Image courtesy ecta-lsr.com
In the decade or so since the formation of the East Coast Timing Association, Maxton, North Carolina, has become a hot rodding hot spot, thanks to the events that the ECTA stages on a one-mile stretch of a little-used World War II-era runway in Maxton. Yet that stands to change next year after the ECTA will no longer be permitted use of the runway.
According to a statement on the ECTA’s website, the Gryphon Group, a private security company that leases the land the ECTA uses for its events, recently informed the ECTA that it will not be able to use the runway after its October event this year. Though the ECTA statement noted that the association will continue to work with the Gryphon Group, possibly to continue racing in Maxton in a more limited fashion, it also noted that the ECTA board of directors are considering other venues for their events throughout the year.
At our Board of Directors meeting held in August, we mapped out a plan to find other possible sites to create a traveling series. This Plan was to have a couple of events in the deep south in winter, moving to a mid-states for early spring and late fall and a northern mid-summer event. We have been actively searching ex-military airbases and have a couple of good possibilities. If you are aware of sites that have two miles of undisturbed runways, please let us know about them. The ECTA has no plans on going away, but it will be different.
Potential alternative locations suggested in land-speed racing discussion forums range from Wilmington, Ohio, to Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida. The possibility of incorporating the racing at Loring, Maine, into the schedule has also been floated.
The ECTA will stage the first of its five 2011 events at Maxton on April 2-3.