Laguna Seca has been around since the late 1950s, making it over 50 years old which is the minimum for a site to be considered historic. These houses are FAR newer. IMO the track should be deemed a historic site and the idiots who bought houses next to a RACE TRACK and have a problem with the noise told to pound sand or buy earplugs.

If you don't want to hear racecars, don't buy a house next to a racetrack. People are dumb as hell.

Man, here in Chile, we had the Codegua International Speedway built not too long ago, it was in the middle of nowhere and since it was kind of a hassle to get there from the capital where most people live, a small town was settle close to the track, who complained about noise and had it closed, it's a story that will repeat as long as there's people who don't think ahead. (Thankfully it was reopened some time later)

Watching you guys make this video has brought me so much joy. As a former employee at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, I have tears in my eyes because this track makes dreams come true.

That one lady said it perfectly, imagine moving somewhere near a racetrack - knowing it's a racetrack - and then complaining about about it and trying to get it shut down. Real smooth brain stuff.

I lived 2 blocks from the IMS for 2/3 of my life. These people can cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.

There was a dirt circle track in my hometown that had been there for many decades, not sure how long, but I was going there as a kid in the 90s. It was built in a very rural part of California, near Santa Maria. Very little homes, mostly ranchers and farmers. Around 2012, a developer built a couple dozen homes DIRECTLY next to the track. Eventually, the HOA and others sued this local track for noise complaints. In 2021, the track shut down indefinitely due to the ongoing legal issues. I'm sure they just ran out of money fighting it. Wasn't a fancy track, just your usual stock cars running around, snacks for a dollar, tickets for like $5, kids enter free, that kind of place.

This is probably one of the most important and sobering vids yall have done. Despite many others covering this, what you add to the end about protecting tracks, and adding your own story to the legacy, this is what car culture is about. Perfect

The track was there before the houses!

😂 the cars driving by are louder than the race track! 😂

Same thing happened to brands hatch in the uk, council gave permission to build a housing estate next to a race track, then started enforcing noise limits and curfews on them!

I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada and we had an iconic race track maybe an hour from the city called the Autodrome Saint-Eustache. It’s been there since 1965 and was owned and run by the same family until its closure. Was a race track that became popular overtime and started hosting the only Formula Drift events in Canada. Once that was done the residents who lived near the track complained about the noise, traffic, racing, etc. and ended up shutting its doors in 2019 because of these complaints. I often drive by it when I’m in the area and still see the huge track signs leading up to the entrance then see that it’s a land development now. I’m hoping this won’t happen to a track as iconic as Laguna Seca. 🥺

when the somber music comes in and Jer hits us with "when i was a kid, my favorite track when playing Gran Turismo, was Leguna Seca." MAN that hit home. 100% didnt expect tears this vid

In most cases when you buy a house next to a race track, military base, rock quarry, whatever…you have to sign a noise waiver. So why the complaints now?

There is a local track by me Kalamazoo speedway that's been around since the early 60's and they had to fight with the same crap with people who moved in to houses that were built way later.

I live near Laguna Seca and my family and I have loved going there for indycar recently. Biggest annoyance is the added traffic, but it's already bad in Monterey during school season, beach season, then car week season. Just the reality of living in a beautiful coastal area with prominent car culture. Noise is only an issue if you live in the surrounding neighborhoods but dissipates quickly as you go farther. I don't think this lawsuit is supported by many monterey bay residents.

Very needed video, glad to see Donut calling out frivolous lawsuits. As a general aviation enthusiast, small GA airports are being hurt by the same people.

You should file an amicus brief in support of the defendants (Leguna Seca). Honest,y, the decibel readings is pretty persuasive evidence that the plaintiffs are full of crap.

Same story in the UK. People buying houses near race tracks are even told "don't worry, it will close soon".

The Air Force Academy in Colorado has a similar problem. Amazingly people bought houses at the end of a runway. Then complained that planes were flying over their high dollar homes.

They did this exact thing to Bandimere Speedway in Colorado. No one had issues with the speed way that had been there for DECADES until people started building houses on the other side of the mountain and complaining about noise, knowing it's been there well before they moved in. Now the Speedway is shut down, and being demolished and forced to move out East by the Airport.

