'destination' road tracks. What're your thoughts? Do you have one close by?

[ad2330]

I used to live in Fort Worth and would frequent Motorsports Ranch down in Cresson. What a cool place and there was always a sweet line up of cars that were getting after it.

Thoughts on these places? I think if I had one near by I would definitely sack up to have 'member' status. There are some that take it to the extreme with villas/condos, garages, fuel stations, clubhouses, etc. I'm not sure that flies in my market (Omaha/Lincoln/Council Bluffs, IA), but who knows. Car guys are crazy, amirite?

Take a look at a few of these places and let me hear your thoughts. I'm so intrigued by these, especially from a developers standpoint. I have a ton of questions if any of you are 'connected' to these tracks:

The Thermal Club (cream of the crop right here):
http://www.thethermalclub.com/

Motorsports Ranch (Cresson, TX):
http://www.motorsportranch.com/

High Plains Raceway (Eastern CO):
http://highplainsraceway.com/

Monticello Motor Club (upstate NY):
http://www.monticellomotorclub.com/

I'm sure there a ton of these that I'm missing, but these are the few I know about.

 

[Voltwings]

VIR has on-site lodging facilities, trying to talk the misses into a honeymoon there since we both race, but shes not having it right now haha.

 

[kirks5oh]

Road America here is Wisconsin is always a fun place to go for a weekend race. Super nice in the summer--not too hot. Not too crowded. Great resort town in Elkhart lake. There are quite a few heavy hitters that come to race weekends from Chicago, which is 2 hours away. It's funny to go around the outside of the track and see lambos, bentleys, ferraris, and every other exotic just parked in the grass

 

[MFE]

INDE motorsports ranch is 2.5 hours away http://www.indemotorsports.com/site/ and it's a wonderful facility. They rent it out to clubs for events and I drive it whenever I can, but there's no way on earth I could justify the expense of membership at this point in my life. We're talking 6 figures all-in. But for those who can, I think it's a great idea. Developing one? Maybe not so much. I think if you dig beneath the surface, it's a handful of rich guys doing what they love, and creating a way for others to join and help defray the expenses, which is much different than actually being profitable.

 

[VRYALT3R3D]

Mosport:

 

[Serpent]

Road America here is Wisconsin is always a fun place to go for a weekend race. Super nice in the summer--not too hot. Not too crowded. Great resort town in Elkhart lake. There are quite a few heavy hitters that come to race weekends from Chicago, which is 2 hours away. It's funny to go around the outside of the track and see lambos, bentleys, ferraris, and every other exotic just parked in the grass

Would love to drive RA in a Super Kart. Its one of my favorite tracks because of the long straights.

I saw that OP said: "(Omaha/Lincoln/Council Bluffs, IA)", NVM!

 

[10splaya22]

VIR is a little under 2 hours from me.

 

[SID297]

I've always enjoyed trips to VIR.

 

[kevinatfms]

VIR, Summit Point Raceway, NJMP in New Jersey and the soon to be Dominion Raceway in Virginia(pending approval by Spotsylvania County).

 

[MFE]

Seems the OP is asking about "country club" style membership tracks. VIR and RA are great, but more accessible to the public than the country-club tracks like Monticello.

As for Omaha/Council Bluffs, there's money hidden around there and yet Mid-America Motorplex (fun track BTW) struggles even with its more open-access model. Not sure it would pay out to develop it into a more luxurious member facility even though it regularly draws from KC and even Minneapolis.

 

[03'Darin]

I have a friend that owns one of the Town Houses at NJMP with his father. Cool place but it cost them a boat load and they were way over promised with racing that would take place there and development that was to follow. Neither have happened. NJMP has struggled to stay profitable ever since it opened so in turn their "investment" on the town house has gone to hell. I've stayed there several times. Nothing better than staying right at the track with a balcony overlooking the course. I've also rented one of the town houses at VIR with a few buddies when we did a track event there.

Many years ago they tried to open one of the country club tracks down near Philadelphia Pa. They had started construction and were selling memberships but the place folded before it was completed. I had money down on a basic membership there.

 

[Blown 89]

INDE motorsports ranch is 2.5 hours away http://www.indemotorsports.com/site/ and it's a wonderful facility.

I love that track but even if I had the money I've never seen the value of renting property at a track. You'd need a large chunk of free time to dedicate to a facility like that to make the membership worth it.

I'm bummed I'll be missing INDE at the end of the month....damn brake gremlins at AMP last week sidelined me for a while.

 

[einehund]

Of those tracks you listed, I've been out to High Plains Raceway. Really nice set up!

 

[MFE]

I love that track but even if I had the money I've never seen the value of renting property at a track. You'd need a large chunk of free time to dedicate to a facility like that to make the membership worth it.

I'm bummed I'll be missing INDE at the end of the month....damn brake gremlins at AMP last week sidelined me for a while.

I'd wager that most of the guys that can afford it DO have the free time LOL. They also use the front straight as a landing strip and they've been known to charter people in from Scottsdale. I too will miss the next event there because I blew my engine a couple months ago, and even though I'll have it running again this weekend, I won't have it broken in in time.

 

[Almighty-One]

VIR has on-site lodging facilities, trying to talk the misses into a honeymoon there since we both race, but shes not having it right now haha.

Beautiful place

 

[Double"O"]

I uses to live right next to monticello...they have some amazing cars there all the time. Jerry sienfeld was there all tje time, jeff gordon , leno, and many more are/were members. You can even rent an F1 car there

Membership is damn expensive

 

[ad2330]

I uses to live right next to monticello...they have some amazing cars there all the time. Jerry sienfeld was there all tje time, jeff gordon , leno, and many more are/were members. You can even rent an F1 car there

Membership is damn expensive

Yeah I think $175 for just the 'initiation' fee. Obviously annual dues as well.

Pretty incredible gig though for a wall streeter who's into cars.

 

[WutApex]

High Plains is a great track, but there's nothing out there but farm land. Way out east from Denver.

Heck it's 20 miles to the nearest gas station. It would be great if there were a summer-only hotel that caters to the race crowd located near the track but i don't think it would be profitable....not enough ppl to sustain it. Maybe with Miller Motorsports Park closing, it may draw racers from the western slope but probably not enough to make a huge impact.

On the plus side, there's a really good outdoor shooting range right across the street from HPR.

From a country club type racetrack in Colorado, both Genoa and Altezza were planned but I think they are dead now....or haven't come close to breaking ground yet. The membership prices listed for Altezza were way out of my budget.

 

[ARavenousChimp]

Mosport:

*snip*

Another Vote for Mosport. I'm going this Saturday for Victoria day. Too bad I can't sneak my STi around for a lap or three.

 

[Kevins89notch]

Last fall I drove the Ring. It was awesome!