Inside APEX Motor Club: $90,000 to Join, Race Tracks Replace Golf

A private club in Maricopa, Arizona is charging $90,000 to join — and instead of fairways, members get two race tracks and 240-plus track days a year.

APEX Motor Club operates on a 280-acre facility that swaps the traditional country club model for motorsports. The property includes two race tracks, a six-acre skid pad, 96 trackside garage condos, a drivers' lounge and a clubhouse. COO Bill Barba keeps the framing simple: "We're similar to a country club, but instead of golf courses, we have race tracks."

The club's target buyer is the wealthy enthusiast, not the valet-parking exotic-car owner. Barba is blunt about the distinction.

"The guy who buys or leases a Lamborghini to park at the valet is not a member of a motorsports club," Barba said. "Our members tend to have more enthusiasm for the vehicles."

What does membership cost?

APEX runs a tiered structure, and the fees only cover access — members maintain their own cars.

• Gold: $70,000 initiation plus $8,000 per year
• Platinum: $90,000 initiation plus $15,000 per year, adding event host days
• One-year trial membership: $35,000
• Under-35 membership: $25,000 initiation plus $4,500 annually

Both core tiers include 240-plus annual track days, transferable membership and family access. That last element is the club's sharpest differentiator, and it speaks to a broader shift in how the wealthy transfer wealth — experiences over assets.

The running costs are not trivial. "Motorsports is not a cheap endeavor," Barba explains. "To run a car for a weekend out here, you go through tires, brakes and maintenance. Depending on the type of car, that cost can go up quite a bit." Some members bring small maintenance teams; others arrive with five people analyzing lap data.

Who are the members?

The roster includes executives running global companies alongside local entrepreneurs. Barba says the culture flattens status at the paddock gate.

"Motorsports are interesting because they all share the joy, rather than expecting to be Mr. or Mrs. So and So when they're out here," Barba said. "That's part of the culture we've created."

Not every member races seriously. Barba estimates roughly 20% compete in wheel-to-wheel racing. For them, APEX runs an 11-race series with 10 to 25 drivers per event, depending on the car class. The rest chase lap times or simply drive.

The club has also built a corporate revenue line. Lexus supplies cars to the APEX fleet. Aston Martin maintains an on-site presence in the garage condos. McLaren Scottsdale, described as one of the country's highest-volume McLaren dealers, is a corporate member. Ferrari, Mercedes and Porsche rent the tracks for events — a channel Barba frames as a sales tool.

"It gives them a chance to put people who aren't necessarily enthusiastic enough to join a club on a track to understand what the car can do," Barba said. By his estimate, 85% of the engineering in performance cars never shows up on the street. An owner on their fourth Porsche 911 may not experience the car's full capability until an instructor rides along at APEX.

Why the family policy matters

APEX does not age out members' children, and Barba says that choice is deliberate.

"What we saw historically was that a lot of clubs would age kids out, and then they'd have to buy a membership," Barba said. "We want kids to stay as long as possible because it keeps parents, grandparents and everyone else engaged."

The policy taps into what the club calls the "new inheritance" — passing down passions rather than paintings and property. The Bacon family is the case study. Seth Bacon sold a logistics business focused on organ donations and sought a shared pursuit with his son Jace before college pulled him away.

"I wanted an opportunity for us to still do something tight together," Seth Bacon said. The pair bought two Radical race cars; at Jace's first race in Nevada, father and son competed together and Jace won.

"It made a real impact on the dad that out there, his son is an equal with guys who are running billion-dollar companies," Barba said.

Seth Bacon describes the community as much as the track: senior and retired professional drivers check in on Jace's career, and members trade business advice on acquisitions. APEX's bet is that a golf outing fades, but a repeatable adrenaline experience — priced from $25,000 to $90,000 at entry — keeps families renewing for decades.