I'm so glad you guys tackled this topic because, let's face it, this lawsuit is bullsh*t...

Great video, in 1985 I won the 125 pro class at the CMC motocross race at Laguna Seca. A few years ago I took my daughter to a mountain bike race there and after a good google search, I was able to find the remnants of the old moto track. The start pad was still there and you could see the outline, berms and jumps under the brush and grass. So that was cool for me. I even found the old Cycle News article. If my memory serves me correct, Factory Honda’s Johnny O’Mara won the 250 pro class that day. Ironically I won the 125 class with 4-3 moto scores, not ideal but it was my first professional motocross win. This video makes me now want to go back and do a track day so I can experience the legendary auto racing circuit. Thanks for doing this video guys.

Same here in Colorado, Bandimere speedway was shut down because of noise complaints from newly built houses. Track was built in 1958.

In the UK a person bought a house near Mallory Park and then complained about the noise. They had an ulterior motive in that they wanted to buy the land and build on it. Fortunately the track is still going. Believe it or not there have been cases of people moving out of large cities to the country and then complaining about the smells, noise of cows and even church clocks striking the hour.

our small local track had these issues this past summer. basically, there was a land dispute between the land the track was on and a neighbor and suddenly it meant that the track was too loud. then the neighbor was caught driving up and down the road on his ATV trying to skew the sound readings, when the track hired a company to come in to take readings at all of the neighbor's homes.

I camped there, the rifle range woke me up at 8:00 am sharp every morning. Those people filing lawsuits need to get over it or move, that track is so historic it would be a huge shame if the track closed because of a bunch of HOA Karens

Same thing happend a few years ago after developers built condos in downtown Monterey right next to a favored nightspot where local bands played at for years, and then they sued them over the noise to the point where they no longer had live music. "Saucito Land Company, which owns the adjacent building, sued Bull & Bear on June 1, 2017, arguing the noisy venue was making Saucito’s residential tenants unhappy and depriving the company of rent." I grew up in Monterey in the 60s, wrenched in several auto repair shops in the 70s and used to go to the La Guna Seca races every summer. I moved away in the 80s, returned in the 2010s and one of the first things I did was go to a few La Guna Seca races. In the 70s during the annual La Guna Seca historic car races week, Monterey came alive with the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance going on and the masses of historic cars and car buffs everywhere. Those two events birthed what now has grown to become, in the last 45 years, a massive publicity production featuring thousands of vintage and rare cars, car shows, vintage and expensive car auctions, car related events and night life, including numerous street car shows and street festivals in the neighboring cities of Seaside, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Marina, Carmel, Carmel Valley and Salinas. Thousands and thousands of tourists and car owners come to Monterey for what now takes a month to put together, enjoy and then dismantle. In the 1990s La Guna Seca hosted several summer concerts including Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, G. Love & Special Sauce, Joan Osborne, Leftover Salmon, Ratdog, Wavy Gravy, Wilco, Bob Dylan, George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, The Black Crowes, Dick Dale, Indigo Girls, Widespread Panic, Gin Blossoms, Phish, The Freddy Jones Band, 4 Non Blondes, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Meat Puppets, The Mother Hips, Blues Traveler, Shawn Colvin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Jeff Healey Band, 10, 000 Maniacs, The Samples and Wailing Souls. Monterey should not bite the hand that feeds them.

the closest house to Laguna Seca is 612 Belavida Rd. and it is 2378ft away or about half a mile from the track. Assuming 0 wind and 0 obstacles (theres plenty of obstacles, like hills and trees, so on) that 100db at the track would equate to about 40db on their lawn. That's literally the same as a refrigerator running. Inside their house it would be practically impossible to detect. Also the home was literally built in 2002. Meaning nobody inhabited that space until 45 years after people have been racing at that track.

Nothing would soothe my soul more than a drink/joint while sitting on my porch and listening to engines roar. I would love a house close to a track 😂

Love Laguna race track. I was part of a Porsche race team in CA around 2000. G.A.S. and in the POC. Once at Laguna we had to add mufflers for sound ordinance. They had people at different corners of the track so everyone lifted at those points. It was a mad dash to parts store to fab mufflers to the cars. In velocity magazine the centerfold was pics of about 12 or so cars with all these weird exhaust mufflers pointing up and to the left so sound would go inwards of the track- Good times indeed.

