Feature: The Leisure Track
February 1, 2008
Getting a guy like John Morris to
brag is difficult. He’s got the material—a successful series of entrepreneurial
exploits, a home with a stunning ocean view just south of Los Angeles, and a
garage full of exotic cars—but not the disposition. Soft-spoken and ready with a
smile, Morris would much rather show than tell.
Which is precisely what he’s doing now at the helm of his
Robinson R-44 Raven helicopter as it hovers a few thousand feet over a 193-acre
parcel of desert in Pahrump, Nevada, some 60 miles west of Las Vegas.
"Over there, that’s where we’re putting the clubhouse and the
pool, and over here,"—he jabs his finger a bit north—"I’d love to build a
shooting range and maybe some houses, each with their own hangar."
He saves the best for last. Whispering into his headset as the
rotors chop the fall air, Morris lets loose a smile and a comment that
represents the closest he’ll get to braggadocio: "And right there below us,
that’s what it’s all about."
Coming into closer view as the helicopter makes its slow
descent is a 4-mile road-racing course broken by orange cones into an
ever-changing network of apexes and straightaways. The track is the nucleus of
Club Spring Mountain, which aims to provide auto racing aficionados of varying
skill levels with not just track time, but a genuine country club experience
that revolves around a mutual love of roaring engines and eau-de-singed brake
linings.
"This is a really good time for an idea like this, with baby boomers having
time and money on their hands but often, in the case of car guys, nowhere to
really exercise that passion," says Morris, whose real estate software success has allowed him to spend the
past few years on this labor of love.
He learned very quickly that one particular item would make
most track denizens exceedingly grateful. "Bathrooms," he says. "One of the
first things we improved was those facilities, from the portable variety to
something permanent. When we saw how happy people were with those, we figured,
‘Heck, let’s give them something more.’"
He’s not alone. The number of racing-focused country clubs is
creeping north throughout the country. At least a half-dozen or so like Club
Spring Mountain are up and racing, while many more projects are in the
pre-track, membership solicitation phase in places like Colorado, Georgia and
Minnesota. The scale, scope and cost of such gear-head clubs varies widely, with
only a few aiming for the rarified air swirling around Spain’s exclusive Club
Ascari (see The Leisure Track: Drivers Wanted). Mainly, the goal is to provide a circuit for car
fans and diversions for their families.
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