F1 Austin... Best news this week

[Norhasken]

The thing that amused me about Indy was parking in people's yards.

[pacman1]

Other than the Speedway, what did Indy have to offer the average Formula One fan?

[Norhasken]

Originally Posted by pacman1

Other than the Speedway, what did Indy have to offer the average Formula One fan?

Chicago?

[mike]

funny article.

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...on-831020.html

[Ken]

Originally Posted by Howzit

Whoohoo. I love F1. The last one I attended was in Indianapolis a couple of years ago. !

I was there a couple years ago too and I've been to two in Montreal. LOVE them

Montreal has about 100,000 times the number of good looking women compared to Indy however.

[bradatlarge]

Originally Posted by Norhasken

Chicago?

I followed a caravan (5) black Mercedes S Class AMG's North on I-65 after the "debacle" a few years back, average speed was close to 100mph all the way into the Loop....and I hung with them in my C320 grocery getter.

[pacman1]

Originally Posted by Norhasken

Chicago?

So basically for anything resembling amenities or entertainment, you have to travel 3 hours from Indy? Austin's looking better and better.

I attended the 08 MotoGP event at Indy. Other than the track, the only thing exciting was the party in the hotel parking lot. We lit that place up.


6th Street in Austin






Throw in a huge live music scene, and an awesome dining and street food scene, all the amenities of San Antonio about 1.5 hours away and you have yourself a really, really nice destination.

[Josephvman]

Originally Posted by Norhasken

I went to the first 2 Indy races and agree that Austin will not get attendance anywhere near what Indy could generate.

And you base this on what exactly???

[Norhasken]

Originally Posted by Josephvman

And you base this on what exactly???

There is greater population density around Indy than Austin. Austin is a smaller city than Indy. Austin doesn't have near the lodging that Indy does. There are groups of people that will come to any race at Indy because it's Indy and that's what they do; Austin doesn't have that traditional fan base of attendees.

The main thing I can think of that would help Austin, would be huge numbers of attendees coming for race day from Houston and Dallas, the limitation there will be the highways, Austin has a 24 hour a day traffic jam on I-35 as it is now. Even if Austin could match Indy at Indy's low point, that means 100,000 on race day. Longhorn football can get 100,000 for a game, but you have to remember that football is the national sport of Texas. Racing ain't going to do it, and the traffic is a nightmare in Austin.

The first race in Austin might get 150,000, but that is far less than the 225,000 in Indy for the first race.

[wannaklr]

I'll reserve my enthusiasm until I know the date and average daytime temp on that date. I've heard Texas can get awful warm.

[mike]

we havent even hit 100 degrees yet this year. last year was another story.

[AntWare]

Originally Posted by Norhasken

the limitation there will be the highways, Austin has a 24 hour a day traffic jam on I-35 as it is now.

The new SH130 bypass was opened from Georgetown to SH183 a couple of years ago.
The next section down to IH-10 in Seguin (San Antonio) is under construction and scheduled to be open by...coincidence...2012

Originally Posted by Norhasken

Racing ain't going to do it

From Wiki

"Two racetracks formerly on the Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup Series) schedule were closed to make room for Texas Motor Speedway's two race dates...

Texas Motor Speedway is home to two NASCAR Sprint Cup races: the Samsung 500 and the Dickies 500, as well as two Nationwide Series races, the O'Reilly 300 and the O'Reilly Challenge and the Indy Racing League IndyCar series race, the Bombardier Learjet 550. The track also hosts two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, the Sam's Town 400 (which takes place on the same weekend as the Indycar Bombardier Learjet 550) and the Chevy Silverado 250."

[andruboz]

what is the internet good for if not speculation?

San Antonio sportscasters watch cowboys training camp like CSI's look thru microscopes..

so yesterdays footage had a weary Red McCombs spending a whole day at the camp attached to Jerry Jones' elbow.

My speculation is that Red knows real estate but he makes a lousy carnival barker. Red's in the F1 deal for the hotel's and property round the track.
Sure he played with the Vikings for a couple of years but he's not the same promoter Jerry is.

So Somebody probably told Red that " 'Muricans don't really care about go cart racin, they like Nascar." and he finally decided: Oh shit- i gotta find me a loud mouth with a whole lotta money quick, cause i'm gettin to old fer this shit. [ Red was walking slow with a cane and was winded and sweaty in a 75 degree dome.]

We'll see if Jerry gets his hands on some portion of the track or if he leaves Red hanging..

or maybe they we're just shootin the shit about football.

[rajflyboy]

Originally Posted by mike

we havent even hit 100 degrees yet this year. last year was another story.

I was in Dallas about 2 months ago and yes it was 100 degrees that day.

[mike]

I'm in Austin. It hit 100 the first day of august.