New Track in Central Florida

For those of you who may be interested...

I am part of a group that is beginning construction of a track country club in Polk County in Central Florida. Polk county is located equidistant between Tampa and Orlando. The site is convenient to I-4 and local airports. For those of you with families, it is also less than 45 minutes from Disney World.

A few details... a 3 mile road course that can be split into two 1.25 mile courses, a unique dual pit road set-up, 150 garage condos and an 8000 s.f. private country club with pro shop locker rooms, dining facility, lounge, meeting rooms and business center.

Membership will be capped at 350. The first 50 members are in the Founders Club with very special benefits.

Projected opening is Sept. of 2008. The track will be available for select rentals by clubs and organizations.

Email me if you have any questions. [email protected] Thanks, Matt

 

Are building permits secured yet? If so, any cap on noise limits?

Is financing secured yet? Enough to complete the entire project or are you counting on revenue from founding members to finance part of the build?

Who is designing the race track?

Why would you cap membership? Wouldn't more members lower the cost for everyone? A 3.5 mile track can safely lap 40-60 cars, you'll won't get near those levels with 350 members. Why bother with the limit?

 

Let me just say it is a done deal.

I appreciate your comments on membership levels. Our goal is to provide the best experience for our membership.

Matt

 

Do you have any proforma, offfering, etc, that at least makes your facility appear to be a legitimate operation. Saying its a done deal does not give anyone the warm feeling that this is really going to happen.


Example, is this project fully funded, or are you depending on memberships to get financing? How are the early memberships protected in the event you do not get financing?

Please explain. Thank you.

 

What kind of cars is this track designed for? Hopefully there aren't concrete walls close to the track allowing something like that CGT accident to happen again. Large runoff area would be nice. Tons of land in that area of FL.

 

I can understand the doubt in the project getting off the ground. I have also heard many individuals speak of building a track in Florida and it really never goes anywhere if it was feasible in the beginning.

Our development team is formed, the team consists of several partners from both motorsports and large public and private companies. We are far beyond the stage of initial proformas and are to the point of currently finalizing the site. We have preliminary architecturals for the track, club and condos. Our next step is permitting and we have been working with the county for some time now.

Contrary to most who attempt to put together a motorsports facility, we prepared, planned and implemented before announcing.

Your question regarding early membership protection is addressed in our Membership Agreement and all initiation fees go into an escrow account with specific release terms.

To further address the membership point of why we desire to cap membership, our members will enjoy exclusivity and a far less crowded atmosphere.

To address the track design... the width of the track is on average 36' with main straights widening to 48'. This track design is able to handle very high speed cars but our first concern in design was to maximize enjoyment and maximize safety. the only concrete walls separate the track from the pits for obvious safety reasons. Even then there are runoff traps between the track and pit road wall. All of our "trap" areas are designed to greatly reduce potential damage to the vehicle.

I hope that I have sufficiently answered questions. If you desire further details, please email me at [email protected] and I can answer specific questions.

Thank you. Matt

 

Interesting that the OP signed up just to post this, says it's a done deal, but has no information in his profile.
Good luck with the venture if it ever happens. You'll be opening up the membership when the track sits empty for days.

 

I understand your point. We do have member commitments already and a tremendous amount of interest for events. I appreciate your input.

I posted on Ferrari Chat becuase I regard Ferrari owners as highly involved in private motorpsorts and an excellent source of input and fedback.

Thanks. Matt

 

I have also created a profile. Sorry I didn't do it sooner.

 

Now why is it every time I read that sentence my mind converts it to "investors"

 

I heard a rumor of a motorsports park in this local as early as two years ago. Lots of land there.

I would like to wish them luck with their endeavor.

 

Sorry. Not soliciting investors. That is/was the job of one of our partners. It is what it is. Looking for feedback and if anyone honestly wants additional information I will provide it but this thread was to engage discussion.

Thanks. Matt

 

For the post regarding the rumor, I know of different groups who have tried to put together a motorsports facility and have all failed for a variety of reasons or were never really capable. It easily could have been one of those. Thanks for your well wishes.

Matt

 

Yes. Cost and benefits.

 

Benefits besides the obvious amount of track time are available at www.raceclubsofamerica.com . The Founders Club level membership offers more privilege.

The Initiation fee is $50,000 with monthly dues. Membership is limited to 350 members. If you are interested in receiving an information package, please email me at [email protected] .

Thank you for your interest.

Matt

 

And did you read the TOS when you signed up?

