The Rise of Racetrack Country Clubs: Racing Is Golf on Steroids

A paradox played out in Miami during a recent Formula 1 weekend: On fashionable city streets, a tangled toy box of candy-colored Lamborghinis, Porsches and other performance cars were all dressed up with no place to go — certainly not at the hurricane-force speeds for which they’re designed.One speed-demon destination for them will soon be found two hours north — in St.Lucie County, on 663 acres of former orange groves.

There, Ari Straus and his family are plotting the P1 Motor Club, the latest country-club-style racetrack that lets members indulge their inner Ayrton Senna or Lewis Hamilton.Mr.Straus and partners are spending $270 million to build a pair of motorsports circuits where members and their families can satisfy a need for speed, and learn the art of driving from real professionals, not a high school gym teacher.

Those include Mr.Straus’s daughter Aurora Straus, who drives a ferocious Mercedes-AMG GT4 for Murillo Racing, teamed with her newlywed husband, Kenny Murillo.Ms.

Straus points to an explosion of interest in motorsports, led in part by the Netflix hit docuseries “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” on F1 drivers and their ruthless teams.Add a postpandemic urge for bucket-list experiences, and wealthy people willing to pay for them, and members’ circuits are growing globally.“We learned from Covid that life is short,” Ms.

Straus said.“Having a life-changing experience with family and friends you care about is something we value exponentially more today.”...