some quick thoughts on things that may be important if you decide to go to Whiskey Hill Raceway aka Palmer Motorsports Park
1) gas is way cheaper in Palmer than it is in Springfield, by 10 cents/gallon or more.
2) looks like there may be some decent places to eat on US 20 between Palmer and Springfield, don't know because the worker party food was more than adequate
3) the "Howard Johnson's Express" on US 20 in Springfield was cheap, a little tired but clean, and not as noisy as i feared (the pricing suggests it might serve as a residential facility as well as for transients, which is often a recipe for noise late at night). the Applebee's across the road only rates about 1.5 stars in Yelp!. Oh, and the HoJo express does have mini fridges in the rooms if you need to cool some beer.
4) the Donut Shop at the foot of the hill in West Warren (near the track) is a Dippin Donuts, not a Dunkin Donuts. Eerily similar, but not the same. The breakfast sandwich was ok, but apparently the track caterer is going to be doing breakfast while they work out the long term concession situation.
5) US 20 between Springfield and Palmer is a pretty reasonable alternative to the Mass Pike.
6) the current impound situation is challenging due to the lack of an exit, and T turns in a GT-1 car aren't the most fun thing you can do while driving one. in a couple of weeks, they may well be trying a different layout.
7) this is a fun facility, with the rough edges that are to be expected from something this new. i imagine it will continue to improve. the racers are still working out what the racing line is. this may take a while.