The problem with racetracks closing is that it promotes street racing, which, in my opinion, is more annoying and dangerous...

I’ve lived next to an airport for over 20 years. When a plane flys over, guests will ask me how I deal with it. I always ask, deal with what? I don’t even notice it because you get so used to it. Edit: I completely forgot to add that i also live next to a major highway AND I hear train horns in the distance because I’m near tracks. Goes to show you get used to this stuff.

I've been going to at least 1 event a year at Laguna for decades. It's a great time to enjoy with friends. I really hope the suit gets squashed. I think they do a good job of managing the noise levels for the smaller events. Big events the series (IMSA, Indycar, TransAm, etc.) have existing regs around how loud the cars can be, since they have to fit in all over the country/world.

The Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, IL closed in 2023 & sold off to be redeveloped as a commercial zone. The track was built in 1947 and was/is a 1/4 mile oval track with 22° of banking. The track surface was about as smooth as the surface of the moon, but it was FAST. As of the day I'm typing this out, the reception hall next door & 90% or so of the tracks facilities have all been torn down & destroyed, leaving only the track itself behind for however long it'll be before they get started on breaking down the concrete. It really hurts to see and experience your local raceway being demolished without so much as a sliver of hope that it will be saved. The sale of the land was done soon after the death of the track owner Jody Deery and was subtlety and privately sold to a developer. The sale was only made public once the deal had been finalized, offering zero chance for the racetrack's fate to be changed. Having lived 15 minutes from the track almost my entire life, the sound of late model stock cars racing on Sunday afternoons and practicing on Saturdays will be forever missed. Not to mention the trailer races, figure 8 races, and spectator drags to name a few.

I worked at an industrial facility that had a neighborhood butted up against it. The neighborhood was built after the facility, and they'd complain all the time about noise and anything that they considered a nuisance. My thinking every time I'd hear about them complaining was, "Why did they move in right next to this place? What did they expect?" It seems like sometimes people move places specifically to have something to complain about. Some people just have nothing better to do.

I guess trees along the edges of the race track closest to the houses would be the best solution. They'll block out most of the sound, and be the cheapest option. Also, Laguna Seca might be able to call it 'Carbon Offsetting'.

This is video is so well done, from content to presentation! It’s the best Donut video I’ve seen in a while. Kudos to the team.. keep up the great work!

I’m glad yall covered this topic. As a motorcycle track rider/racer, I’ve heard soo many stories about law suits with that track. Nice work donut

Now I want to see the Donut Team trying out different race tracks in the US and maybe have new hi-lo made exactly for that purpose

That ending hit hard. I grew up going to my local track El Cajon Speedway watching the Saturday night guys and the destruction derbies after. Then as I got a little older I got to race on it with my local karting club right before it closed. Now it's just an empty lot next to the airport. They didn't even develop it despite all the whining about housing or expanding the airport. Such a damn shame.

I just found out there was a dirt circle track a few miles from my house. Being in Florida, it was one that had races promoted by Bill France Sr. with Fireball Roberts being a regular. A few days before that, i found out that the county dump was previously used as a drag strip. 60 years ago, when all of this existed, these areas would have been the middle of nowhere with sporadic houses, citrus groves, and pastures, yet racetracks everywhere.

Here in Madrid, Spain, que have exactly the same situation with Jarama circuit, a track dating back to 1967, corner names include Nuvolari, Fangio,Le mans,Farina, Ascari, Bugatti, Monza and Maria de Villota, so you can tell the circuit has some history.

I built my house next to a nuclear waste dump and I am now suing the city because my dog has two tails.

The same thing is happening in Portugal with the Estoril circuit.. noise complaints from people that bought the house years after the circuit was built

Y’all’s past gas commercial was the best thing ever

Tracks here in the UK have been strangled by noise issues for years!! Like this case it is more often than not people who moved to the area well after the tracks started operating causing the issues.