 

I am simply gauging the feedback of auto enthusiasts who represent a sampling of the demographic of our clientele. I would assume that Ferrari owners/ enthusiasts would be happy to provide their feedback since many on this site are interetsed in speed on and off the track. I believe the poll on another thread shows that 90.1% of those who responded have exceeded 122 mph on the open road... some pictures even. Obviously, as we both know, Ferrari owners/ enthusiasts are passionate about performance (thus the reason why they are enthusiastic about Ferraris or owners) and are willing to offer information and opinion to better the performance/ racing environment.

Thank you for your attention to detail but I believe you will notice in my original post that I offered no financial information nor asked for interest on memberships but asked of general interest (some are interested in tracks and motorsports, others car polishing techniques). I simply began a discussion and provided a private email address for "off chat" questions. The business and monetary portion of the discussion was asked of me.

Since you are detail oriented, possibly you would be interested in providing feedback as well?

Thanks. Matt

 

Just think of the other things you could be reading..... I was very very tempted to do a little editing throughout the thread but am holding back for now

 

Thank you for holding back. That is hilarious.

 

banned for 7 days

being nice as a moderator apparently counts for nothing. Holding back means you are set on notice that you are on a slippery slope with your posts. LMAO is probably not the proper response to such notice.

 

This is a mistake. As a member of MotorSport Ranch in Cresson, TX for the last 4 1/2 years I can tell you that we (members) get bored if the track is empty. Chasing and being chased is part of the fun. We have in the neighborhood of 700 members and even when we run the short track (1.7 miles) I've never felt crowded. On the 3.1 mile track even a heavily attended member day will never feel congested.

Track enthusiasts tend to be more inclusionary versus exclusionary. Don't let bank accounts fool you into thinking your wealthy target market wants to be left alone. The track junkie virus crosses all demographics and brings people together. Lower your fees and let more people come out and play, otherwise you might turn off people who ordinarily would join.

I suggest you do a little more market research with people who have been there/done that.

 

+1

After nearly ten years of being intimately involved in the planning and execution of the restoration of a track with substantial history, not to mention serious rewards when driven well, one that draws participants nationally, and helping grow this earliest progenitor of the "country club" concept into a reasonable success, I know for a fact that you definitely catch more flies with honey than vinegar.... <grin>

The chemistry required to balance the desired mix of facilities usage (to pay for all of the capital expenditure) and to maintain the friendly, inviting atmosphere welcoming to "members" is tricky and elusive.

The fact that so many are seduced by this herculean task is proof positive that most don't have a clue how hard it is to pull off...

I think Emerson's venture at the former PBIR, if it ever takes off, will suck in a lot of your target market. Do your homework and good luck!

-Peter
www.peterkrause.net

 

That venture is dead. Moroso family and Emerson's group had a fall out.

Further Polk County is 4+h from South Florida hardly a convenient track. I think though that Florida can sustain a track in the Orlando area and in South Florida. There are plenty of cars. A central FL track requires a different setup though to be successful. Drag strip and dirt oval should be incorporated as well. It is close to the sticks so tham NASCARs are popular.

 

Without having read most of this post, let me offer a few things that you may or may not already know about these home-made track situations.

Please go to the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill, and see how much of a disaster that track is. It's way too narrow, had terrible water drainage and runoff, wasn't paved nearly smooth enough, and is so large (when they combine the tracks) that unless you're a member there, you'll never learn the track in a weekend.

This is very very bad for any racing outside of club members, which is very bad considering very few members have dedicated race cars. We tried to race at Autobahn for the Rahal HSR races this past fall, and were sadly disappointed. Our neighboring camp brought in a beautiful early 2000's Champ Car from Texas or Arizona (can't remember which), and left after Saturday's practice, and vowed never to return until they got the bumps and water drainage sorted.

It had rained since everyone had gotten there, and only let up on late Saturday and Sunday for the race, and with terrible water drainage systems in place (if they had any at all), we got maybe one true hot lap in the whole weekend before Sunday's race, so obviously we had a crap time and position (thanks to the idiots who bring 996 GT2 Porsche racers as well as Mustang and Camaro trans-am cars with current cup car motors to a flippin' vintage race, but that's a whole 'nother story), and hgot nothing out of the weekend, except for a lighter wallet and a rotor that caught fire.


That said, make sure you don't make the same mistakes as these guys, and you'll have yourself a great destination.


P.S. We visited Rahal's private little "museum" and garage at the Autobahn track, which is very beautiful, by the way.

 

Sounds like I should have done my homework! <grin>

Oh well, that's too bad. Just another vaporware announcement, I guess.

It's a tough road to build a track...

-Peter
www.peterkrause.net