NOLA Motorsports Park is a road race track in Avondale, Louisiana, approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. The kart circuit and North Track circuits opened in Q4 2011. Future plans include completion of a South Track. When linked with the North Track will form a five-mile course, making it the longest race track in North America.
Design
NOLA Motorsports Park was designed by Alan Wilson, whose other designs include Utah Motorsports Campus and Barber Motorsports Park. In addition to the two international standard race tracks, the facility also features three karting tracks, full service seven acre kart center, paddock, on-site speed shop, clubhouse, eight acre autocross pad, single lane dragstrip and luxury villas for residents. The park has also been designed with forward thinking electronic systems including over 100 miles of fiber optics and the latest timing and scoring equipment to allow for accurate timing.
Activities
East of the main track is a short and thin track. Usually being divided up in the center, it serves its north side as the rental go-kart track. The south can be rented out and holds smaller events such as motorcycle races. Behind the track is a gift shop with racing memorabilia and a plethora of other items. The two-story building also houses two private balconies and an upstairs lobby with a small kitchen, which can be rented out for parties. There is motorcycle safety training and on-track exotic car rentals provided by Xtreme Xperience. Housed at Nola Motorsports Park for rental are the Huracán LP610-4, the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Porsche 911 GT3, and the Slingshot SLR.
Accidents
In chronological order On April 15, 2017, Jesus Martinez was riding an unspecified motorcycle on the east track about 8:30 p.m. when he inadvertently hit another rider and suffered life-threatening injuries. He later died of injuries shortly after getting an ambulance to University Medical Center. The accident was found to be a manual mistake and no outside debris on the track was found. On September 22, 2018, Jeff Hagaman was topping out his 2000 hp heavily modified 2010 Nissan GTR during a wannagofast event. He was at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour down the track parking-drag section of the park when he lost control of the vehicle. He flipped upwards landing on the front right side of the bumper; this was the collision that was assumed killed him. "It was surprising" friends and family said. Jeff was 52 years old and has been racing most of his life, from Granite Falls, North Carolina, he was experienced.
