If riding the Grand Prix track at the Circuit of The Americas is on your to-do list, and you’re not a professional racer, 2026 may be your last chance to ride the course in the foreseeable future, according to the owners of RideSmart Motorcycle School and the Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association.

COTA is moving toward a membership model, and as of the current moment, 2026 is the last season in which RideSmart can offer schools and an upcoming CMRA race, set for the July 4 weekend.

“The executives at the track told us, we will give you dates for 2026. For 2027, everyone is done,” said Dave Johnson, owner/operator of RideSmart and CMRA, along with partner Quan Luu. RideSmart has taken over operations of CMRA, and the organization is no longer a non-profit. Which means events like the CMRA-sanctioned Moto Texas Superbike Challenge will be able to offer a cash purse, currently set at $25,000.

COTA officials did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Most tracks that operate on a membership basis require a cash buy-in, a purchase of real estate at the circuit, or some other form of entry into the club. They then charge a monthly fee as well. The majority of the activities at those tracks are designated for the members, and the remaining time goes to outside operations.

COTA’s website has announced the formation of what it calls “one of the most exclusive driving clubs in the world, THE CIRCUIT.” The club will be based in a new four-story clubhouse overlooking Turn One. While no membership fee has been announced, in an interview with the New York Times, COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein said the club “will probably be the most expensive club in the world for motorsports.”

According to the website grassrootsmotorsports.com, club members will have access to the track for at least 250 days a year. Add to that the days devoted to the professional racing events and the circuit-operated activities, and the days available for anything else dwindle. COTA plans to make those days available to the operations that generate the most revenue for the circuit, Johnson says, and that likely means track day organizations and similar entities will be priced out.

At COTA, there are several International-level series that hold races at the circuit, including Formula One, MotoGP and the World Endurance Championship for sports cars. Just the preparation for those events–let alone the actual days running the event–can take up a significant portion of the days allocated for non-membership activities. In addition, private car clubs, track-operated activities and races like the NASCAR and MotoAmerica rounds take place as well, and those events can generate significant revenue for the track, so they are likely to stay on the schedule.

RideSmart will continue with its schools elsewhere, and CMRA will continue with its race schedule as before. And Johnson is hopeful. He says the circuit owners have talked about plans to develop a smaller circuit in or near Austin with fewer amenities that would be accessible to private, amateur-oriented organizations, and Johnson would like to see the Texas Superbike Challenge be the first, not the one and only, held at COTA.

“Our hope is that it goes off really, really well, and I can go back to COTA and say, ‘I want to do this every year,'” Johnson says. “And racing with CMRA at COTA is a big platform jump. To be able to get on that stage is super cool for all club racers.”