2021–present)
Former:
IndyCar
Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana (2015)
GT World Challenge America (2022–2023)
Cooper Tires WinterFest (2014–2015)
AMA Superbike Championship (2012)
Website http://www.nolamotor.com/
A Course (2011–present)
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.748 miles (4.423 km)
Turns17
Race lap record1:31.4282 ( Flag of the United States.svg Nikita Johnson, Tatuus IP-22, 2024, USF Pro 2000)
IndyCar A Course (2015–present)
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.670 miles (4.300 km)
Turns14
Race lap record1:28.5583 ( Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon, Dallara DW12, 2015, IndyCar)
B Course (2011–present)
SurfaceAsphalt
Length1.877 miles (3.020 km)
Turns12
C Course (2011–present)
SurfaceAsphalt
Length2.312 miles (3.720 km)
Turns12

NOLA Motorsports Park is a full service motorsports facility in Avondale, Louisiana approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. NOLA Motorsports Park includes an FIA Grade 2 road course, one of the largest (fully-lit) outdoor karting tracks in the country, and a 300,000 square ft. soft-grade asphalt skid pad, perfect for drifting and autocross.

Contents

The kart circuit and North Track opened in Q4 2011.

Future plans include completion of an off-roading area, a supercar driving experience, and more.

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, and a state-of-the-art event center, perfect for business conferences, weddings, and other large events. [1]

The park was 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 on both the main and karting tracks. [2]

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. [3] 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. [4]

There is motorcycle safety training [5] and on-track exotic car rentals provided by Xtreme Xperience. [6] Housed at Nola Motorsports Park for rental are the Huracán LP610-4, the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Porsche 911 GT3, and the Slingshot SLR. [6]

Competitive racing is also hosted at the park, with a Go-Kart League racing for 2 seasons a year. Autocross, hosted on the skidpad, and NASA racing as well.

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. [7] He later died of injuries shortly after getting an ambulance to University Medical Center. The accident was found to be a racing incident caused by rider error and no outside debris on the track was found. [7]

On September 22, 2018, Jeff Hagaman was topping out his 2000  hp heavily modified 2010 Nissan GTR during a speed trials event laid out on a half-mile course utilising the pit straight of the circuit. [8] He was in the shutdown area after finishing his half-mile run at speeds exceeding 200 mph (320 km/h) during the run 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. [9] "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. [10] The event was "unsanctioned," without requiring a roll cage (which is required in the NHRA if a car exceeds 135 mph (217 km/h)).

Events

Current
Former

Lap records

As of April 2024, the fastest official race lap records on the NOLA Motorsports Park are:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent
A Course: 4.423 km (2011–present)
USF Pro 2000 1:31.4282 [11] Nikita Johnson Tatuus IP-22 2024 USF Pro 2000 Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana
Formula Regional 1:33.523 [12] Raoul Hyman Ligier JS F3 2022 New Orleans FR Americas round
GT3 1:34.800 [13] Giacomo Altoè Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2022 New Orleans GT World Challenge America round
USF2000 1:35.6070 [14] Nico Christodoulou Tatuus USF-22 2024 USF2000 Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana
Lamborghini Super Trofeo 1:36.476 [15] Loris Spinelli Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 2022 New Orleans Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America round
TA1 1:37.029 [16] Matthew Brabham Ford Mustang Trans-Am 2023 New Orleans Trans-Am round
USF Juniors 1:39.1192 [17] Sebastian Wheldon Tatuus JR-23 2024 USF Juniors Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana
Superbike 1:39.487 [18] Josh Hayes Yamaha YZF-R1 2012 Triumph Big Kahuna New Orleans
Formula 4 1:41.227 [19] Bryson Morris Crawford F4-16 2022 New Orleans F4 United States round
TA2 1:42.463 [20] Raphael Matos Ford Mustang Trans-Am 2023 New Orleans Trans-Am round
GT4 1:44.284 [21] John Capestro-Dubets BMW M4 GT4 Gen II 2023 New Orleans GT4 America round
TC America 1:48.430 [22] Kyle Loh Honda Civic Type R TCX 2023 New Orleans TC America round
IndyCar A Course: 4.300 km (2015–present)
IndyCar 1:28.5583 Scott Dixon Dallara DW12 2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana
Pro Mazda 1:33.7313 [23] Weiron Tan Star Formula Mazda 'Pro' 2015 New Orleans Pro Mazda Winterfest round
Prototype Lites 1:36.012 [24] Kenton Koch Élan DP02 2015 New Orleans IMSA Prototype Lites round
US F2000 1:36.6613 [25] Jake Eidson Van Diemen DP08 2015 New Orleans US F2000 Winterfest round
Porsche Carrera Cup 1:36.012 [26] Elliott Skeer Porsche 911 (991 I) GT3 Cup 2015 New Orleans Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA round
Mazda MX-5 Cup 1:57.302 [27] Chad McCumbee Mazda MX-5 (NC) 2015 New Orleans Mazda MX-5 Cup round

