The Arc

[xlr8r]

I started this track many months ago. After a long time building the oval, I got tired of the track. Only recently did I decide to finish the rest of it.

There are three possible layouts.

1.5 mile egg shaped oval, turns banked 20'.

2 mile infield road course.

2.2 mile combined course using turns 3 and 4 of oval.

I designed the track with these layouts so that it could host any form of motorsports including, NASCAR, ALMS, Grad Am, IRL, Atlantics, Bikes, track days, and testing.
the road course is very basic and similar to the homestead road course. It really is designed to fit as many straights and overtaking places as possible within the confines of the oval. There are two pit lanes, one for the road course and one for the oval and combined course. The oval pit lane can be used as the front straignt for the road course.

The oval is based off of Darlington Raceway with its egg shape. The corners are slightly parabolic in shape with a larger radius at the entrance and exits of the turns.

Overall this was a big project that took a long time to complete.

As always comments and criticisms are welcome

[Stig]

Not a single complaint. I really like the infield course (both by itself and when combined with the oval), and the graphics are excellent. All the hard work was certainly worth it!!

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Really nice, lots of work has clearly gone into this.

The only negative comments, would be regarding two walls, extending a gravel trap and adding a new one.

I'll add a diagram later to explain the changes I'd make.

[S.Moss]

reminds me lots of the oval Phoenix

[LuiggiSpeed]

Best graphics I've seen in a long time.Beautiful concept of how to integrate a NASCAR oval with a serious road course.

The course itself has a little bit of a stop and go nature and a little too little run-off at the second to last left hander, coming from quite a long straight,but being a slow speed corner, it may only matter in case of a mechanical failure or a collision between racers.Looks to me like good racing would take place here,lots of passing oportunities, brakes and cojones will be tested at full in this course.

Only thing I don't quite understand is that wall in the middle of the main straight and the confusion it may cause to racers hugging the corner and looking for the best line, they will face a spearhead,which may be lethal and it's not allowed in race courses (or so I understand) You need to do something there.



Please forgive me if I have misunderstood anything!!!

[xlr8r]

Luggispeed, hopefully I can clear some things up for you.

This picture should explain things better. In sketchup I only included permanent walls and barriers. But a multipurpose oval does use lots of temporary barriers.

The top part of the picture shows the oval stright being used as the road course straight, and the oval pit lane used for the road course pitlane. The combined course using turns 3 and 4 of the oval would use this first turn layout. This layout for the last turn out of the road course would rarely be used if ever.

The lower part of the picture shows the oval pitlane being used as the road course front staight. This is the layout that would be used the most for the road course. Black lines show the track edges roughly and white lines show temporary walls that would need to be in place for such courses.

Also for just oval use, temporary barriers would need to be located accross the first and final corners plus the backstretch chicane for safety reasons.

I designed the track this way so that different combinations of front staight and pit lane can be used for different series. Similar to Indianapolis and Homestead.

Also because of the multiple course layout not all things are perfect. Ideally I would want the oval pit wall not to jut out that far. But NASCAR needs a pitlane that is that long and wide.

Hopefully things are a bit clearer now.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

OK here's the graphic I mentioned.

The two walls in question are

1, the wall nearest the back paddock, I've moved it closer to the paddock in order to extent the gravel trap along the straight a bit, as the wall was perhaps a bit close with only grass.

2, THe wall exiting onto the infield straight that runs parallel(ish) with the oval's back straight. I've taken away the infield circuit's own wall and placed as new gravel trap with the Oval's wall marking the outside of the track. As T1 and T2 of the oval aren't being used, a temporary flag stand on the oval side of the wall could be used.
As the infield circuit nears the chicane onto the oval, I've put in a (poorly drawn) "tear drop" shape to provide another flag point prior to the chicane.

Beyond the chicane I've increased the gravel trap a little, but also squared up the wall, what isn't clear is that I've tried to curve the wall away from the direction of the oval rather than the original "pointing at on-coming cars on the oval.

[LuiggiSpeed]

Ok I see you point xlr8r



What I'd do looking from a safety standpoint it's use the movable walls in a little different way, so that I don't create a spearhead.Remember racers make mistakes and things happen, so you don't want to have even the option of a full frontal crash against a pointed wall for whatever reason,showed in option A.

Option B will be better but with little or no runoff.

Option C will put the pit lane wall angled inwards, away from a frontal impact and will also have the added benefit of presenting a wide open track out of the turn,giving racers infinite of possibilities of line choice and allowing a good drive to the next straight (I'm salivating at this point!!!), improving not only safety but racing as well.

Hope you don't find my comments too annoying as the rest of the track is superb and I would race it in withoug giving it a second thought.

[xlr8r]

Good point LuiggiSpeed. Maybe the walls could be movable at both the entrance and exit of the NASCAR pits as in option C to create a wider racing line into the first corner and out of the final corner. Though I think option B could be used as well. Series that use just the road course would probably use the F1 style pit road not the NASCAR pit road. The combined course would use option A for turn 1 and the oval layout for the final turn.

ScotsBrutesFan, your points are valid. I just feel there is enough runoff as is. Infield courses tend to be tighter and more like street courses with walls closer to the track than normal road circuits. I might make some of your suggested changes in the future.

Like I said earlier compromises have to be made with infield courses and ovals. Neither circuit is going to work perfectly.

[Purist]

The only thing I would do is just let the course run out after the left-hand hairpin in the infield. That would bring the road racers out onto the oval backstraight, instead of having that fairly short straight and then a chicane. It shouldn't be a real problem, as what I'm talking about is basically the same set-up as what you see on the Homestead "roval".

[Matt]

Don't touch anything on the oval pit wall. Nearly EVERY oval has a wall like that, and there's a simple means to avoid injury if you hit it. It's called water barrels, placed in front of the abutment. Revolutionary idea, ain't it!

[xlr8r]

Thanks for backing me up Matt. It seems that some people that don't see NASCAR or Indycar races or don't understand oval layouts.

If you look at other ovals with road courses such as Homestead, Daytona, Indy, New Hampshire, California, etc.. my track is no worse, but in many ways better safety wise.

I still might make some alterations to the track but some walls can't be moved because they would compromise safety on the oval.

Purist, I specifically don't have the track do that to make it different from Homestead. Homestead imo has the ideal infield road course layout. I tried to make this circuit somewhat different but it still ended up being very similar to Homestead.

[TilkeWannabe]

It's a great roval xlr8r. Good job.

[Yannick]

I'd say this is clearly the best roval type of track design that I've seen on here during my stay on this board. Once the final corner issue is worked out, let's race ! :-)

[Matt]

There is NO ISSUE with the last corner.

[xlr8r]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I am making a few tweaks to the circuit that should improve the runoff and final turn issues that some of you have. It should be posted in a day or so.

I've spent a lot of time on this track so I want it to be as perfect as possible.

[xlr8r]

Here is the much delayed update to The American Arc.

Fiirst I added some curbing and grass around the ends of the pits to separate the pits from the track more. I then modified the current road course a bit and then added a new infield course with its own pits. This circuit could be used for clubs, testing, and track days. I also extended the runoff a bit in a few of the turns. Finally I added flagstands and a video screen to the scoring pylon.

I am still thinking about possible improvements so keep the comments coming.