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Key Takeaways
- APEX Motor Club, a 280-acre facility in Maricopa, Arizona, swaps golf programs for race tracks and presents 240+ observe days a yr.
- Members, including business leaders, worth being “motorsports people” rather than celebrities.
Country golf equipment are an American custom among those rich enough to afford them. But as distinctive experiences become more and more coveted, many members are wanting for more thrilling options to a golf course and some fancy hors d’oeuvres. Enter Apex Motor Club.
APEX Motor Club is a non-public motorsports membership in Maricopa, Arizona, constructed around automobiles, group and competitors.
As COO, Bill Barba places it, “We’re similar to a country club, but instead of golf courses, we have race tracks.”
Costs and tradition
The Club is a 280-acre facility that includes 2 race tracks, a six-acre skid pad, 96 trackside storage condos, a drivers’ lounge and a clubhouse.
The aim is to give motorsports lovers a place to share that ardour with others, including their members of the family. At the same time, the unique luxurious panorama presents an escape from the stress of operating a billion-dollar company, as some of its members do.
“We’ve got members whose names are known,” Barba says. “They run global companies, plus some local entrepreneurs that built great businesses. 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. That’s part of the culture we’ve created.”
There are two major membership varieties: Gold, a $70,000 initiation price plus an annual $8,000 price and Platinum, a $90,000 initiation price plus an annual $15,000 price. The two are related, offering 240+ annual observe days, transferable membership and household access, with Platinum offering occasion host days. They also just lately launched a one-year membership for $35,000 and an under-35 membership with a $25,000 initiation price plus $4,500 yearly.
“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.”
While APEX offers the location and platform, members must keep their own automobiles. Some have small groups doing only the vital upkeep, while others come to the observe with 5 people analyzing the knowledge behind each lap. Some look to shave milliseconds off their cornering, while others just need a place to let the fancy journey they just purchased rip.
Driven to drive
APEX’s business model consists of partnerships with luxurious car firms. They have a deal with Lexus, which introduced out automobiles to be part of the APEX fleet. They also have a relationship with Aston Martin, which has an on-site presence in their storage condos. The native McLaren Scottsdale, one of the nation’s highest-volume McLaren sellers, is a company member of the membership.
Companies will also rent the tracks for occasions, including Ferrari, Mercedes and Porsche.
“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 explains. According to him, 85% of the engineering in efficiency automobiles never exhibits up on the road. At APEX, someone might own their fourth Porsche 911 but never expertise its full energy until they get on the course with an teacher.
“The guy who buys or leases a Lamborghini to park at the valet is not a member of a motorsports club,” Barba says. “Our members tend to have more enthusiasm for the vehicles. Then there’s a whole different area of what level of racing they may want.”
While most members are in observe time, Barba estimates about 20% take wheel-to-wheel racing significantly. For them, APEX runs an 11-race collection with 10 to 25 people per race, relying on the car. “Some people love it and thrive on the competition and pushing the car. Others want to enjoy the tracking and their times, but not race,” Babra says.
A household affair
What units APEX aside from the competitors is its household coverage.
“If you join APEX, your spouse and kids are a part of it, and we don’t age them out,” Barba shares. “What we saw historically was that a lot of clubs would age kids out, and then they’d have to buy a membership. We want kids to stay as long as possible because it keeps parents, grandparents and everyone else engaged. So it’s a family membership because we want it to be a family experience.”
This performs into a bigger theme among the rich: discovering the “new inheritance.” Rather than passing down costly work and large homes, wealthy dad and mom need to give their youngsters something more significant and personal.
One option is their passions. “Members will talk about the first race car they had, the first time they reached a certain speed, or the first time they watched their child drive a car,” Barba says. “It’s a passion that passes down, and it connects back to what I believe is most potent about motorsports: the emotions.”
One instance is the Bacon household. Seth Bacon had constructed a profitable logistics business centered on organ donations and offered it. Looking for a means to spend more time with his teenage son Jace as he approached maturity, he discovered an sudden answer: racing.
“He was about to turn 16 and get his driver’s license. He’s getting a job. He was busy in school. He’s about to go off to college, and I thought this is that period where he’s beginning to separate himself from the nest,” Seth says. “I wanted an opportunity for us to still do something tight together.”
The two visited APEX to watch a few races. Before long, they purchased a pair of Radical race automobiles and hit the observe themselves.
“Instead of the son ignoring him at 16, they’re working together on racing,” Barba says with a chortle.
At Jace’s first race at another membership in Nevada, father and son competed collectively, with Jace successful.
“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 says.
The Bacons could take their automobiles to any observe, but few offer the built-in group they’ve discovered at APEX.
“There’s a lot of senior drivers, a lot of retired professional drivers who are members there, and everywhere we go, they’re always checking in on him, asking about his career,” Seth says of Jace. “It really is more of a community of people who are willing to support one another, not only on track, but also, how did that business of yours go? Did you get that acquisition you were looking for? What do you need next?”
Business connections are great, but at the finish of the day, APEX is about automobiles, group and competitors. A hole-in-one is unforgettable, but the average day on the golf course doesn’t essentially make the lifetime spotlight reel. Driving a luxurious race car at breakneck speeds on an open observe? That’s an expertise that’s not only unbelievable, but repeatable.
Key Takeaways
- APEX Motor Club, a 280-acre facility in Maricopa, Arizona, swaps golf programs for race tracks and presents 240+ observe days a yr.
- Members, including business leaders, worth being “motorsports people” rather than celebrities.
Country golf equipment are an American custom among those rich enough to afford them. But as distinctive experiences become more and more coveted, many members are wanting for more thrilling options to a golf course and some fancy hors d’oeuvres. Enter Apex Motor Club.
APEX Motor Club is a non-public motorsports membership in Maricopa, Arizona, constructed around automobiles, group and competitors.
As COO, Bill Barba places it, “We’re similar to a country club, but instead of golf courses, we have race tracks.”