Auto Racing OKd at Del Mar Fairgrounds

Despite pleas from the mayor of Del Mar that it postpone its decision until more is known about the impact on the environment, the Del Mar Fair board unanimously approved a plan Tuesday that would allow a Grand Prix-type automobile race at the fairgrounds next October.

The plan--which would include car races on the weekends of Oct. 28 and Nov. 7 of next year as well as vintage car shows and exhibits during the week between those dates--appeared attractive to the board because of the revenue it could generate, board president C. Hugh Friedman said.

“We’ve been looking for interim uses of the grounds because it is under-used as it is,” Friedman said. “This is the kind of different activity that our property lends itself to. . . . As far as the environmental and noise concerns, we can see what can be done to ameliorate that.”

The car race proposed by Race Circuit Management Inc., the same company that runs the Long Beach Grand Prix and similar road races throughout the United States, would generate about $100,000 in revenue for the fairgrounds during the first year, said Christopher Pook, a spokesman for the Long Beach-based company.

Not everyone, however, was happy with the plan to have about 90 prototype sport cars race at speeds of about 140 m.p.h. through a maze of track on the fairgrounds.

Del Mar Mayor Arlene Carsten said her phone was “ringing off the hook” with calls from residents of Del Mar who were concerned that the valley where the fairgrounds sits and the hills surrounding it would serve as “an echo chamber for the noise.”

“Long Beach is a very different community than Del Mar,” Carsten said. “Your board needs to be sensitive to our needs.”

Pook estimated that the sound from the modified engines of the cars would generate 90 decibels, which is quieter than the rock concerts that are annually performed during the Del Mar Fair in early summer.

The cars would race from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each weekend. The track would consist of cement barriers and portable grandstands, which would be removed after the event, Pook said.

“I’m not going to tell you a race is not noisy,” Pook told the board, “but we are more than sensitive to our role in the community.”

Although the approval is contingent on an environmental impact report and permits from the California Coastal Commission, the board will probably sign a contract with the company for the event within 30 days, said Jan Anton, a board member.