I've only driven two big tracks. Brainerd International Raceway, and Road America. If I could drive anywhere, I'm not sure either would be my favorite. I've spectated at Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, and Road Atlanta, and they all look very interesting.
Brainerd has two versions. The original longer 'Donnybrook' course, and the 'Competition' course. The longer course makes use of the drag strip for the front straight, and then goes in to a huge banked corner. You're going 130+ easy at the end of the straight, and if you have the balls (and the tires), you keep it floored through the banked corner. I don't have the nerve for it, and always lifted. I would usually just be catching a friend in an E36 M3 at that point, and it looked like he had afterburners as he pulled away through that corner. It's followed by a flat 100+ sweeper, and calibrating between the banked and then flat corners really keeps you on your game.
The shorter competition course is mostly the same course, but the front drag strip and (sadly) the banked corner are replaced by a shorter path through the infield, with some trickier corners and a carousel. That leaves the drag strip open so they can run two events at the same time. Last year they also ran snow-mobile watercross on an infield lake, for a triple event day. Lots of fun to go check out the watercross and drags between sessions. (And people think HPDE days are odd, when others are totally into driving snowmobiles around a lake.
) Sadly, I don't have any good renders of the long course, but this is from the short course:
The main downside of Brainerd is that it is flat. No elevation change at all. I actually prefer the shorter Competition course. The dragstrip is so wide and long it just gets really boring. You really don't get the sense of speed.
I've spectated at Road America since the early 70's. (Yeah, I'm old.) The first time I drove it, it was a parade lap in my station wagon with bikes on the roof rack. Still cool to see it from the drivers perspective. I've now done two HPDE weekends there now that I have a trackable car. It is a very impressive place. The track is long. 4 miles. So you have plenty of room. It rarely feels crowded, and there are lots of point by spots. The facility itself is beautiful, and very well kept. Plenty of elevation change, and some interesting (and some scary) corners. But as much as I enjoy it, I kind of feel something is a bit lacking.
One issue is the straights. There are 3 long straights, all ending in tight 90 degree corners. The front straight is just boring. Not as bad as Brainerds drag strip, but almost. The middle straight has nice bends and a truly tricky off camber over the rise brake zone, where you drop from the fastest point on the track to the slowest corner. The back straight isn't straight, but you're still floored. And you're down in a valley between close trees, and the sense of speed is awesome. But still, I wish there was more cornering, and more different types of corners. The M235 is a fast car though, and the straights do go by quickly. And there are some tricky corners like 6 and 13, which are somewhat blind.
And then there is the truly scary 'Kink'. The Kink is legendary as a 'racers' corner. Taken correctly, it is a very fast 90+ sweeper. But the exit is blind, and the walls are close, and it's always the coldest wettest part of the track. It's hard to get the entrance right, and if you get it wrong, you are likely in the wall. Last year I saw brand new M340i totally destroyed after bouncing off both sides four times. Really makes you think when you need to drive your car home for work the next day. But taken right it feels so good.
This is from my last session there (also posted in another thread):
Ideally, I'd like to get a cross between Road America, with it's lovely facilities and scenery and elevation changes, crossed with the more technical and varied corners of Brainerd. With my limited travel budget, not sure how many other courses I'll get to, but I definitely want to drive on more. Blackhawk is 6 hours away. Grattan is 9 hours, but I have family near there for a double dip. Wish I was still on the east coast, with all the closer options there.