The economic collapse brought on by the Great Recession was particularly gruesome in the Great Lake State. Michigan faced job losses in the seven figures, with unemployment reaching over 15 percent, the highest levels in the country during the downturn. It wasn't what most would consider the time or place to start a new business, especially one tangentially related to cars.
That man is named Jim Farley, the current CEO of the Ford Motor Company and an accomplished vintage racer in his own right. The automotive executive wanted a track inspired by Laguna Seca and worked with Beattie to hone the design with specific callbacks to the track out of dremel-cut foam. Farley was just the first of many well-known clients, with the likes of Bobby Rahal and Zak Brown ordering up tracks of their own.