After several years of hard work and planning, the Loring Timing Association will be hosting its first land speed racing event in Loring, Maine, during the weekend of August 1st and 2nd, 2009. This event represents the culmination of lots of time by enthusiasts and great collaboration among other timing organizations (such as the ECTA).

One of the neat things about this venue that we have been hearing is that the runs will be 1.5-mile shots instead of the 1-mile runs made at Maxton. This is possible due to the extremely long runways on the former Loring Air Force Base.

This base was home to strategic nuclear bombers that flew long missions on the Russian air space border loaded with enough boom to vaporize large chunks of the country in a single whack. Those massive planes, laden with all that ordinance, required a lot of real estate to achieve takeoff speed. The resulting runway space is a boon to racers.

The base is actually located in a town called Limestone, Maine, some 400 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. Essentially, if you make a wrong turn in Limestone, you better have a passport, because you’ll be crossing into Canada. Its right up on the border with New Brunswick.

LTA leaders Bob Wanner and Bob Jepson were able to put on a demonstration event for local media, government, and other decision makers back in August of 2008 and that show proved to be a smashing success, paving the way for the August date this coming summer.

There are some “threatened” bird species that restrict when events can be scheduled, but the fact remains, this is huge news for any gearhead in the Northeast or Eastern Canada who has ever had a thirst for speed.

We’re looking forward to being at the inaugural event this coming summer and if we can get a wireless signal, providing some live results from the pits!