Banking executive Alan Wilzig’s racetrack property—Wilzig Racing Manor, as it’s known—raised a few eyebrows among neighbors in sleepy Taghkanic, New York when it was under construction back around 2010. It wasn’t always an easy project to see into completion, and Wilzig had to fight tooth and nail to reach the finish line. Never mind the racetrack; try negotiating the zoning.

But the man who had a cameo in Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ did see the checkered flag, and the result is a racing estate: the ‘back 40’ is now a full on racetrack, a slightly less than 1.2 mile bit of winding asphalt with 80 feet of gradient and safety margins, hairpin turns and grassy medians, all ensconced somewhat incongruously in Columbia County farm country.

Finance comes naturally to Wilzig; he owned the Trust Company of New Jersey (TCNJ), selling the institution in 2004 for over $725 million. He purchased the property in Taghkanic about a year later, for $3.4 million. The land encompasses some 275 acres.

As things now stand, Wilzig Racing Manor is the only private property in the world to incorporate its own private racetrack. The home that existed on the land prior to the giant slot-car course holds its own post-track, though: it’s a 150 year-old colonial. And, to complete the hybrid motor enthusiast/suburban corner of New York, there’s a museum dedicated to the art of driving, where Wilzig’s collection of cars, motorcycles and related paraphernalia may be perused.

Wilzig’s extra-motorsports interests extend to philanthropy: he is a founding member of the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan. The Project is dedicated to strengthening Jewish identity and community in downtown Manhattan.

Photo credit: Instagram/alanwilzig