NASCAR México announced that its third round of 2026 would take place at the Tulum International Airport as part of the Tulum Air Show organized by the Air Force, a format no one expected on the calendar and reminiscent of what NASCAR plans to do in June at the Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, where all three national series will race on a street circuit within an active military base for the first time in the category's history. The idea of bringing races to unconventional venues makes sense and has appeal. The two-day ticket for Tulum costs $2,883.76 pesos with service fees included ($2,552 base plus $331.76 non-refundable fee), a price that no one anticipated.

Photo By Getty Images - Nascar

For that price, or even less, one can buy a three-day ticket to see the NASCAR Cup Series, O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, and Craftsman Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway the following week, where, for example, section PL425 costs $112.58 dollars, equivalent to about $1,900 pesos.

Texas Motor Speedway is a permanent 1.5-mile oval with 24-degree banking, seating for over 100,000 people, and three national NASCAR divisions competing over three days. Tulum offers the NASCAR México Series and Trucks México Series on a temporary, flat oval laid out on the private aviation area of an airport, over two days.

Texas Motor Speedway prices with three national series over three days

Within the 2026 season itself, the first round at San Luis Potosí was sold for $200 pesos and the second at Chiapas for $100 pesos, the usual price range for watching the NASCAR México Series.

Not even an event of the magnitude of the NASCAR Mexico City Weekend 2025 cost that much. That round brought the NASCAR Cup Series outside the United States for the first time and was arguably the second most important motorsport event in the country behind the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Three days at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and NASCAR México Series cost from $1,000 pesos in the blue zone and $1,400 pesos in grandstands overlooking the main straight, half or less than the cost of the Tulum ticket package.

The operator behind the event

OPEMSA, a business group focused on sports tourism, entertainment, and events, is the operator of the Tulum event, not NASCAR México directly. Jaime Velázquez Ramos, CEO of OPEMSA, has described the project as a "platform for technical innovation and a showcase for Mexico to the world," with a B2B business logic and country positioning. The ticket sales page promotes the event as "exclusive access to maximum speed and the most sophisticated lifestyle of the Caribbean."

The race is part of the Tulum Air Show organized by FAMEX, a branch of the Air Force that extended the invitation to NASCAR México, and whose aerial displays on the first days are free. The airport is state-owned and operated by Grupo Olmeca-Maya-Mexica, a majority state-owned company under the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional.

Photo By Google Earth

OPEMSA, Panama, and the lack of information

As of April 9, 2026, 16 days before the race, OPEMSA has not published images of the track or the facilities where the event will take place. It is the same company behind the Nations Panama City 200, the race that NASCAR México scheduled in 2025 as its first international expansion with a supposed five-year contract and which was canceled with two weeks' notice. Tickets were refunded, and no one has explained what happened with the project or the contract. The NASCAR México fan has the right to know what they are buying, and so far, no one has shown them. We all hope the event is successful and does not become another white elephant of motorsports in Mexico.