Club sports like golf, polo, and racing can be lucrative business options that provide investment potential and a significant and steady revenue stream if managed successfully. Memberships to Autoclubs with unlimited track accessibility usually cost as much as $90,000, and the capacity for members is enormous.
Key Points:
- Building a NASCAR track is an expensive endeavor, and costs can range from $750,000 to millions of dollars.
- The primary costs are land, legal/paperwork, track construction, safety specs, and staff payroll.
- A track’s success depends on many factors, such as the view of the area, competition, lane width, and material used for construction.
As is true with any large business endeavor building a NASCAR track will require massive resources, and the project management must be well set up, or it may be hard to complete a profitable and safe track.
Before rushing out to buy land to build your dream race track, it is important to understand as many costs as possible that will pop up during your construction and implementation processes. The racing track business is booming but competitive, and the sizes of racing tracks aren’t necessarily the determining factor as to its success.
To start your race track plan, read the article below, learn the ins and outs of track construction, and find out how trying to save money with substandard construction or concessions on construction up front will cost you huge later on.
What is the Cost of Constructing a NASCAR Track?
There are almost an infinite amount of costs associated with starting and running a NASCAR track, but the main finance stages can be broken up, and a rough estimate is provided for the cost of constructing a NASCAR track.
It is safe to assume that the cost of construction will range from $750,000 to 10s of millions of dollars if built completely from scratch. To avoid wasting money, you can look for unused private tracks or abandoned race track facilities that may save you overall costs. The main costs are:
Legal
You are going to pay a good chunk of your total cost to get permits, approve land studies, and any other bureaucratic costs that pop up over the course of a project of this magnitude. You may need to have different legal teams on retainer for help navigating all of the red tape that can crop up and help you avoid wasting time and money in government mazes.
You will also need insurance installment to cover construction and an insurance company to handle running the races.
Land Cost
Land purchasing costs are also going to be a large portion of the total cost. The cost of land will depend on the land position, land size, and whether it is suitable land for other industries.
The sizes of land parcels, the view of the area, and any competition will also influence whether your track will make money, so balancing these against cost is crucial.
Track Construction
2 lanes of paved road cost about 100k per mile, and NASCAR tracks are at least 4 lanes wide. NASCAR asphalt is specially treated to have the highest melting point and will cost more than your state’s standard highway.
Specialized crews and equipment are needed to build a track that can handle the wear of NASCAR races, and the cost of track materials and equipment costs will reflect that.
Safety and Official Specifications
There are tons of NASCAR and federal safety restrictions and guidelines that need to be followed to ensure the safety of drivers and fans, as well as the team of employees that run the place. Installment of banking curves, crowd protection fences, gravel runoffs, tire walls, and the layout of the parking lots need to be up to code to receive permission to conduct an exhibition race.
All safety features must be in compliance and submitted to the correct authorities with your racing track plan.
Pay Roll of Track Workers
From day one, workers will need to meet truck drivers and help start the construction of the paved track. Any worker that is not subcontracted will need to be paid and compensated according to state and federal laws, and these costs can grow well ahead of any revenue from the track being earned.
As the facilities expand, office blocks and areas for administrative employees and HR may grow and need to be incorporated into the costs.
Maintenance
Tracks can never have potholes, and after and during races, external fittings and car debris from crashes may damage parts of the track. Even during track testing there, damage may occur, and a crew will be needed to quickly fix the issues.
Maintenance options can be a full-time repair crew onsite or a subcontracted crew that keeps equipment on site and comes to do the work, and usually, the cost of equipment is covered by the track owner, not the company.
Public Relations Team
While building the track is a huge part of the goal of making a racing destination, you will need to market and get both higher-profile drivers and the richest drivers to want to race on your track. While an intriguing track design goes a long way, having a team that can convince drivers they need to race can bring their associated fans and make your track a hit.
If it is a private club, you will want to convince racers and motorsports lovers to become members and race on your track themselves. These professionals will cost money and can be internal employees or a contracted agency.
How to Build a Race Track?
In the simplest steps building a race track requires that you plan the track, buy the land, build the track, and then get racers to drive on it. Each of those stages requires a tremendous amount of work, time, and money, but the basic formula is the same regardless of the motorsport.
A standard race track will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions and may or may not ever be profitable. However, if you have the resources, budget, partners, and passion for NASCAR, then building a track that you can enjoy is not impossible.
Race Track Types
There are many different motorsports, and the costs of the track vary. Some races, like dirt bikes and off-road courses, do not need meticulously paved tarmac to race on, so the costs involved with construction will be less. Other tracks like NASCAR and Formula 1 need smooth roads with no bumps and constant maintenance to keep them that way.
The land cost, where you are building the track, and how big of a course you want will also greatly influence the final costs for this ambitious project. Below are some examples of average costs for different motorsport tracks.
| Track Type | Motor Sport | Cost |
| F1 Track | Formula 1 | $750,000 |
| Speedway | NASCAR | $2,000,000 |
| Paved Oval | NASCAR | $4,000,000 |
| Hillclimb Track | Hillclimbing | $1,500,000 or Closed Public Road |
| Drag Strip | Drag Racing | $2,500,000 |
| Figure-8 Track | NASCAR | $1,000,000 |
| Sprint Track | NASCAR | $750,000 |
