Super oval large scale automotive venue

Abstract

A racing facility is arranged to accommodate various types of automotive racing, including Indy, CART, Formula 1 cars etc., and is disclosed to include a super oval or complex oval arrangement of racing surface in at least two loops of racing surface each looping about a common central area, and connecting to one another at an overpass feature. The racing facility of the present invention is a continuous closed circuit speedway with at least two loops which loop about a common center area and with speedway passing over itself at least once at a crossing which is not of a common grade level, such as an overpass, underpass or bridge, and so that the speedway does not have a crossing at a common or the same level, to thus allow a vehicle making an entire circuit of the speedway the option of only making turns in one direction and not passing over any portion of the racing surface more than once is a single complete circuit or lap of the racing surface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a Continuation-in-Part of my earlier application Ser. No. 10 / 190,047, filed 3 Jul. 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. ______ issued ______ 2008, and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference to the extend necessary for a full, complete, and enabling disclosure of the present invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a large scale, super oval automotive venue. Alternatively, the super oval configuration of this automotive venue may be considered a complex oval, as the racing surface is disposed in plural loops with at least two of the loops looping about a respective common central area. At least two circuits about the common central area are required to complete a lap of the complex oval, however, which is in contrast to a conventional oval configuration for an automotive venue. More particularly, the present invention relates to a racing facility for automotive vehicles such as autom...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a large scale automotive venue that allows various types of automotive vehicles to compete on the same surface. The venue has a unique design that allows for controlled speed and prevents drivers from experiencing excessive G-forces. Additionally, the venue can be easily installed on existing speedways within existing land use constraints. The venue includes an exterior and interior loop of racing surface that allows for a continuous movement of the vehicles without touching the surface more than once before passing the starting point again."

Problems solved by technology

However, the Suzuka Circuit is a very land-intensive automotive venue, occupying a great number of acres of land.

But, such is not the case in general throughout the world.

Most US speedways have no opportunity to grow their land us outside of presently existing confines, because of developments immediately outside the existing property lines.

Given the fact that sponsors, fans and contracts with broadcast outlets are limited the more fractured the sport becomes the less it will be able to accumulate and sustain the concentration of money and fans necessary for the sport to survive and thrive.

However, this fact in itself causes problems in that on some speedways, in particular oval ones.

Additionally, G-suits used by fighter pilots are useless in a racing car since a pilot only experiences an up and down force while that experienced by a racing car driver also to the side, lateral.

The situation become so bad that on Apr. 29, 2001 the President of the CART had to cancel a race, the Firestone Fire hawk 600, scheduled at the Texas Motor Speedway.

During trials the drivers were experiencing excessive G forces in the turns and there was a fear that in the drivers attempts to perform at maximum possible speeds some of the drivers might black out with catastrophic consequences.

Although street courses can be set up to inhibit the speed at which CART autos run at they usually provide a spectator only a limited view of the race unlike an oval speedway which usually allows a spectator a view of substantially most of the race.

Additionally, street courses lack the efficiency and crowd control features of an oval speedway.

However, one of the limitations of an oval speedway are the limited design options for IRL and NASCAR racing autos which are designed to turn in one direction during a race, to the left.

Given present design techniques available for oval auto racecourses and the need to limit turns to one direction around the entire course the options available for IRL type of speedways are severely limited.

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