drifting at altamont? oh yes

[Andrew Bohan]

i went out to altamont today to take pics and support our cause

bob evans from evans racing brought out todd ho's ls1 fc and a 5.0 cobra race car, calvin wan was there with an SR 240, and joe and pete brought out their KA 240's, all in the name of sound level testing.

roger, mike, joe, and pete
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo001.jpg

everyone's favorite neighbor
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo002.jpg

cool equipment they were using
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo003.jpg

bob telling the country dude what's up.
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo004.jpg

joe
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo005.jpg

pete
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo006.jpg

calvin drivin jay lapid's daily
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo007.jpg

bob brought todd's car
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo008.jpg

and a cobra
http://www.abmotorsports.com/sounddemo/sdemo009.jpg

the guy said todd's car read 88.9db at the fence, which is 6.1db below the limit of 95db

high sixes all around today.

[deadpirate]

kick ass !!!!

+1 for the drifters/drivers who need altamont

[projekt_s13]

Glad to see they are still fighting to get drifting back at altamont.

[yarou]

Yeah, glad to see the fight going strong

[M4Rl0N]

That is the best new's i've heard in a while.
this made my day........:)

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

Sorry guys, posted another thread like this in motorsports.

[!Zar!]

This thread is missing me.

Glad things are looking better. If this works out I'm rebuilding my s14 just for altamont.

[Okinawandrifter87]

No way!! Awesome!!! I really hope we get it back!! keep up the good work guys and ill def be looking for updates on this!

[na3j nitsuj]

cant definitely wait!

[origin_s135]

oh my god, i never had a chance to goto altamont. like zar said, if this works out, time to start spending money on my car again. :)

[azndoc]

Congrats.

Good luck with everything. I hope you guys are able to get back to drifting there.

[vvtisupra]

that track was fun for grip when i did the lemons. IF they open it up for drifting I might have to take the 6 hour drive up there.

[KA-Turbo?]

awesome guys glad to see you guys are fighting for the right to slide, cant wait till were allowed out again.

[JeremyR]

yesssss this news made my night! :D

[brewster240]

wait wait wait

thats thier "dream house" that drifting was ruining?

the odd building with the cargo container and the giant storage tank next to it?

[Andrew Bohan]

yep

it looks like a big pile of scrap metal

[Okinawandrifter87]

Haha wow... i see our ideal dream houses with white picket fences have changed some apparently lol

[vvtisupra]

Meh I wouldn;t mind an F650 with a trailer as a car hauler as part of my dream home though !

[JKim0901]

hahaha dream home, what a joke

[blitzkrgCT9A]

awesome news!!! Thanks!

[YoungGun]

Can you guys bring others up to speed with what happened to Altamont?

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

I can try when I get out of class.

[!Zar!]

Damn straight you better try. haha.

[Andrew Bohan]

do or do not. there is no try

QFT



1029384756

[downshift_sideways]

Good progress. Baby steps at the time, but its a movement! YES!

[Shift_180]

holy shit its coming back.... i cant freaking believe it....

finally an excuse to get new turbos and injectors for my Z32

if this come back then count me in!!!

[Okinawandrifter87]

Werd mtfmsglngth

[tknbkthrsdy4anfg]

Well the gist of what I got from talking to John Condren (the guy that owns the track) Al Lagura, and a few other folks is that the track has been there since the 60's. They had a big Rolling Stones concert there and Hells Angels ran security and I guess people died. Anyways, the Rivards bought the land next to the track several years ago when the track was run down shape, but still holding events. The Rivards built a professional motocross track on their property dubbed "R Speed" from the pictures I've seen. They held more then one public event there until somebody got hurt and sued the Rivards. So they closed their property and only let friends ride on the property and again someone got hurt and sued them so they closed the property to themselves for a private motocross venue. In the mean time Altamont Motorsports Park came up for sale from the previous owners. The parcel was offered to Mark Rivard as well as John Condren and others.
From what John told me Mark offered pennies on the dollar for the property, probably to tear it down and expand his moto empire, and John Condren simply offered more and bought the parcel.
This is when everything began. Because Altamont's use permit from Alameda county does NOT specifically state "Drifting" because it was written in 1996, when drifting was just emerging in the US, that is the Rivards (and the community for a better Altamont) only way in. The use permit expired in 2006 and they are allowed to continue use because they are making an effort to renew their use permit. Since it doesn't specifically state drifting that is the only way the neighbors can try to get this track shut down. The Rivards specifically have made numerous threats and erroneous claims about the track. Including but not limited to "Riots in the grandstands" when everything was going good. "Explosions and Fires in the paddock" again when nothing was going wrong. Mike, the track manager has even said that Mark Rivard has driven on to the property with a loaded handgun sitting in plain view on the passenger seat of his truck, well exceeding the speed limit posted and barrelling past security checkpoints. Mark is also quoted to have said "I have a nice view of you through my scope."
The current state of affairs is that the Rivards have random people who have nothing to do with the situation, but are well spoken come to county board meetings spouting off erroneous accounts of drifting causing hearing loss, tire smoke being bad for your health, and that drifters are gang members and drug users. It was really painful to go to the country board meetings when people just tell blatant lies, and you have to sit their quietly and wait your turn.
Now this isn't to say the Altamont is holier-then-thou in the matter. From what I gather the expansions to the track including the X and the bunny ear were done without a permit as well as adding the large light towers to the track. However those shouldn't have any weight on the matter. They also according to Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Scott Hagerty lied to the county about holding events after the drifting ban was in place calling them "auto-x" events.
Regardless of how the past actions have unfolded, the current fact on the matter is that Altamont is preparing an environmental impact report on the track and (I guess) is using to to renew their use permit to include drifting. The demo we did was to gather sound data for this report. From what Mike said Altamont has lost approximately $50,000 in revenue this year from this drifting ban as well as businesses like SDP going out of business. If the drifting ban is lifted Altamont plans to have plenty of events, including D1.

Thats about all I know, anyone care to edit or add?

[YoungGun]

Awesome thanks for bringing us up to speed. Hope you guys up North get the track back.

[downshift_sideways]

I was coming back from sac today, and decided to stop by, and show my lady around and tell her all the BS going on @ the track. Saw Mr. Rivard coming out his front gate...And fuck that house still looks like a piece. ...God I hate that onramp...

[vvtisupra]

don't quote me on this but if drifters are a bunch of gang members and drug dealers.... isn't it a good thing that we are sticking to the track and not on the street shooting people and selling drugs ?

[Andrew Bohan]

no, they think that we are shooting people and dealing drugs wherever we go, so it's better to do it in east oakland where we all live, instead of in their neighborhood

[vvtisupra]

sick !!! maybe we can get a job as stunt people then. Since we're soo good at shooting guns and driving cars sideways..... or drive sideways while shooting guns!!! New sport ! We'll be backed by the NRA and NASCAR