Thank you for mentioning palm Beach international raceway. It used to be my local track and was heart breaking when it closed down. Was an awesome spot that used to be in the middle of nowhere, until wealthy people moved near it in new houses

This reminds me of a lawsuit back in the 90's where I lived at the time (Laguna Hills). The county at the time had been planning for years to put in a bypass (what became highway 73). It was funny to see all these homes spring up, with a wide swath of land go undeveloped. We knew even back then, that a freeway was coming, and any original home owner (my parents included) were warned that a free was coming. Yet, when the day finally came, of course thousands of home owners tried to sue to stop it. The judge basically told them all (rightfully) to go get bent.

Just recently, my local dirt track (Boyd's Speedway in Ringgold, GA, which has been in operation since 1952) just closed and suspended the 2023 racing season, in 2018 the city of Cleveland, TN, shut down Cleveland Speedway and there's nothing left of the track today (most of the grandstands and stuff went up the road to the newly reopened Mountain View Speedway in Spring City, TN) and the closest track to me for dirt racing is North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth. At one time Ringgold had 2 drag strips, Brainerd Motorsports Park is stil running, whereas Drag City is abondoned after people complained about the noise and of course, the neighbors won.

From what I heard here on Brazil. The last phase of Ultimate Drift was going to be hosted in an abandoned football camp in the middle of the city, which was going to be restaured by the event and used furthermore for other stuff (maybe football itself). But they gave up when someone from the government stopped the repairs because it "weren't bring repaired for the correct reason that was built at first place". They hosted the event on the airport near, but the camp still abandoned for more than 7 years.

I lived about 5 miles as the crow flies to the west of LS from 2013-2015 (basically on the coast in Seaside). Some heavy fog mornings, you could hear the cars on track from my backyard. Personally, that just made me excited. It was an extra treat I didn't expect when I moved there. 500 miles later on that track, I can say it was everything I ever wanted it to be. This was a case where it was great to "meet" my hero.

As someone who lives in Monterey and loves going to Laguna Seca, this is such hogwash. The people who live in the first neighborhood Jeremiah went to are literally in the flight path of the airport here. ‘Plainers gon’ ’plain.

I recently bought a house near Pacific Raceways near Seattle. We knew we were buying very near an active race track. The only thing that bothers me is the NHRA NW Nationals. The top fuel and funny cars will make your heart skip a beat when they launch. Simple. We just use it as an excuse to take a little weekend trip out of town. In my case proximity to a race track was actually a selling point as I enjoy going to races and events. The first guy he talked to summed it up for me.

Grew up next to The Milwaukee Mile. Nothing but sweet memories of the sound of racing on those hot summer days...

Happened with Riverhead Raceway out here on Long Island a bunch of times. If you know where Riverhead is, it's basically as far as you can possibly get away from NYC without hitting the Hamptons. Up until the late 90's it was in the middle of nowhere but all of a sudden a land developer decided 100ft away from a track that had been there since 1951 was the best place to put new homes. Now if you've never been to a Modified race, those are some of the loudest cars you'll ever hear outside of a Top Fuel of Funny Car race. People of course complained that the track was too loud and when the HOA board was asked to point out their respective houses on an aerial photo, they couldn't find them. The defense said something along the lines of "Oh I'm sorry about that. This photo was taken in 1965. Tell me again when was your house built?". Now the only threat to the track is a scumbag developer that was foaming at the mouth for the elderly owners to pass away so he could build a strip mall. Thankfully it was sold to new owners before that could happen under the stipulation that it cannot be converted into anything outside the realm of being a race track.

Here in Phoenix AZ we are very fortunate to have Firebird (formally Wildhorse Pass, formerly formerly Firebird) sticking around. It has some incredibly fun tracks and is in a really convenient location. While most the courses are in a desperate need of a repave and maintenance, I have hopes the track will be able to return to it's former glory. It was the site of my first few track days, and countless number of events and memories. Plus it has 4 separate circuits and combining two of them, the longest track in Arizona which incorporates the drag strip as the main straight!

Thankfully Radford Racing school is keeping the dream alive here in Arizona and they just came out with a yearly track membership that’s pretty dang affordable in the scheme of things. We are fortunate for now

Thanks for this! I live in the Bay Area and love to take my motorcycle and cars every other month to Laguna, always a blast!

