2025 - My Tracks

A list of the tracks I ride, local amenities, the characteristics I find noteworthy about each, and how they fare with your traveling partners who are not riding/driving.

I’m fortunate to live close to quite a few quality race tracks. My closest track is Sonoma Raceway, which is only 25 minutes from my driveway to the track gates. Also within reasonable driving distance is Laguna Seca, Thunderhill (East & West), and Buttonwillow. I’ve also spent a good amount of time at The Ridge in Washington.

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, previously known as Sears Point and Infineon Raceway, has solid lineage and is still very active. It is close to San Francisco and the Northern California wine country so it’s a popular destination. There are loads of car events and consequently the asphalt shows it with bumps and ripples. The surface had gone largely neglected until a full re-pave in early 2024. AMA and MotoAmerica used to race here but the rumor is that the safety concerns and lack of maintenance caused it to fall out of favor with the national association. There used to be lots of club racing here but hasn’t been in years. Having ridden it several times in 2024 post-repave, I can tell you that the surface condition is generally quite good. It wasn’t the best of the repaves as there are already some bumps from cars and they had to repair some of it following a few car events. I’ve ridden it twice in 2025 and there are some new bumps and some more repairs but it’s such a fun and challenging track I overlook the worts.

It’s a great circuit if you want to come with your significant other and/or family because of its proximity to great food, wine, and San Francisco. The zip code also means that track rental fees are high so it’s not an inexpensive track. The cafe is quite good and there’s a variety of fuel at the track. Garages are included with the track rental but most track providers will charge for the garage rental separately.

This track has a significant amount of elevation change (meaning blind rises) and is highly technical. It’s great fun on any size bike though my favorite is a supersport. 400s are also really fun here and because the top speeds aren’t particularly high, it’s pretty safe to mix 400s with super bikes. Liter bikes are a lot of work and so far I haven’t really gone appreciably faster on a big bike but it’s a lot more work. Sonoma Raceway has some of the hardest braking of any track I’ve ridden so it will take a toll on you by the end of the day.

Weather is generally pretty mild here but this track does not suffer fools. If it’s cool or slightly damp, be particularly cautious as the grip falls off quickly.

Sonoma also has the SIM Raceway (kart track) that is open most Mondays for alternating sessions with moto and karts. You’ll often find local national racers practicing here including Cameron Beaubier, Tyler O’Hara, and Wyatt Farris on 400s. Check their schedule because it does change up often.

[WeatherTech] Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca is one of the most iconic tracks in the country with loads of pedigree. It’s a terrific place to bring the family being just a few miles from Monterey and Carmel and less than an hour from Santa Cruz. It’s typically the most expensive track day in California. The track is used in the MotoAmerica schedule and a few years ago was still used by MotoGP and World Superbike, and has good amenities including a great cafe (expensive) and a variety of fuel at the track. Garage rentals are handled directly through the track and are also expensive ($185/day). Power is not provided in the paddocks so bring a generator if you’re not renting a garage and need 120v. There are campgrounds within the park but outside of the paddocks so you can camp with power and non-potable water. I’ll often book a campsite and bring the family and they can go sight-seeing while I ride and then we reconvene at the end of my riding and go to dinner or the beach. You can book campsites here.

Laguna is not a terribly technical track until you’re going proper fast. There are 11 identified corners. Due to the elevation and fast overall speed, I prefer riding larger bikes. It’s generally well-maintained and the elevation is one of my favorite things. Obviously it’s known for the famous turn 8 Corkscrew but the scariest corner is turn 1 which is a kink over a blind rise on the front straight. The fastest of professional racers will effectively wheelie or jump the top of it well in excess of 140 mph while carrying 40° of lean angle.

The facilities are a bit dated now, which probably adds to the reasons the international bike series don’t run here now. Showers are outside of the paddocks on the way to the campgrounds. Track rental fees are high and everything is a la carte for the provider so check to see if the organizer has purchased overnight camping.

Buttonwillow Raceway [Classic and The Circuit]

Buttonwillow is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and is, for me, an excruciating drive slogging down the train of Interstate 5. It’s definitely not a destination track as there’s very little around it until you get to LA (nearly two hours away) or San Luis Obispo. There is fuel on premise and a cafe. There is no power in the paddocks unless you rent an RV campsite or garage. Garage rentals are handled through the track directly and they’re $125 per day (2025 saw an increase in pricing).

While track management does patch problem areas, it’s due for a full repave. I’ve see big chunks of asphalt kicked up by bikes coming toward me nearly every session and I end up with more nicks in my bodywork and visor here than anywhere else. It’s also incredibly bumpy, stuff that makes you question your suspension setup. Until recently the track was used by big MotoAmerica teams in the off-season for testing and practice.

It’s taken me a while to get my head around the appeal and character of BW but what it is for me is figuring out degree of rolloff and turning in on-throttle. There are loads of corners where you don’t use the brakes but it’s about how and when you roll off the throttle. It’s kind of like a full-sized kart track. Cotton Corners, Grapevine, Phil Hill, and Riverside are all really fun corners.

