Three and a half years after closing the sale on his Corvette advanced driving school in Pahrump, Rupert Bragg-Smith has plans to build another track outside Beatty.

"Selling a piece of land like that, it's almost like losing a child. It takes a while to get over it," Bragg-Smith said. "There's something about this. I really like Beatty. It has the feel of a mining community."

Bragg-Smith said he bought 480 acres of land between U.S. 95 and the Beatty Airport, with a western three-quarter mile strip of his land bordering on the runway. All but a 40-acre parcel are south of Airport Road, which lies about three miles south of town.

The location seems remote, but Bragg-Smith said it doesn't really take much longer than driving out congested Highway 160 to Pahrump from Las Vegas. It was a similar refrain when he established his old driving school in Pahrump.

Bragg-Smith opened the 2.2-mile track on 200 acres along Highway 160 on the south end of Pahrump June 10, 1998. During an interview with the Pahrump Valley View in April 2001, Bragg-Smith said he was under pressure from General Motors. "It's not so much the proximity to Beatty, it's the proximity to Las Vegas, and most tracks are within two hours of a major destination airport," he said.

Bragg-Smith thinks people might enjoy the drive through the desert to Beatty as part of the overall experience.

What's even better, Bragg-Smith said 200 acres of his property was formerly the man camp for the Bullfrog Mine, with water, power and phone lines already extended to it.

He said the Beatty Airport has runways long enough to land a Gulfstream jet, according to executives who flew to and from the Bullfrog Mine.

"What I plan to build is somewhere around a 2.8-mile race track, FIA certified," Bragg-Smith said. "I could supply the Beatty Airport with enough land in the correct spot for a taxiway and hangars.

"All the buildings, I want to do a southwestern style with a large area between. I may take on a partner at this point, someone who used to rent my track."

Bragg-Smith said he wants more room to breath away from Pahrump's high voltage power lines, billboards and approaching developments like Mountain Falls.

Car companies have used Death Valley as a testing ground for vehicles in hot conditions. In fact Beatty officials have tried to attract the manufacturers to the airport for some time.

"It will provide a unique experience for the automobile industry in the world, its proximity to Death Valley, and manufacturers love that style. They like to be able to see 50 miles and nothing around it," Bragg-Smith said.

In Pahrump, he ran a Corvette driving school, as he was sponsored by Chevrolet. In Beatty Bragg-Smith, plans to solicit various domestic and foreign car companies.

"I won't have schools, I'll have experiences. The type of track I'm designing and the lay of the land will provide an experience," he said.

Auto tracks are getting too busy on weekends, they can't accommodate what he calls "the grass roots automotive community."

Bragg-Smith foresees seeing Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, motorcycle and vintage racing clubs coming up to Beatty to rent the track. Unlike his successors at Spring Mountain Motor Sports Ranch, Bragg-Smith doesn't want to get into memberships, he'd rather rent the track out on a daily basis.

"I'm not a country club person and I never will be a country club person," he said. Having those memberships encumbers his style of operation, like "the tail that wags the dog."

He poured 500,000 square feet of asphalt for the Corvette driving school in Pahrump and expects to pour 1 million square feet in Beatty.

Bragg-Smith has visions of recreating Gold Center, building a two-story bar and restaurant, and recruiting developers to build stores and an Old West boardwalk.

He already has plans for the two-story bar and restaurant. He has a contractor hired already.

"This will take in the mystique of the west," he said. "That's what people come to see."