Nestled away near the little town of Clarkston, MI, about 45 minutes north of Detroit, is a racetrack that is as challenging as it is picturesque. Laid across the natural contours of the hilly countryside in 1958, this narrow, thirteen turn, mile and a half course is the home of Waterford Hills Road Racing, America’s oldest continuously operated private road racing club.

With over 500 members and volunteers, this club is completely self-sufficient. From maintaining the facilities, to providing all of the functions of a sanctioning body, members and volunteers take great pride in their club’s self-reliance. Waterford Hills conducts one of this country’s most comprehensive driving schools and issues it’s own licenses. The 21-race "club series," held over 7 weekends, is conducted under SCCA rules, however, which allows teams to compete in both series without changing their cars to accommodate different rules.

Many Waterford drivers can be found among those competing at the SCCA National Championships. The club series also supports regional classes such as ITE and ITD. Sport Renault, an IT class for rotary engine cars, and the X class for non-classified cars that meet the safety requirements are also supported. With the many classes and large numbers of highly skilled drivers competing, needless to say, racing at Waterford Hills is always exciting! There aren’t many places where can you see what happens when you put a "Euro Spec" touring car up against the GT-1 domestic V8s, but at Waterford Hills, this is commonplace.

Income from renting the track supports the club’s activities. It is a favorite test site for the local auto industry, as well as magazines such as Car and Driver and Autoweek. You may have actually seen the track on television in an episode of Car and Driver or in a commercial, and not known that it was Waterford Hills. In addition to the regular racing series, the club also operates the Meadow Brook Historic Races that are run each year in conjunction with the Concours d’Elegance at Meadow Brook Hall, much like the events at Monterey and Pebble Beach. Proceeds from this activity allow Waterford Hills to support SCAMP, a local children’s charity.

Being a member of Waterford Hills Road Racing is like having a second family. A totally gung-ho, competitive family, driven by racer egos, but a family nonetheless! Just like a family, everyone participates. Men and women have shared the responsibilities around the track virtually from its inception. Women not only serve as officers, directors and Chiefs of Specialties, but also have been welcome to race without prejudice for decades. Women have been Class Champions, Crew Chiefs, as well as served as Chief Steward and President, all with more regard for their abilities than their gender. In fact, this subject rarely comes up, not that it’s taboo, but rather that acceptance is simply natural due to the familial nature of the club.

This goes on throughout your trip around as you skillfully negotiate a hairpin, an off-camber 90 at the top of a hill, and later a double apex left that encircles a swamp for which the corner is named. Spin off into that swamp and you will be given a new nickname and a logo towel at an impromptu ceremony performed by the stewards at a subsequent drivers meeting! This doesn’t sound that difficult until you realize that, unless you’re on the pole, you are going to have to attempt to pass someone, somewhere in this labyrinth.

The challenges of Waterford Hills pay off though, and would explain why drivers from this narrow, two-lane track are so successful when participating in events at other tracks. The skills developed at Waterford are such that, drivers at other events are often taken by surprise, until they find out that their competition is from Waterford Hills!

Information about the track, the events held at the track, or race entry information, can be found at our web site, www.waterfordhills.com. We welcome spectators on all race weekends, and love to show our racing guests what Waterford is all about!

About the Authors:

Lynn Bertin and Stephanie Watson are driver and crew chief, respectively, for Mystic Racing. They currently campaign a Dodge Neon in the Showroom Stock B class at Waterford Hills. Together with their team, they have 19 race wins and have been SSB Class Champions three of the four seasons they have run at Waterford Hills, including the most recent.

Lynn has been involved in auto racing since, as a teenager, she became involved in organized drag racing. She left in the 1970’s and picked up racing again when she joined Waterford Hills after being inspired by a woman road racer to re-start her own racing career. She spent the time between racing careers not only as a fan of auto racing, but also as a student of the history of motorsports and as a docent at the Motorsports Hall of Fame. Lynn is proud to have been a student of the late Mary Wollesen, and now is an instructor at the Waterford Hills driving school herself.

Stephanie’s interest in motorsports started at the age of 9 when she began working at the Motorsports Hall of Fame where her father was the Director. Her background and attitudes about racing have been influenced by the many inductees and presenters from all forms of motorsports with whom she has had the opportunity to come to know over the years. She has been with the team since its inception in 1997.

In addition to their racing endeavors, both of these women are members of the Meadow Brook Historic Races organizing committee, and serve as the race registrars. They also are involved with the Michigan Board of Education Summer Institute for Exceptional and Talented Students where Lynn is an instructor and Stephanie is a counselor. Together, the present an exploratory seminar on The History of Technological Advances Through Auto Racing as a part of this program.