It's club day at Precision Drive Club at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Families fill the tables on pit lane for al fresco dining from Zuma, the global Japanese cuisine restaurant. Drivers on the straightaway on the other side of pit lane thunder past at north of 150 mph. Guests and family take turns riding shotgun in one of the McLarens from the club fleet driven by a pro driver.
Precision Drive opened in November 2024 as a way to monetize billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross' investment in building a top-grade track certified by the Formula 1 governing body, the FIA, at his Hard Rock Stadium to host the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix each May. Approximately 275,000 people turn out for the three-day event. The idea of the club is to put the track to use for some of the rest of the year.
Unlike some motorsports clubs, this one doesn't sell garages nor offer residences. What it does sell is access to that F1 track, which can be configured five different ways. The club has simulators, coaches, a bar, food from a rotating list of Miami's finest restaurants, first-responder teams onsite and lots of staff to see to wants.
During breaks from driving, members, wearing driving suits opened to the waist, swap experiences. They have access to the Dolphins locker room. (The Fins use it only on game day.) Monitors everywhere display every turn and straightaway. In-vehicle cams show drivers and lap times. In the same control center used for the Grand Prix, a crew facing a wall of monitors oversees safety, weather and operations. "Everything we do, we do to the same standards as the Formula 1," says John Murphy, managing director of Ross' South Florida Motorsports, the Ross entity that includes the Grand Prix and club.
Club members get to enjoy Grand Prix access and rub elbows with drivers and celebrities. They also get concierge help in scoring tickets to games and concerts at the stadium. But the main event is driving on club days, whether their own car or a club McLaren. Yes, some people join without having their own race car, Murphy says. The track is open for about 50 club days a year. (The stadium campus stays plenty busy the other days with the likes of Taylor Swift, this year's college football championship game and World Cup, Dolphins and University of Miami home games and tennis' Miami Open.)
Most members have a South Florida residence, Murphy says. He pauses in an interview frequently rather than try to talk over cars roaring by or the noise of pit crews swapping out tires on a Ferrari. The youngest member is 20 and the oldest 70, he says. "The one thing in common is they all love driving," he says.
Murphy won't disclose the number of members nor the initiation fee beyond saying it's in the six figures. He does say membership will be capped at 100, and the organization is pleased at the number signed thus far.
The migration of wealth to South Florida sure helps. "Every (car) manufacturer we spoke to (says) South Florida is either their biggest market in the U.S. or fastest growing or both," Murphy says.