Home » National Corvette Museum to break ground on motorsports park

National Corvette Museum to break ground on motorsports park

Event coincides with 60th Anniversary Celebration

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (June 24, 2013) — After more than five years of planning and fundraising, officials will break ground Friday on the construction of the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park (MSP).

The 2014 Corvette Stingray is shown here with the previous six generations of the iconic sports car.
The 2014 Corvette Stingray is shown here with the previous six generations of the iconic sports car.

The groundbreaking will coincide with a two-day event commemorating the Corvette’s 60th anniversary.

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The motorsports park will be built on 184 acres that the museum purchased and had rezoned. It will feature a two-mile west and 1.1 mile east circuit which can be combined in multiple configurations ranging from the high speed loop of 1.96 miles to the 3.15 mile technical course. The facility also will include an autocross / skid pad area, paddocks, control tower and classrooms.

The Corvette Racing/Pratt and Miller Team contributed to the layout of the track, which will include features from their favorite and most challenging track, the Le Mans circuit.  Testing on the Le Mans track is not possible because the circuit is composed of public roads, making the MSP track a valuable resource to test the key features of the Le Mans circuit. The park will provide for many other functions, such as vehicle testing by engineers at the nearby Corvette Assembly Plant, teen driver training programs, emergency vehicle response training and corporate events.

The Motorsports Park will primarily be used for High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) events conducted by the Corvette Museum and other driving school organizations. Owners of all makes and models of sports cars can participate in driving schools designed for all skill levels, including beginners. Numerous national and regional car and motorcycle clubs will rent the track for their club driving activities.

Potential opportunities in the future for the Motorsports Park include a third road course, drag strip, karting track, garages, condos, classrooms, fueling stations, concession stand, condominiums and commercial development.

The target date for at least part of the facility to open is the National Corvette Museum’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, Labor Day weekend 2014.

“The close proximity of the track to hotels, restaurants, and things to do in Bowling Green is just another reason this track will be appealing to clubs and high performance driving enthusiasts,” said Motorsports Park Project Manager Roc Linkov.

Corvette celebration

The first 300 Corvettes rolled off the Flint, Mich., assembly line on June 30, 1953. Each year, the National Corvette Museum, along with the Chevrolet Corvette Team, commemorates the anniversary.

The two-day event will kick off Thursday with an Evolution Display that showcases the first 60 years of Corvettes.

The first display of “C7” Corvettes will be available for enthusiasts to get an up-close view of the new Stingray. GM will provide a number of the new “C7” Corvettes along with members of the Corvette Team from Warren Tech Center and the Bowling Green Assembly Plant to answer questions and do a detailed walk-around of the new cars.

The event also includes a banquet, plant tours, live auction, Corvette raffles and other opportunities to learn more about the iconic sports car. Click here for more information.