Maps

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References

  1. ↑ "Facility Features". nolamotor.com/. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Alejandro de Los Rios (2 October 2012). "NOLA Motorsports innovates with new track". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Karting – Arrive & Drive – NOLA Motorsports Park". nolamotor.com. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "NOLA Motorsports Park – Parties / Groups – NOLA Motorsports Park". nolamotor.com. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  5. ↑ Academy, NOLA Riding. "Racetrack Training". NOLA Riding Academy. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Exotic Driving Experience New Orleans". Xtreme Xperience. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  7. 1 2 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.
  8. ↑ "wannaGOFAST - 1/2 Mile Racing Events". wannaGOFAST. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  9. ↑ NOWAK, JEFF. "Driver was going over 200 mph at time of fatal crash Saturday at NOLA Motorsports track". The Advocate. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Fatal wreck at NOLA Motorsports racetrack during 'wannagofast' event". WWL. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "2024 Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana USF Juniors Race 2 Official Results" (PDF). 7 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  12. ↑ "2022 NOLA SpeedTour FR Americas Round 2 Official Race Result" (PDF). 10 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "2022 NOLA Motorsports Park Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by aws Race 1 - Classification - Final" (PDF). 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "2024 Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana USF2000 Race 2 Official Results" (PDF). 7 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "2022 Lamborghini Super Trofeo at NOLA - Race 2 Official Results (50 Minutes)" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). 24 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  16. ↑ "2023 Trans-Am Series NOLA Motorsports Park Official Race Results" (PDF). 12 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "2024 Continental Tire Grand Prix of Louisiana USF Juniors Race 3 Provisional Results" (PDF). 7 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  18. ↑ "New Orleans AMA SuperBike - Race 2 Results". 8 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  19. ↑ "2022 F4 United States Championship powered by Honda - NOLA Motorsports Park - Round 2 Official Race Result" (PDF). 10 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "2023 Trans Am Championship Presented by Pirelli NOLA Motorsports Park March 9-12th The Big Machine Spiked Coolers TA2 Series Round 2 Official Race Results" (PDF). 11 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  21. ↑ "2023 NOLA Motorsports Park GT4 America Race 1". 29 April 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  22. ↑ "2023 NOLA Motorsports Park TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School Race 1 - Final". 29 April 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  23. ↑ "2015 Pro Mazda Winterfest - NOLA Motorsports Park Unofficial Lap Report Race 1" (PDF). 19 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  24. ↑ "2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda - Provisional Race Report - Round 3" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). 11 April 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "2015 USF2000 Winterfest - NOLA Motorsports Park Unofficial Lap Report Race 1" (PDF). 19 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  26. ↑ "2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama - Official Race Report - Round 3" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). 12 April 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  27. ↑ "MX-5 Cup: Copeland claims NOLA win". 11 April 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
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