On the dry prairie southeast of Denver, car enthusiast Claus Wagner envisions 8 miles of racetrack.
Not just any racetrack. This one is billed as perhaps the most luxurious in the nation, featuring a swooping, modernistic clubhouse replete with spa, lounge and elegant lodging.
Wagner is busy recruiting fellow racing enthusiasts willing to plunk down $100,000 each to become founding members of the proposed $36 million Motor Sport Country Club.
And the race is on.
Wagner’s project is competing head to head against a similar proposal by Kevin Rogers’ Genoa Motorsports Country Club.
Both would border Interstate 70 in eastern Colorado, Wagner’s near the tiny burg of Agate in Elbert County, Rogers’ 31 miles further east near the Lincoln County town of Genoa.
Only one of the high-end racetrack proposals is likely to cross the finish line. Developers of both acknowledge that the one lining up financing and turning dirt first will probably pre-empt the other.
A third proposed track, the $3.3 million High Plains Raceway east of Byers, also is seeking capital but is not viewed as direct competition to the two country-club projects because it will cater to a different type of amateur racer.
Wagner said he has sold 16 of the $100,000 memberships since March. He seeks to raise $5 million in initial memberships by next June to trigger loan commitments to launch the project’s $8 million first phase with a single track and temporary buildings.
Subsequent phases would include three more tracks, the clubhouse and lodging.
The track would cater to sports-car owners looking for a place to unleash their vehicles.
“We’re going after well-heeled car enthusiasts who want to come out and drive without any speed limits,” said Wagner, who owns a 1,000-horsepower Porsche GT2.
Wagner operates Club Auto Colorado, a Lakewood facility that offers storage and services for sports cars and vintage autos.
His proposed Agate track is being designed by renowned course engineer Hermann Tilke. The clubhouse’s designer is Alan Grant, a Los Angeles architect who also is creating the $100 million LeMay car museum in Tacoma, Wash.
“When he sent me the first drawings (of the proposed clubhouse), I was just blown away,” Wagner said.
Rogers’ Genoa track complex proposes a clubhouse in a more traditional design but a concept similar to Wagner’s with a multitrack facility catering to amateur racing enthusiasts.
He declined to disclose project costs but said the project’s fundraising is progressing with the sale of $17,500 individual memberships and $35,000 family plans.
“We’re offering a relatively safe environment,” Rogers said, “where members can run their cars to the limits of their ability, or their car’s ability.”
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
