Operating Road · Performance

M1 Concourse

City of Pontiac · Oakland County, MI

Woodward Ave (M-1) at South Blvd · ~87 acres · former GM plant site

1.5
Miles
11
Turns
~35′
Elevation
2016
Opened

Runs clockwise and counterclockwise (operator). Circuit branding: M1 Circuit. Not a dirt oval — files under Road Courses.

How to read this record

  • Category — Road · Performance circuit on a mixed auto campus (garages, events). Dirt stays under Dirt Courses.
  • Three desks — Operator runs the circuit/campus. Landowner holds the deed. Land-use body is the City of Pontiac.
  • Campus ≠ only the circuit — Car condos, event center, planned drag strip / X Center / off-road are on the same ~87 acres. This page cites the road circuit first; expansions go in Record Watch when primary.
  • Gifts — Fund the cited record, not a land purchase or membership.
  • Corrections — Contact.

Why this record matters

M1 Concourse sits on Woodward Avenue — Michigan’s M-1 — on the former GM Pontiac West / validation-plant acreage. The public story is brownfield-to-motorsports campus: a 1.5-mile performance circuit wrapped around private garages and event space inside the City of Pontiac. Status: operating. Expansions (drag strip, X Center, off-road) belong in Record Watch as they hit primary calendars — not as a rewrite of the circuit’s open status.

What they built

  • M1 Circuit — 1.5 miles, 11 turns, ~35 ft elevation (operator). Bidirectional (CW / CCW).
  • ~87-acre campus at Woodward & South Blvd; operator also cites a pit lane and festival / skid-pad area on the property.
  • Track design work associated with Martyn Thake and Motorsports Consulting Services (MCS) in published case studies — cite those sources; do not invent a signature “Alan Wilson” line.
  • Addresses on the record: event entrance 45399 Woodward Ave, Pontiac, MI 48341; also listed 1 Concourse Dr; deliveries 25 Rapid St.

Who

Developer Brad Oleshansky’s team closed on the RACER Trust / former GM acreage and broke ground mid-2010s (contemporary Free Press / DBusiness). Current public owner/CEO branding: Paul Zlotoff / M1 Concourse. Operations phone on the contact page: (248) 326-9999 — ops desk, not a photo-permission ask.

History

  • Site lineage: Rapid Motor / GM truck and validation uses; plant largely demolished ~2008–09; land through RACER Trust.
  • ~2014 — Acquisition era for the M1 project (operator “about” copy).
  • 2015 — Groundbreaking coverage; brownfield reimbursement framing in Oakland County reporting.
  • 1 Jun 2016 — Performance track open date in secondary enthusiast write-ups (confirm against operator if dating a plaque).
  • 2026 — Public expansion talk: 1/8-mile drag strip (summer / Burnout-tied targets in trade press), M1 X Center, M1 South off-road — treat as announced / under construction until open primary.

What’s next

Operating circuit. Watch City of Pontiac Planning / site-plan packets for campus changes, and operator calendars for drag strip / X Center open dates. No sale watch asserted here without a primary listing or deed.

The town that hosts it

City of Pontiac, Michigan

Land-use is the City of Pontiac (not a surrounding township). Planning & Zoning administers site plans, special uses, and the zoning map (Council adopted a new zoning map 2 Nov 2023).

Planning & Zoning — (248) 758-2824 · planning@pontiac.mi.us

City Hall — 47450 Woodward Ave, Pontiac, MI 48342

Web — pontiac.mi.us (Planning & Zoning / interactive zoning map)

We publish the public record. We do not lobby the council.

Record Watch — Operating. Watch: City of Pontiac packets · drag strip / X Center / off-road open dates when primary. Seed post after publish.

Help keep this record public

A gift does not buy M1 Concourse. What it does: keep the record on the tracks still running and the ones that just closed.

Donate

Photo sources

  • Carpenterdesign — Mini Cooper / Speed Ring at M1 Concourse (Wikimedia Commons; keep the file’s license line on the image).
  • Official m1concourse.com galleries are copyright. Do not lift those files without a written license.

Sources

  • m1concourse.com — M1 Circuit · Contact · About
  • mcs.ms — M1 Concourse case study
  • Free Press / DBusiness — groundbreaking & land close (2014–15 era)
  • WXYZ / PRI — 2026 expansion / drag strip announcements (secondary until open)
  • pontiac.mi.us — Planning & Zoning
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