Autobahn Country Club

Overview

Autobahn Country Club is a private motorsport club in Joliet, Illinois. Its 350-acre site holds three road courses that share one network of tarmac, a separate kart circuit, a three-acre skid pad and off-road trails. Members drive their own sports, exotic, vintage and race cars six days a week, seven months a year, and race in the club's own series, but the tracks are also rented to outside groups. Groups such as the SCCA, NASA and PCA hold events there, independent track-day companies run HPDE days open to the public, and the club's Driver Academy runs public schools, including afternoon sessions for drivers in their own cars.

Technical Specifications and Track Features

The Full Circuit is 3.56 miles (5,729 m) long with 19 turns, 11 to the right and 8 to the left, and a longest straight of 1,850 feet. It can be split into the North and South Circuits. The 1.46-mile (2,350 m) North Circuit has nine turns: several lines are possible into turn 2, the esses through turns 3 to 5 go right, left and right, turn 6 rewards a very late apex, and a Parabolica-style turn 9 leads onto the front straight. The 2.1-mile (3,380 m) South Circuit has 15 turns, starting with a multi-apex combination at turns 1 and 2 and including a fast sweeping turn 4, a double entry into turn 6 and the long back straight to turn 11. The Full Circuit links the two halves with The Jump and Clubhouse Bend. All three layouts are 40 feet wide, and the facility map names corners such as Economaki, Rahal, The Kink, Patience and Never Too Late.

Facilities and Specialized Areas

Each half of the circuit has its own timing and scoring building beside the paddock, with restrooms in both and showers in the south building. The Sunoco station sells 93, 98 and 104 octane unleaded, with 110 race fuel to order, and a walk-up café serves the paddock. Members use a clubhouse that serves lunch and has a 4,000-square-foot exhibition space, five race shops on site and private garages, including condominium units that combine living space with a climate-controlled garage. The Driver Academy runs a two-day race school, teen and law-enforcement driving programmes and coached sessions, and rents Mazda Miata and Toyota GR86 Cup cars to qualified drivers. The skid pad is used for teen training and drifting, and Kart Circuit Autobahn is open to the public.

History

The club's founder conceived Autobahn after his family's membership of a golf country club made him ask why car enthusiasts had no equivalent. After years spent finding a site, raising money and obtaining approvals for the 350 acres, the club broke ground in 2004. It is described as the first purpose-built motorsport country club in the United States and has inspired several others. Its member racing programme covers Spec Miatas, GT cars, karts, Radical sports cars, open-wheel cars, rallycross, autocross and a bracket-racing format called Chase Racing, and the circuit also hosts the Midwest Radical Cup Challenge. Bobby and Graham Rahal are among the club's members, and outside users have included One Lap of America, Gridlife and manufacturers holding marketing events.