![\"_PEZ3432.JPG\"](\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/f46cdc374f969d48a30bacde48ae6b4b9dc4cbe3\/c=330-0-5671-4016&r=x404&c=534x401\/local\/-\/media\/2016\/07\/10\/DetroitNews\/B99414243Z.1_20160710224913_000_GJP114VRC.1-0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div>Pontiac<\/em>\u2013 I explode out of Turn 7 at M1 Concourse<\/a>\u2018s new Champion Motor Speedway and crest the blind Turn 8, feeding the hungry Dodge Viper ACR\u2019s V-10 more gas. With 2,000 pounds of downforce from its huge rear wing and the front dive-planes pressing down on its chassis, the Viper barely notices the rise in the track as the engine howls past 6,000 rpm in second gear.<\/p>\n Who says racing on Woodward isn\u2019t legal?<\/p>\n Welcome to a lap around Detroit\u2019s newest racetrack, a stone\u2019s throw from Woodward. Champion Motor Speedway is the latest addition to M1\u2019s sprawling 87-acre car-enthusiasts\u2019 amusement park. At 11\/2 miles long with a 1\/3-mile back straight and a variety of corners it\u2019s not only a hoot but a rarity: A car track located smack in the middle of a major metropolitan area.<\/p>\n The Detroit News got exclusive first access to the 10-turn track to shoot video, pull Gs and flog the stuffing out of a Viper and Hellcat \u2013 two of M1\u2019s six Dodge<\/p>\n performance cars to be used for racing schools and as pace cars. Car clubs have blossomed around the United States in recent years, and I have raced most them from the legendary uphill esses of Virginia International Raceway to the flat sweepers of Autobahn, Illinois, to the serpentine switchbacks of Thermal Raceway in Palm Springs.<\/p>\n But no track is quite like Champion.<\/p>\n Racetracks are usually social outcasts fraught with noise issues and banished to far-flung rural areas. Even legendary Lime Rock Park in rural Connecticut is saddled with noise restrictions and a ban on Sunday racing. Yet, here is M1 beating in the heart of Pontiac. What\u2019s next, a military firing range? But locals, says founder and CEO Brad Oleshansky, have been welcoming.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have neighbors come by and go: \u2018Wow, it\u2019s noisy! It\u2019s awesome! It\u2019s been dead for all these years!\u2019\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sign Pontiac is coming back to life. Combined with 250 car condos, retail shops and restaurants, M1\u2019s track not only promises great racing but revitalization of a lost city. Beginning this August, M1 \u2013 along with sponsor Dodge \u2013 will define the Dream Cruise\u2019s northern boundary like Ferndale and Mustang Alley define the south end.<\/p>\n Not bad for a development that originally didn\u2019t include a racetrack.<\/p>\n A motorhead who grew up cruising Woodward in a \u201955 Chevy and a Toyota Supra, Oleshansky envisioned the property as a man-cave haven for Woodward cruisers. San Jose has one. Minneapolis, too. But as the entrepreneur talked to Detroit car companies about corporate opportunities, they kept asking about a track: For testing, training, marketing. For convenience. No schlepping to GingerMan in South Haven or Grattan in Grand Rapids to test. And the facilities would be state-of-the-art compared to the more rustic Waterford Hills Raceway in Clarkston.<\/p>\n Suddenly, M1\u2019s value multiplied beyond collectors to speed-addled track rats like me. Oleshansky hired Martyn Thake, an experienced designer of urban track venues like Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Mexican Grand Prix. The M1 track was born.<\/p>\n As a good neighbor, however, Oleshansky laid down some rules. Pontiac has not put decibel restrictions on Champion, and he wants to keep it that way. Cars must be equipped with street-legal exhausts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re self-managing here. We only allow street-legal vehicles,\u201d Oleshansky says. \u201cAnd we have the benefit of a few things. We\u2019re not doing racing here. There\u2019s a train that goes by that\u2019s crazy loud every hour. There was a factory here for 100 years that was way louder.\u201d<\/p>\n Thirty-feet wide with 10 turns, Champion is the perfect place to exercise a fast toy like the Viper ACR. I thought testing Dodge\u2019s track weapon at M1 would be like a hurricane in a living room \u2013 not enough space.<\/p>\n But Lime Rock and Waterford also are 11\/2-mile tracks. Sure, Champion\u2019s tight Turn 1-2 complex and Turn 6 hairpin are slower than anything you\u2019ll find at those courses, but the asphalt in between really let me stretch the snake\u2019s legs (an oxymoron, I know). I stomped the throttle out of Turn 6 and I hit 110 mph before the end of the back straight (track test director and ex-Indy Lights racer Aaron Bambach has seen 125 mph). Then it really gets fun with the roller-coaster 7-8 complex followed by a 90-degree left-hander.<\/p>\n The Viper\u2019s huge 15.4-inch brake rotors hauled the beast back to earth, pulling my eyeballs from their sockets. Long radius, neck-straining Turns 10a and 10b follow, where I explored the Dodge\u2019s 1.5-plus lateral g-capabilities.<\/p>\n For more technical car testing, M1 offers a full skid pad \u2013 a huge patch of asphalt also suitable for events (like Ribfest last weekend), autocrossing or doing tire-smoking donuts (lookin\u2019 at you, Hellcat).<\/p>\n The M1 track has only been open a couple weeks. It still needs proper corner apex and exit curbing, and grass to grow up to its edge. With the dry conditions this summer, Champion was dirty with dust, limiting grip. I still laid down a track lap record of 1.19 seconds in the ACR \u2013 the standard only because Bambach, who finished third in this year\u2019s Belle Isle Super Truck race<\/a>, hasn\u2019t bothered to record his times. Your move, Aaron.<\/p>\n M1\u2019s modern track facilities are a local jewel. M1 will offer its condo members six to seven hours of track time a week. The public will be welcome, too. Bambach says Open Track Sundays \u2013 twice a month \u2013 already are planned.<\/p>\n Ask for a ride in the snake.<\/p>\n