[VIDEO] Watch the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Corvette Museum’s Motorsports Park

The dream of a National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park is roaring closer and closer to reality with each passing day.

Corvette enthusiasts and community and state leaders gathered Friday, June 28th in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a groundbreaking ceremony for the $20 million, 184-acre, dual-track park located just across from the museum off I-65.

Officials expect the park, which is slated to be open by Labor Day 2014, to have a huge economic impact on the Bowling Green area, with up to 80,000 visitors and $15 million in tourism and racing revenues forecast annually.

It was a big day for folks like Doug Fehan, program manager of Corvette Racing, who was on hand for the ceremony.

“Corvette Racing has long hoped for just such an outstanding track with exciting features,” Fehan said. “Our drivers and many proud Corvette owners are looking forward to experiencing this premier motorsports facility. We enjoyed every minute of our participation in the design process.”

Likewise, Wendell Strode, executive director of the museum, praised the thousands of contributors for their “outpouring of financial support,” including the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors Bureau, which will enable the park to be ready for use by the museum’s 20th anniversary Labor Day weekend 2014.

The chair of the museum’s board of directors, Jack Matukas, was also enthusiastic about the impact of the motorsports park, saying when the gates open next year, “our region will not only see increased visits and events sponsored by Corvette owners and fans, but from just about every different sports car club in America.”

And the chair of the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Brad Howard, said the park “will turbo-charge Bowling Green’s already-powerful position in the high-performance motorsports world.”

The museum purchased 184 acres for the motorsports park, which will feature two circuits, East and West, that can be configured in several ways, ranging from a high speed loop of 1.96 miles to an extended 3.15 mile technical course. The technical course will include features of the Corvette Racing/Pratt and Miller Team’s favorite and most challenging track, the Le Mans circuit.

Source:
National Corvette Museum

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