Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Jerry Wood

The grand opening of North Florida Motorsports Park was held on Saturday, November 17 in Jennings, Florida, located along I-75 20 miles north of I-10, about 100 miles from Jacksonville.

The track is 2 miles long and 35 feet wide–40 feet wide on the front straightaway–with 13 turns, and was designed by former racer and current racing school owner and racing official Ed Bargy.

The track was built for motorcyclists by motorcyclists, and there is not a wall that can be seen anywhere from the racing surface. The turns are banked slightly and are confidence inspiring. The sandy material inside and outside the racing surface has been graded for a considerable distance and seeded with grass.

The principals are Borge Larson, President and Julian Poczatek, Vice President and Operations Director. Present at the opening ceremony were Chairman of the County Commission, Mike Adams; Commissioner Ron Morgan; Commissioner Randy Ogborne and J. Dean Papapetrou from State Senator Richard Mitchell’s office. All of these folks were enthusiastic about the facility and spoke at the inauguration. I was invited to speak about the value of a motorsports facility to the community other than financial. Commissioner Mike Adams rode the inaugural, ribbon cutting lap of the track on Julian Poczatek’s Honda.

The track is a very interesting combination of fast sweepers, several tighter combinations and large double-apex turns. It is very technical in nature as many of the turns can be taken much faster than they look and early drives will pay big time through turns leading onto the straightaways.

The lap record now stands at a 1:24.5 and is held by John-o Bowman.

Penguin Racing School has a day at the new track scheduled for December 3, and an open practice is scheduled for December 8.

More information is available from the track at (904) 707-1737, www.northfloridamotorsportspark.com.