by RichD » Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:07 am
Thanks for posting those pictures! I used to watch the modifieds at Thompson in the '60s and I did get to a sports car race when the road course was separate from the oval. Some time around 1968 the road course was connected to the oval, but not all of the old road course was used. I went to one race at that track in 1972 I believe. Cars on the road course entered the oval just before the 1st turn and went backwards down the front straight and around the 25° banked 4th and 3rd turns and down the back straight about 2/3rds of the way before turning left onto the old road course. If you were sitting in the oval track grandstand that was all you could see. Since cars entered the oval where the banking already started a car that swung wide could get airborne. I managed to snap a picture of a flying car with my Instamatic just before it landed in the infield.
The new track incorporates the oval but the cars do not run on the banking I am told, they use a new flat section on the inside of the 3rd and 4th turns.
One of the guys in my club belongs to a Porsche club, he is an instructor and a racer and he has run on the new Thompson track a number of times.