While the area during the day isn’t pretty at all, the sunrises and sunsets, particularly if there are some clouds, are quite spectacular and make an end-of-day track walk quite nice.

I’ve enjoyed riding every size bike here, though it feels safer on a supersport and bigger. Closing speeds between a 400 and bigger bikes can be substantial in several areas. A lot of regular riders here can be a bit aggressive with their passing.

Buttonwillow also has a kart track open to motorcycles as well but I’ve never tried that.

There are showers but they’re rather vintage.

After many years of construction and delays, Buttonwillow opened a second track known as The Circuit. I’ve not ridden it yet but it is fresh and has several late apex corners with some high speed straights. In talking with a couple of riders who have ridden it, it seems like a faster bike would be more natural here.

There is no public power, that requires a garage or RV site rental. There are no canopies so bring an awning if you’re not renting a garage because it does get hot here.

The area that is closest to the Interstate is where the handful of motels and restaurants are located and that’s what most people think of as the town of Buttonwillow but in reality, the actual ‘city’ is about 5 miles west of there up a county road. Dining options are very limited but I’ve historically found my favorite food at any one of the 3 food trucks located near the motels. Recently though I wanted a decent burger and checked Yelp and that’s when I found the actual town of Buttonwillow. I’d never heard of it before but there is a Frosty King Drive In there and that was really good.

Ridge Motorsports Park

I first went up to The Ridge (Shelton, WA) in 2021 and instantly loved it. It’s a long haul for me to get there but it’s a gorgeous setting with trees surrounding the area. Amenities are limited but always improving, including some really nice garages (don’t run more than 2 bikes on warmers though or you’ll trip the breakers) but there isn’t any power in the paddocks and no on-campus fuel. Non-ethanol fuel is available less than 10 minutes from the track and there’s a Tractor Supply store that refills propane only a couple of miles away. Dining options are okay, including going north to Hoodsport.

One of the first things I noticed about riding at The Ridge was how polite faster riders were in passing. I attribute much of this to the insistence of the providers that riders respect one another. It’s also one of the few tracks that seems to have track and often facilities improvements every year since I started going there. It has good track management and reasonable rental fees.

The track has loads of character with blind rises and some very technical corners along with some fast sweeping corners. It can be frustrating if you’re at the faster end of your group because there aren’t loads of passing opportunities and if you’re on the faster end of your riding group, more than ~30 riders in a group can start to feel crowded. There is a good chance of riding with some high-caliber regional and national racers as it is the home track to some pretty big racing names. This is the best-maintained of all the tracks I’ve ridden and being a MotoAmerica track, it has grippy paint on the curbs. It’s very bike friendly and there are loads of bike days.

The track has a couple of showers but you’ll want to watch your timing because there will often be a queue for them.

This is the western Pacific Northwest so there is a good chance of rainstorms coming in at any part of the day and the locals often have rain tires. Grip is still good if it is lightly misting due to the quality of the surface. There are two primary configurations for the track, AiM calls them Ridge Bike and Ridge Road, the former includes the same chicane MotoAmerica uses. It’s not as high a top speed with the chicane but it feels more manageable and makes it a bit more technical and it’s how most providers run it.

Thunderhill Raceway (East & West)

Thunderhill has two different paved race tracks, generally known as East and West but also known respectively as 3 mile and 2 mile. East sees more activity and has evolved to a pretty fun track over the years. The vast majority of times the two tracks are operated independently however some providers will occasionally rent both tracks and run them together as a 5 mile track.

Thunderhill Raceway is about 7 miles east of the town of Willows. Willows has several motel options and some okay food options; there is a large Walmart in town and that’s a good place to stock up on supplies if you’re camping at the track . Willows is about 30 miles from the town of Chico.

Thunderhill East is the original track with 15 identified corners and it is mostly run in CCW direction. It’s not a terribly technical track but it is a fast track. On the front straight liter bikes can exceed 160 mph. It’s not super technical but it does have some highly cambered and off camber turns and a fun blind rise for turn 9. There are a couple of hard braking downhill corners that add some commitment to riding quickly.

Thunderhill West has a completely different flavor to it and I’ve enjoyed it the most on smaller bikes (Ninja 400, R7, RS 660, etc.). West is comprised of a lot of slow tight corners. The track can be run in a 7 or 10 turn configuration, and CW or CCW. Most providers seem to be running it in the 10 turn configuration in the last couple of years though.

The track has good amenities with lots of free electricity available though on the East track most of the power poles are away from the (also) free canopies. It’s a big paddock on the East side but if you’re camping and want a peaceful night, camping near turn 1 or turn 15 will be quieter. The West side has power under the canopies but you’ll need to arrive early to secure a spot but there are power poles all around the track. Pit areas are first-come-first-served at both of the Thunderhill paddocks. Thunderhill has fuel pumps on the East track. There are nice restrooms and showers on both tracks.

My summary of these tracks: