History
Built in 1969 - 1970, Summit Point Motorsports Park (née "Summit Point Raceway"), opened in 1970 as a professional racing venue.
The first races held there were IMSA International Sedans, later to become The Radial Tire Series, and IMSA Pro Formula Ford. The event was held on Memorial Day, 30/5/1970. The holiday was still celebrated on the 30th back then. Rasey Feezell won in an Alfa Romeo 4-door sedan, whose modifications were very questionable, taking home the grand sum of $200 prize money. Five of the eleven entrants were from Raleigh, North Carolina.
During its early years SCCA held numerous events at the track. Several Regional and National races were run each year. Many racers got their start in the popular SCCA Driver's Schools held there by the DC Region.
Paul Newman ran several of his early races there in a Bob Sharp-prepared Datsun 510 sedan. He wished to be just another "racer" and did not want to be recognized at racing events as a "superstar", so he and wife Joanne Woodward kept to themselves and eschewed signing autographs. Few realized they were racing in the company of famous actors. The only outward clue was the plate on his 510's front bumper... "PLN"
Over time the track was host to a number of professional races sanctioned by IMSA and the SCCA Trans-Am Series through the late 1980s.
Due to financial problems, the track was closed for a period in the late 1970s. It was subsequently purchased, and reopened, in the early 1980s by 1970 Formula Vee World Champion Bill Scott.
Racing resumed. In addition to races, the track and its environs became a training ground for various federal agencies and other security organizations.
Two additional road courses, "Jefferson" and "Shenandoah", were constructed on the property in 1996 and 2004, respectively. Jefferson is mostly used for training purposes, Friday-At-The-Track (FATT) events, and various drifting and driving events. Shenandoah is used for similar reasons. To date, the only actually "series" to use the Shenandoah circuit include the Bill Scott Formula Series (run by the FRCCA) and the Woodbridge Kart Club (WKC), which are normally run simultaneously.
An additional course, the Washington Circuit, opened in Spring 2009. It is a "triple skid pad" focused on autocross and driver training. Since its inception, it has been fitted as a sprint kart track, hosting events by Summit Point Kart and by the Maryland Sprint Divisional Series. SPK runs its own leagues for both juniors and adults. It is also popular for autocross as mentioned, and clubs such as the local BMW club have run their events there.
Read more about this topic: Summit Point Motorsports Park
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“It gives me the greatest pleasure to say, as I do from the bottom of my heart, that never in the history of the country, in any crisis and under any conditions, have our Jewish fellow citizens failed to live up to the highest standards of citizenship and patriotism.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)