25 years ago our local speedway (Cajon Speedway, El Cajon, CA) was
shutdown for noise. A local politician didn't like the Saturday night
noise from the open exhaust stock cars. He lived about 5 miles from the
track.
The racers left that track and moved to a dirt track 20 miles south for
a couple seasons. But, they didn't like the dirt and finally worked a
deal to return to the paved Cajon Speedway if they ran mufflers and
adhered to a strict db reading.
They still run at Cajon Speedway, with mufflers and db restrictions; lap
and race records are much faster than back when.........
10-12 years ago the autocrossers of San Diego faced the loss of their
lot at Jack Murphy Stadium (now Qualcom) if we didn't do something about
the noise. Those of you that know our facility know that it is one of
the best in the country. Fast, long, exciting and challenging courses
are possible, with plenty of parking for the pit area. If you can
imagine freeway speeds, for 90+ seconds, on and off camber turns on a
gently sloping asphalt parking lot; it sure beats the local school or
business/shopping center parking lot.
I can't remember exactly when I wrote them, but our noise rules have
been in place at least 10-12 years. The rules have been refined, but
the effort remains the same; KEEP THE FACILITY and ENJOY THE SPORT. To
my knowledge, we have had only one competitor refuse to comply with our
rules; and unfortunately he doesn't attend our events. Lately, we draw
150 to 300 entrants.
Several years ago I drove from San Diego to Roswell, NM for a Divisional
(1000 miles each way). The noise rule there was that we couldn't start
until 11am on Sunday because of residents attending church. Noise rules
exist, we need to deal with them.
For that reason I'm inclined to agree with Phil, lets get a national
standard. Local sups can change the limit to support local entrants who
don't/won't comply with the national standard.
Jim
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