Alright folks, buckle up. Finding decent motorcycle race tracks near me turned out to be way more annoying than I expected. Took me a whole WEEK of trial and error, hitting dead ends, and sifting through outdated info. Let me walk you through the mess I slogged through and what finally worked.
The Frustrating First Attempts
Map apps were my first dumb move. Just typed in “motorcycle race track” and hoped. Yeah, dumb idea. Maps mostly pulled up closed-down go-kart places, dirt ovals that hadn’t seen a sportbike in decades, or private clubs you need a million bucks to join. Felt like looking for a real Italian pizza joint and getting offered frozen pizza at a gas station.
Tried some random track finder websites. Even worse. Half the links went nowhere or showed events from years ago. Seriously? One site recommended a spot that got turned into a shopping mall last year. Total waste of keyboard taps.
Switching Gears & Hitting the Forums
Finally got smart and hit up real rider hangouts online. Jumped into the big motorcycle forums and subforums specifically for racing or track days. Didn’t search the whole forum first – that was key. Instead, I scanned recent discussions. Saw someone asking about tracks near their city, boom, that thread turned into a goldmine with actual current spots from locals.
Then dove into local Facebook groups. Found ones like “[My City Area] Sportbike Riders” and “[My Region] Track Day Enthusiasts”. Lurked hard. Scrolled past the endless crash videos and “which exhaust sounds best” arguments. Found threads where people actually asked “where are people riding track days near here next month?”. Answered it myself later. Learned quick:
- Don’t ask vague crap like “best tracks”. Asked “Who hosts track days at [Local Regional Circuit]?” or “Is [Specific Small Track Name] still running open sessions?”. Specific got me solid answers.
- Track day organizations = life. People constantly namedropped groups putting on track events. These orgs are the gateway to most tracks nowadays. It clicked.
The Winning Formula
Focused entirely on those track day organizers. Ignored generic searches for tracks and hunted for these organizers instead. It was like flipping a switch.
- Grabbed those organizer names from forum/group chatter. Big ones and even small local crews people vouched for.
- Jumped straight to their official pages for my area. Forget fancy track finders – the organizer’s schedule page IS the track list. Up-to-date, shows future dates, tells you exactly which track they’re using when.
- Clicked into each event listing. Boom. Right there: Venue Name, Venue Address. Track revealed! Not just the name, but the actual where and when they’re running.
My Realistic Findings
So yeah, the “best” locations? Forget some mystical ranking site. It boiled down to:
- Where the track day groups are actually booking time right now. Found three active tracks within a 2.5-hour haul. One was a proper road course everyone knows, one was a smaller technical circuit, and one was primarily kart but had big bike days monthly.
- What fits your ride: That kart track? Fine for supermoto or light bikes; my liter bike? Not ideal. Knew from event descriptions/org websites.
- The vibe matters: Some groups are super strict about noise/bike tech, others are way more laid-back beginner friendly. Again, descriptions and org pages spelled it out.
Huge bonus: By finding these groups first, I also found their ride calendars immediately. Now I know what’s running this month, and next month, at each track near me. No more guesswork.
Honestly, feels obvious now. But man, I wasted so much time wading through digital trash before figuring out this simple trick: Find the groups organizing the track days, the tracks reveal themselves. Save yourself the headache!
