Noise Checkers Ready as Race Cars Gun Motors for Grand Prix Finale

Car racing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds last weekend did not prove to be as loud, disruptive or generally awful as opponents had feared, but neighbors are taking a wait-and-hear approach to this weekend’s grand finale.

“I have had no indication that noise was a major problem,” said Del Mar City Manager Kay Jimno. “It does not appear the racing (had as big an impact) on the first weekend as we had anticipated.”

Sound monitors hired by Del Mar, Solana Beach and the Del Mar Fair Board reported decibel levels below those listed as permissible in the racing promoter’s permit from the California Coastal Commission. The Sheriff’s Department reported no traffic or crowd control problems.

An automotive argument has broken out between opponents and boosters over whether the state-of-the-art cars scheduled to race this weekend, culminating in Sunday’s Camel Grand Prix of Southern California, will be louder than the vintage cars that took to the track last weekend.

Small Crowds

The crowds last weekend were disappointingly small--a total of 10,000 for the three days, compared to a prediction from promoters that 10,000 would show up on Sunday alone. An initial cheery estimate that this weekend’s events would draw 40,000 fans a day is being revised downward.

A 12-person citizens’ committee assigned to prowl the fairgrounds to make sure the race promoters are living up to the 46 “mitigation measures” contained in the Coastal Commission permit will again be on alert when racing resumes Friday with qualifying rounds.

However, a plan by Del Mar to have a hot line for complaints, and send out 5,000 letters to residents advertising its availability, died amid disagreement among council members and an estimate from city staff that it would cost $2,000.

Solana Beach Planning Director Steven Apple, who lives 3,200 feet from the race track, set up noise monitors in his backyard and was pleasantly surprised.

“In the backyard, you could hear a distant whine, but inside, with the windows shut, you could not hear the racing,” Apple said. “Preliminary data suggest that the level was 15 decibels below the worst-case scenario.”

‘Went Well’

Fair Board General Manager Roger Vitaich, who battled four lawsuits aimed at blocking the race, only semi-stifled the impulse to say I-told-you-so.

“For a first event, we thought it went very well and met most of our expectations,” Vitaich said. “Even our detractors have had to grudgingly admit that it went well.”

The noise did, however, exceed Del Mar city standards, meant to regulate motorcycles and motorized leaf blowers, but the city is on tenuous legal ground to pursue legal action since the fairgrounds is state property.

Three factors could make things louder this weekend: more cars, higher speeds and clearer weather. The Sunday races were run in fog and drizzle. Noise experts say moistness muffles sound.

It is still unknown whether the wet pavement contributed to the crash that killed Alan T. Lloyd, 48, an El Cajon truck mechanic racing in his 1965 Ford Cobra. Lloyd’s car hit a barrier at 75 miles per hour; the fatality is being probed by the Sports Car Club of America.

Promoters have signed a five-year lease to use Del Mar as the final race on the International Motor Sports Assn./Camel GT Sports Car Championship Series. But the Coastal Commission permit covers only this year and renewal could be dependent on noise and reaction from the surrounding neighborhood.

Del Mar Councilwoman Brooke Eisenberg said noise was an annoyance to residents living in a canyon close to the fairgrounds but not to those living farther away. The true test, she said, is the coming weekend.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see what happens,” she said.