It's being called a motorsports destination for anything with wheels: Racer's Paradise. The proposal got a thumbs up from Cherokee County Council Monday night, and now plans for a world class road course are in high gear. It’s set to be located on a 1700 acre site near Highway 105 and Lowry's road on Ashley Lane and expected to mean big business for the local economy.
He’s a guy who knows something about racing. Three-time NASCAR Cup Champion David Pearson. Pearson says, “I always liked road courses. It's different. You know you turn left and right, and I didn't get as tired because I wasn't doing the same thing all the time." While showing us around his shop in Boiling Springs, he says knows people who will be interested in Racer's Paradise, and he thinks it's a great idea. It’s a project proposed by two former racers which will feature a five mile road course, a kart track, ATV trail, a skid pad and drag strip.
Cherokee County Development Board Executive Director Jim Cook says, "There are a lot of people with expensive cars that go fast, and they want a place to go play with the on the weekends." It would operate like a private golf club with a joining fee and a yearly fee of up to $4,500. It’s an initial $25 million investment which could bring big bucks to the local economy.
Cook says, "Depending on its success, it could be drawing people from all over the country." Cook says the Cherokee county location was selected because it's in the heart of racing country, it’s along the 85 corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte, and it's a rural location. Cook says
Racer’s Paradise will also defensive driving training, and at least two spectator sporting events a year.
It’s a business plan Cook calls a game-changer if it all comes together, putting Cherokee County on the map. "Everybody already knows the peach. They already know the yellow mall, and we hope they will know racer's paradise soon."
The new racing complex will employ about 60 people in its first phase, and up to 200 in the future.
Construction could begin by early 2011.
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