thetisqueen
MotorSport Ranch, a.k.a. MSR, is just what it says it is, a country club for motorsport enthusiasts, whether it be motorcycles, race cars, hot cars or the family cars ( no SUVs, minivans or pickups, please).It is free to enter the gates and park your car. Free to stand around and watch the drivers swoosh around the track. Free to sit on the bleachers and take pics of a friend or loved one as they do their thing.If you would like to join MSR you'll have initial fees, monthly fees, and track session fees, but you'll be a Member, and with that it's your privilege to enjoy MSR on member days, park mostly where you want, and so forth. You can also bring guests out to the track and run around with them. You can pay extra to rent a garage so you can store your track car on site instead of lugging it behind you on the trailer hooked up to your Porsche Cayenne or Dodge Ram.As for the rest of us, who have a car like a Nissan 370Z or a Subaru STI or a zippy Mini or such, we can contact MSR and ask for the name of a driving school, pay our $200 or so, and for a day we'll get classroom instruction and track time, learning mad skillz as we take those corners and zoom down the straights.The facility itself has two tracks, one 1.7 mile, another is the 1.3 mile. On occasion, both tracks are put together to make the 3.1 mile track.MSR is located in Cresson, Texas, one of your great smaller towns in the area. There's a Best Western across the street, a Texaco on site, and a decent "clubhouse," which is the main building. (Hungry? No food on site, but Subway, Sonic, and Tumbleweed BBQ nearby.)The clubhouse contains the check in desk, lots of brochures on schools, car repair shops, even a bulletin board with ads for race cars, tires and more. There are restrooms on the bottom floor of the building and there is a good sized classroom with a white board and track map. Upstairs is another classroom and also a nice outdoor deck with chairs and tables sturdy enough not to be budged by the incessant prairie winds.If you're driving by and the gates are open, it's worth a peek if you are interested in motorsports activities. If you are a true enthusiast, consider signing up for one of the motorcycle or vehicle schools. You'll learn to drive faster and better, all without fear of a speeding ticket.When leaving MSR, do keep your driving polite and law abiding, of course. The local enforcement crews are trolling for speeders, unsignaled lane changes and whatnot.My favorite time of year is Spring, when wildflowers abound in the area, especially in the center of the track. The flowers tend to go colorfully brilliant, offering a juxtaposition of sweet quiet meadow scenes against raging rabid speed machines.