Same thing here in Oregon. Our only drift track in the PDX area, Parc ( Pats Acres) shut down. Someone new moved into the area knowing it was a go kart/drift & dirt bike track. Now they are shut down. Its a shame because some of us, including myself, are building a drift car with no track nearby. Now I have to travel 3+ hours to get seat time. Hoping it all gets worked out & motorsports becomes a respected category & keep it off the streets.

didn’t expect a donut video to almost make tears come to my eyes but i’ll take it. What a great video

Great investigative work boys. Please bring these educational videos back more often!

Amazing vid, and the short at the last part was flawless perfect way to end the vid

One of my favorite bars in New Orleans was this old neighborhood music venue and also had courtyard in the back. Some New Yorkers moved next door, complained to the city, and got their music liscense taken away. They've been fighting to get music back there for almost 10 years now

In New Zealand, one of my favourite tracks, Pukekohe just shut down. I have been fortunate enough to race at every track in New Zealand and I agree with your sentiment of getting out there and supporting your local tracks

In Madrid, Spain, we have the same problem with the Jarama circuit. It was built in 1967 and between the 90s and 00s they decided to build luxury homes around it. Now they complain about the noise and want to close it. In fact on the circuit, except on important race days, there are certain areas where it is prohibited to exceed certain decibels, so you have to lift the pedal.

Thanks for making this video! People really need to know about this, it's unbelievable.

Same type of lawsuite ended the international curitiba racetrack in Brazil. People moved too close to the track and started complaining about the noise. They ended up having to shut it down and sell the land to companies that wanted to build houses and building on top of it

Nazareth speedway was mentioned on here and I love that. It’s just about 45 minutes away from my house and in the back yard of my friends house. Used to be able to walk out to the track to take a look at the oval and the things that were left there after it was bought and shut down for Watkins glen. Andretti had driven that track a few times too from what I was told, he lives right up there. Most of the tracks in the area up here have been shut down or replaced for dirt tracks. Taking a trip out to see a buddy that lives out near salinas, gonna make a stop at seca

I live in Wetherill Park in Sydney Australia, the closest track to me is Eastern Creek Raceway and Western Sydney International Dragway(which are both next door to each other). The only times i hear any noise from the track (the Dragway not the racetrack specifically) is when the Top Fuel dragster's come out and even then you only hear the pass for a few seconds, heck the traffic on the main road here is louder than the dragsters but you can tell from the engine note that its the dragster and not a regular commuter car. Not only does the noise not bother me but it encourages me tu turn on the TV and watch the races live on the telly 😅

Thanks for covering this!!

Similar thing happened to Wakefield Park in NSW Australia. A new owner is thankfully getting to work with the neighbours and mitigate the noise (at great expense) to keep the track open. Frustrating situation

Up here in Oregon something similar-ish happened with the Cottage Grove Speedway. They built the speedway a long time ago right outside of town. Well, over time the town expanded and folks started building houses closer and closer to the speedway. Like 15 or so years ago a bunch of residents tried to sue to get the race track to close. The agreement they came to was that all racing had to be finished by 10pm. It's mind boggling though that folks would buy/build houses close enough to a race track to have complaints. Maybe don't move into the house if you don't want to deal with the noise?

The track closings almost brought a tear to my eye. Seeing my local track in memphis track close really bummed me out.

Adding more Trees can help with sound

the home owners should be sued. it should be illegal to build near race tracks

I just want to say, the promo for past gas was exquisite

really hits home hard because my favorite local track/motorsports park was just closed down and i never got a chance to lap it. Thankfully i was able to go to one of its last events (IFO). You will be missed Heartland Motorsports Park.

Same thing happened to my local track, Illiana Motor Speedway. Built in 1947 with nothing but farms around it. 50 years later the farmers sold their land to build houses. The people complained about the noise and won. The track closed in 2016. I'm happy to say I had a chance to drive on it for a few laps before it closed.

Same thing happened to Lions Drag strip off Alameda. People moved next to race track knowing race cars are loud... Then complained that race cars are loud.

