School board, recreation board approve autocross event pending insurance, outline traffic and safety plans

The Weston County School Board and the East/Weston County Recreation Board approved allowing an autocross course on school parking lots for the Classic Summer Drags event, contingent on final proof of insurance, and discussed logistics for the larger multi-day festival that includes drag races on a bypass route.

Organizers asked the boards to allow course setup on Thursday evening and use of school lots for events Friday through Sunday of the festival. Pam Kautieri, representing the Classic Summer Drags organizing group, said organizers provided an insurance certificate to district staff and the group was working to satisfy a remaining school-side clarification. Kautieri and other organizers said they have a map showing the proposed use of multiple school lots and that volunteers would chalk cone locations Thursday after summer-programming ends and place cones early Friday morning for competition runs.

The recreation board moved and seconded a motion to approve the Car Club autocross pending final insurance approval; the motion passed by voice vote. Board members and organizers discussed setup and teardown windows, and agreed the latest reasonable setup time would be after 4:30 p.m. on the Thursday before the event so it would not conflict with summer recreation programs.

Organizers described course details and safety measures. Ross Dale, the autocross event lead on the phone, said a standard autocross course for the school parking lot would use about 50 traffic cones and 18-inch cones are preferred; he estimated top speeds on the proposed tight parking-lot course could reach roughly 45–50 mph for the fastest cars but said the course would intentionally keep competitors away from hard objects and that the activity “is not hard on the parking lot.” Dale explained the course at the Central States Fairgrounds has seen more surface damage when carnival rides leak hydraulic oil onto asphalt; he said the school parking lot location does not present the same issue.

Board members pressed organizers about drainage and potential damage to pavement, the number and height of cones, staffing for setup/teardown, and whether the event would interfere with summer recreation programs. The group confirmed volunteers from the organizing committee (Todd Martin and Chuck were named as the two lead volunteers) would run the autocross operations on site; the school would not be expected to staff cones. Organizers also said the autocross schedule would include driver practice/qualification Friday and racing through afternoon hours; they reported the event had reached a large number of pre-registrations and planned to cap entries (organizers mentioned a cap at about 500 cars, with daily running times listed by the organizer).

Traffic and public-safety coordination for the broader Classic Summer Drags event were discussed. Organizers said they were coordinating with the sheriff’s office, police, the highway department and Campbell County EMS; the recreation board confirmed the fire department and ambulance would be on standby and that they had a scheduled meeting with the fire department to finalize standby plans. Organizers and board members also discussed possible paid parking for festival weekends and using buses or remote parking to move attendees; board members asked organizers to return with a volunteer plan and to clear who would handle cleanup after paid-parking operations.

The boards emphasized insurance and final approvals as conditions of the permit. The recreation board’s formal approval language required that organizers deliver the final insurance documentation before the permit becomes effective. With that condition satisfied, boards indicated willingness to allow on-site autocross setup the Thursday before the scheduled racing and to permit the use of school parking areas for the scheduled autocross runs.