A motor sports facility proposed for Putnam County by the father-son team of Scott Lagasse Sr. and Scott Jr., former sports car and NASCAR drivers, has captured the imagination of area racing enthusiasts.
Planned for a 443-acre property adjacent to the Palatka Municipal Airport, the completed project will feature a 3.4-mile road course designed to operate in various configurations so that multiple activities may take place simultaneously without interfering with one another. It will be combined with an oval-shaped course, which doubles as an arena for special events.
Other features of the project’s design include a racing-kart track, luxury garage units, a hotel, museum and more.
“It’s a pretty special project,” said Scott Lagasse Jr. “It’s something we’ve been working on quietly for quite some time.”
When complete, the facility will provide members a place to meet and interact with other car culture fans. The track will offer them a dedicated place where they can drive their high-performance automobiles in relative safety.
And its location will be a major asset to the membership. The propinquity of the airport will allow members to fly in and go directly to the facility next door.
At the same time, the track will allow TeamSLR, the master developer of the project, to carry on its mission of training the next generation of NASCAR and sports car drivers, as well as those who had to set their racing dreams aside for a while and now want to take it up again.
The property is advantageous to the track design. One leg of it lies parallel to the airport, which gives it a mile-long straightway. The property size offers other advantages.
“We’ll be able to build some strategic types of corners and straightaways and high-speed characteristics,” said Lagasse. “We’re very, very, very fortunate with regard to the location and the property itself.”
Scott Lagasse Sr. launched TeamSLR (short for Scott Lagasse Racing) in 1985. It evolved over the years into “something he and I could do together, and have a good time,” said the founder’s son.
At the request of Lorin Ranier, former co-owner of Ranier Racing with MDM, TeamSLR began training up-and-coming drivers in 2017, something the younger Lagasse found he very much enjoyed.
Today, TeamSLR has trained some of the top young drivers in the sport. One of their drivers, Tristan McKee, 15, recently won the Trans Am Series Championship – the youngest champ in the event’s 60-year history.
One aspect of the new facility that will benefit these young drivers is something Lagasse Jr. discovered during his own racing days.
“What I found when I was driving is you need a home base to go back to and refocus, to get away from the everyday things,” he said. “A place you can let your hair down and still train to become a better driver. That’s what I hope this will be.”
Lagasse credited his father for the track design, drawing from his long career in racing, and they received some input as well from Wise Optimization, with whom TeamSLR works daily.
CUBE 3 Architecture CEO Nicholas Middleton, along with RIMROCK Company’s President and CEO Micah Linton and Matthews | DCCM CEO Rob A. Matthews III have proven indispensable to the project’s architecture and design.
“We’ve got a pretty amazing team assembled here,” Lagasse remarked.
The goal, he said, was to make the facility “world-class.”
He also praised his father’s native community of Palatka.
“It’s been neat to see the community rally around (the project),” he said.
In addition to its regular daily operations, which cater mainly to the members, the facility will eventually and occasionally host some community and charity events. Training for law enforcement personnel and other first responders will also be offered there. And talks are ongoing to develop STEM-based motor sports technology courses offered by St. Johns River State College – training that TeamSLR currently provides to its technical staff.
“Education is a big deal to us,” Lagasse said.
Currently, the zoning portion of the development process is complete. Lagasse said they are working toward officially breaking ground in the first quarter of 2026.
He marveled at how quickly the project is progressing.
“It’s moving quite a bit quicker than I think anyone would have expected,” he said. “That’s a good thing. I can’t tell you the last time I’ve heard of anybody developing a project that’s ahead of schedule!”
In fact, it’s as much as a full year ahead of where TeamSLR had anticipated.
Lagasse said reservations for memberships and units will begin Nov. 17. Phase 1 will be 60 units.
To learn more about Scotty, Scott, the project and TeamSLR, go to TeamSLR.com.
