What does a track need to be considered "great"? One need look no further than Virginia International Raceway or Barber Motorsports Park. Those are truly first-class facilities. However, if we're talking about a local club track, I think we can certainly settle for a lot less.

I'm also not one to wax poetic about creature comforts. I'm OK with Porta-Potties for two days, and I rarely use the track showers.

In a club facility I'm looking for - first and foremost - a well-laid out track with a good surface and plenty of runoff. Without that, nothing else matters.

I also don't give two shakes about spectator accomodations, because we rarely get enough spectators to make it worthwhile. Plus, a club track will have to be built in the boonies, making it very unlikely that it will attract a crowd.

The paddock area must be clean, flat, and dry. Paved if at all possible. There must be sufficient and convenient off-paddock trailer parking space so folks will be encouraged to move their open-deck trailers out of the way.

Flat concrete setup pads that are clearly marked as such so they won't be imstaken for the "I got here first" paddock spaces.

There should be a meeting club house and classrom, primarily for driver's meetings and class sessions for HPDE events. The way to pay for this track is via club racing (and not just SCCA), a driving school, open-track testing sessions, and various HPDE groups. Do it right and the facility will be rented every usable day of the year.

A 2- or 4-car tech barn so that Honda engine disassemblies can happen in good conditions and relative privacy.

Trees/shade interspersed throughout the paddock area. Keep this in mind before we start dozing all the vegetation.

Free.