Road Hazzards Are Part of the Course at 'The Quarry'
By Johnny McDonald

Trucks take flight at the Chula Vista international Raceway.Photo by John Jones

Off-road impresario Jim Baldwin calls his new Chula Vista International Raceway, "The Quarry."

After all, that's what this hole in the ground near Coor's Amphitheater really is.

Ramona's Scott Greer will attest to that since he was foreman of a 12-man Sukut Construction crew that had to break up concrete and metal before shaping a demanding mile obstacle course with nine pieces of equipment.

"Aside from work on a Hyundai test track in California City, this is the first time we've done anything like this," said Greer. "It was a three-month job, starting on Jan. 17, to get everything ready for the June races. And, those were eight- to 12-hour days to meet a deadline."

Drivers from the popular Championship Off-Road Racers circuit will be back Sept. 23-24 to entertain an expected crowd of 11,000.

About 150,000 cubic yards of material close to the weigh station were used for the track, parking and pit areas. Then they went two miles to the old race track for a two- to three-foot layer of clay topping.

Nothing new for Greer's big company that lays claim to moving a billion cubic yards of California dirt.

In addition to the traditional jumps, ruts and berms of a closed-circuit, off-road course, The Quarry features some major elevation changes with almost all points of the course visible from the grandstand.

"This was completely foreign to us," he said. "We got a set of plans and the engineers gave us four stakes. Normally, we would get 100 to 200. It was like sculpting.

In a prior interview, Baldwin, who owns the CORR series as well as the track, said it could become home for everything from a national motocross race to a recreational off-road facility. Other uses could include use as a practice facility for regional law enforcement agencies and home for street-legal drag racing and sports car slalom events.

"The topographic changes and the views of the trucks running against the backdrop of the quarry walls gives it a special feel. What we eventually see is this being an upscale motorsports facility operating at least five days a week," says Baldwin.