The business of building a race track in the modern era

For some time, across the way from the decades-old 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, there’s been a fence covered in black tarps. Friends in NASCAR told me they’d passed it countless times without paying any mind, thinking it was just construction. But had they looked, they would’ve caught a glimpse of a hint peeking over the fabric: the corner of a race track.

That hidden track is Ten Tenths Motor Club, a new facility designed to serve a completely different purpose from its larger, sibling track on the other side of the street. Instead of the spectator-oriented NASCAR track that is Charlotte, Ten Tenths will be a car-centric country club — an idea that Marcus Smith, the CEO of NASCAR track-operating giant Speedway Motorsports, said has been a decade in the making.

“We’ve done a lot of things in that 10 years, but the idea kept percolating at the top,” Smith said at Ten Tenths’ recent debut. “When we first thought about it, a separate track was not part of the plan. But the demand for track time continues to increase not only at Charlotte, but at other facilities, and people need a place to exercise [performance] cars that are really better for the track than the street.”

Tracks for “normal” drivers (not just professional spectator racing) aren’t new, and they continue to exist in many forms. In California alone, tracks like Willow Springs and Thermal Club are just a few hours away from each other. Willow Springs charges affordable day rates to drive with your friends, while joining Thermal Club is said to cost about $5 million between the membership fee and purchase of an at-track home.

Porsche 911 sweeping one of the curves at Ten Tenths events.

Photo by: Hendrick

Ten Tenths acts as the middle ground. The track is meant to be a 100-acre facility with a 20,000-square-foot event center, cigar lounge, lights to run the track at night, and garages for supercar-owning members. Members will get track time, but so will attendees of less exclusive on- and off-track events. (Ten Tenths hasn’t announced membership or rental fees yet.)

“These car clubs around the country are typically built around real-estate sales and membership,” Smith said. “This one is really built on [the idea of] the business is already there for us, having a full schedule at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We know there’s a tremendous amount of interest in live-action car experience, so the members aren’t going to have to bear the full cost of operating the venue, which is I think a real plus.”

Speedway Motorsports built Ten Tenths in partnership with Rick Hendrick, owner of about 100 car dealerships and the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR team. Hendrick’s proposed offerings to members include a concierge-type maintenance program with his dealerships’ service departments, where his employees will pick cars up from the members’ garages, do the necessary work on them, then return the cars before their next on-track outing.

Photo by: Hendrick

Hendrick also sees Ten Tenths as a track that can host company retreats, launch events for new cars, and vehicle testing. The multi-purpose approach isn’t just possible due to the facilities at Ten Tenths — it’s due to the track itself, which can be run three ways: a full, 1.7-mile layout, with elevation changes and a banked corner; a 1.1-mile short course with sharper, more technical turns; and a flowy, half-mile “inner loop” with wider turns, which can be irrigated and used for drifting.

“We have 20-some sponsors that love to come [to Charlotte],” Hendrick said. “We go over to the drag strip, set up an autocross course with cones, and we have cars with timers to let them go out and try to beat each other. They love it, but then we have to take it apart and move it. Now, we’ll have all that scoring here, and I’ll just have to bring the cars.

In concept, Ten Tenths seems to recognize every problem racetracks around America face — and the ownership group has built a track catering to resolve them, while making it accessible and (hopefully) affordable for non-members. Comparatively, tracks that focus on spectator racing have to book frequent events to stay afloat, while tracks for hobby drivers need enough hobbyists in the area to support the facility. Manufacturer test tracks are usually off-limits to the public, and some pay-to-enter club tracks are off-limits by default due to cost. The all-in-one approach ensures the track will likely be used, often, and doesn’t need a lot of changes to switch from event to event.

A short S-curve at Ten Tenths.

Photo by: Alanis King

Other club tracks aren’t technical enough as a driver. They’re flowing and fast so people visiting feel fast, but they lack the braking zones, tight corners, and challenges of a better racetrack. It’s like when you go to a high-end store and your women’s pant size goes from a 7 to a 3: It’s designed to make you feel good, but it’s not applicable to the outside world.

Jeff Gordon, four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, was involved in the design of the Ten Tenths track, and believes this is a feel-good course.

“What I love so much is that when it was finally paved and I got to run some laps at speed, was just the different challenges,” Gordon said. “There’s everything that you want in a course. You want the high-speed sections. You want the sections that flow, where you really load the car left and right. You’ve got some blind crests that are going to challenge you to make sure you get the car positioned right. There’s some heavy braking sections. There’s areas that are very technical and areas that are just very flowy and fast.

“Then, on top of that, take into account that you can go the reverse direction and have a whole new course.”

A small selection of the cars tracked at Ten Tenths for its special event.

Photo by: Alanis King

Ten Tenths also doesn’t feel like just another business. When I attended the track debut and groundbreaking ceremony, it felt more enthusiast over corporate. I’ve only done ride-alongs around the track since it’s so new, but as a passenger at speed, it had the right balance of tight, technical corners and high-speed sections. It’s not a long track, but within its 1.7 miles, you can get up to speed, hit heavy braking zones, run some sweeping carousel-style turns, and flow up and down elevation changes. I wanted to drive it that day, and I wanted to stay as long as possible.

The Hendrick and Smith families, considered to be NASCAR royalty, seemed to feel the same way. They spent the whole day there: mingling, riding, and driving around the track. Hendrick brought handfuls of supercars to display, letting friends drive one of his expensive Porsche track cars and allowing influencers to sit in his $3 million Mercedes-AMG One supercar. Gordon gave countless ride-alongs in a two-seater version of NASCAR’s famous Garage 56 Le Mans car, and while the engineers prepped it for hot laps, he spent half an hour talking to my husband. They’d just met.

Even after most guests left, the Hendricks, Smiths, and Gordon stayed, chatting and smiling. It was a stark contrast to many events I attend; usually, the guests of honor don’t treat it like a social outing. They appear for a few minutes and leave from a side door.

The Ten Tenths debut felt like a cool, high-end social outing for people who like cars — like an automotive country club, if you will. If that’s the measure of success, then it’s already there.