If I were to ask you to name the most iconic race track in America off the top of your head, chances are a good number of you would say Laguna Seca. Be it through video games, or if you’re lucky, first-hand experience either as a spectator, rider, or driver, anyone who knows anything about motorsports knows Laguna Seca.
Now known as WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca has been home to some of the most iconic racing battles in history, such as the legendary duel between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner on the infamous Laguna Seca corkscrew.
But unfortunately, things haven’t been all smooth sailing for Laguna Seca in recent years.
Not too long ago, we talked about how Laguna Seca was facing legal issues from a small group that called itself the Highway 68 Coalition. We went into quite a bit of detail in our story back then, but in essence, the coalition was presumably a small group of NIMBY homeowners—heck, Donut even speculated that it could’ve just been one guy—who wanted to put an end to the raceway’s activities due to noise and other petty reasons.
Thankfully, however, it seems that the Friends of Laguna Seca and whoever the heck the Highway 68 Coalition is seem to have settled their issues out of court. And so, the Friends of Laguna Seca are now fully in charge of operations at the iconic raceway—which is a big W for the motorsports community.
In case you weren’t aware, the Friends of Laguna Seca is a local, non-profit organization whose sole purpose is the safekeeping of the raceway and the surrounding recreational area. I mean, it’s all in the name, right? And now, it can live up to that name as the organization has outlined an ambitious 55-year operational plan for the circuit. Pretty cool, right?
The plan involves quite a lot, including the restoration and revitalization of the track’s amenities, infrastructure upgrades, and efforts to showcase and preserve the raceway’s rich heritage. Of course, the ultimate goal here is to build the already thriving motorsports community, and boost community engagement towards the activities of the raceway.
To solidify the Friends of Laguna Seca’s custodianship of the raceway, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on August 15, 2024 to mark the official start of the raceway’s new era. The entire organization, as well as a team of volunteers, donors, and staff, were all present at the event, flexing their commitment to not just preserving, but bringing the raceway into the future.
Now, I’m not gonna lie—I was a bit scared that the Highway 68 Coalition was going to drop a massive wet blanket on Laguna Seca’s operations. Thankfully, it seems that all this is in the past now, and the iconic raceway will continue to be a site for high-adrenaline, action-packed racing for decades to come.