For a Motorhead focused KZfaq channel, I keep getting surprised by your in-depth analyses of engineering, scientific, and legal issues. I’m very pleasantly surprised I found your channel. And honestly, I’m getting my “Top Gear” fix through you guys. Thanks a ton, A recent Subscriber.

Great video and I didn't expect to enjoy investigative journalism this much.

Wild Horse Pass in Chandler Az is not closed. It has been renamed to Firebird Motorsports Park.

I grew up in that neighborhood!!! It's a car lovers dream seeing all the super cars and project cars drive by on my way to school. I have the best memories watching races every weekend with my family. Everyone who lives there knows about super bike week because its the loudest but even then its just sounds like bees in the background. I wish I could have been there to meet Jerry walking around on my street.

6:55 Giuseppie gives off “Nah i’d win” vibes he definitely him

It’s sad to see good tracks closing, not too long ago my local dirt oval that I grew up racing on was closed because of residential development and the track ended up getting turned into a shopping center, definitely don’t take local tracks for granted because I’m seeing more and more of them get closed or sold in my local area. You don’t realize how many memories get made on the track until it’s not there anymore

Living near Laguna Seca right now, building a house near a racetrack gets you racetrack noises. Some of these houses were built in the late 60's early 70's well after the track was built. Just like living near an airport, which also exists there and sometimes has flights going over the racetrack. Or a US Army base that was active until the 90's. More annoying is the traffic that comes through clogging up Hwy 68, which happens basically every day but is worse on track days.

I live a mile down the road from Road America in WI and I love it. Without it there would be no income to the town. And it's the whole reason why I love cars in the first place.

What concise and well researched video. Good job Donut!

8:30. I hope they do a sound test of a full tilt race event. I imagine the hum of 20-40 cars doing laps together is probably a lot more noticable. But still infrequent

The FAA works with some regional airports to determine which homes are impacted by airplane noise associated with the airports, then provides funding to those airports to run programs that pay for eligible homeowners to install improved soundproofing and noise mitigation on their properties. One example is the Louisville Regional Airport Authority's "Quieter Home Program," which is completely funded by the FAA (shoutout to James's hometown). I think most people here would agree that the track is historic and was there first, so the complainants don't have much right to complain. But i think it would be great if organizations like the SCCA, ADRA, or even larger racing organizations like Arca, NASCAR, and Indycar would cooperate to establish funding to help both big and small tracks under threat in the US fund similar programs in their areas. Even if some of us don't think they should have to, helping people soundproof their homes/properties around tracks could be a great good-faith/good-neighbor program to help get ahead of complaints/lawsuits, drum up more support for the tracks, appease the most upset neighbors, and keep them from closing down. Showing some effort to help mitigate the problem (however small it is in reality) could give them a better chance at survival than outright resistance. It would surely give the track(s) more ground to stand on in court.

One of the most important Donut episodes I've seen in a while. My heart tears every time I hear about another track closure. And there have been a lot.

Wow, amazing production in this one.

Dude I’d kill to hear cars going around a track every day like that, living right next to a race track. Very needed and excellent video as well. That ending was also incredible.

Happens here in Australia as well. Oran park is now a housing estate. Sandown has been under threat for decades as it's in the middle of a suburb (was once in the middle of a paddock) Wakefield park has been temporarily closed and will hopefully reopen after some works

Happened to Pukekohe raceway in NZ just last year. Venue was owned by the horse club, and they couldnt use their horses while the cars were using it. So they shut it down last year to "focus on their horses". Track had been there since the 1960s and some true worldwide greats had learned to race there, such as Bruce Mclaren, Jim Clark etc.

That shooting range was great. Used to go all the way to 500 yards. Sadly, last time I went, it was limited to 100 yards. Last time I visited the track was for a Miata event (I don't own one but went with my friend who had).

11:35-13:36 made me tear up… very powerful message.. I can’t imagine how many people that were at the Sacramento Raceway Park my local track were so hurt for it to close down 😔 I live 10 min away and wish I went to it more 😢

Thank you for giving Palm Beach International a shoutout, I miss going to test n tunes at my local track every week

Same problem from South Africa 🇿🇦 - the iconic Kyalami is so underuse because of local business around the track…