Pala Raceway at the starting gate

PALA ---- Ryan Ouellette was taking flying lessons over the San Luis Rey River valley a few years ago when a vision came to him.

As president of Encinitas-based MX Motopark Industries, Inc., Ouellette had long been searching for a North County site for a new motocross facility. He found one after flying his small plane over the Pala Reservation.

"I was flying through the valley, and when we got over Pala, I realized what a great area it would be for a motocross park," said Ouellette, a longtime Poway resident.

If all goes as planned, Pala Raceway will open later this year on 240 acres of land located 1 1/2 miles east of the Pala Casino and about seven miles east of Interstate 15. The venue is scheduled to include at least 12 separate professionally-designed tracks for various disciplines, age groups and abilities.

"Pala made this possible, and God knows we need it," said Ouellette, whose MX Motopark Industries is a private company comprised of a group of investors with a passion for motocross and off-road racing.

After more than five years of planning, engineering and biological studies, Pala Raceway has received the necessary permits and federal approvals for construction to begin.

"It's been a long time coming," said chairman Robert Smith of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. "From our perspective, we have a big reservation with a lot of kids with bikes. This will give them a facility where they can ride safely.

"And in the industry, there are a lot of riders out there with nowhere local to ride."

Two other area reservations, La Jolla and Barona, offer small dirt tracks for amateur racing and practice. But since the motocross track at Carlsbad Raceway closed its gates seven years ago, San Diego County has been without a large facility to host major outdoor motocross races such as the U.S. Grand Prix of Motocross that annually attracted 40,000 spectators to Carlsbad Raceway during the motocross boom of the 1970s and '80s.

"Our goal is to build the sport from the bottom up by providing the best possible venue for participants to ride, race and relax with their friends and families," said Ouellette.

To help realize that goal, professional motocross racer Kirk Chandler will play a big role in the design of the facility as vice president and architectural designer for MX Motopark Industries.

"I've been racing since I was 5, and I've raced at Barona and Carlsbad," Chandler said. "I'm looking forward to applying my background in racing to the architectural design."

That design, according to Chandler, will include an infrastructure of irrigation, sound fencing, lighting and telecommunications.

"It will be just as extensive as designing a golf course," he said. "The infrastructure has to be there."

Construction is scheduled to take up to six months, and the end results could be a Taj Mahal of motocross parks. Among the separate tracks will be the main motocross track, a Grand Prix motocross track, a vet motocross track, tracks for the smaller mini-cycles, a side-by-side UTV track, two quad tracks, and professional and amateur supercross tracks.

An asphalt karting track and a BMX track are also in the mix. Among the amenities planned are a clubhouse, restaurant, fishing pond, and no less than 300 campsites.

Nobody associated with the project wanted to divulge its anticipated cost other than to say it was a multimillion-dollar project.

"We will be screening more than 400,000 cubic yards of soil to remove rocks and debris to provide the best possible soil conditions on the tracks," Chandler said.

Parking and traffic flow will also be taken into serious consideration, Ouellette said.

"Highway 76 is already a corridor to the desert, so we see a lot of off-road traffic go through here," Ouellette said. "It's my understanding that with the help of all the tribes along the 76, the highway will be widened and straightened."

Added Chandler, "Parking will be a big issue, so we'll be paying close attention to that."

Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com.