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One again this year, the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix and the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race took place on the same weekend.
Attendance figures for year three of the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) are still to be released but it had the feel of a big event with massive general admission.
So it was a success despite a bizarre piece of scheduling, which saw the race take place at the same time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway near Forth Worth, located some 300km away (200 miles).
According to Black Book F1, Eddie Gossage, the entrepreneur of the Texas Motor Speedway, wasn't impressed with F1's diary-work.
"Race fans shouldn't have to choose," he said over the weekend.
"Some chose here, some chose there. This was a shot at NASCAR by Bernie [Ecclestone]. The folks in Austin should have been stronger and pushed back, but I think that's their relative inexperience."
Thankfully for Gossage, who seemed a touch sore about the whole thing, there will be no such clash next year, with the F1 race taking place a week earlier as part of a new back-to-back with the returning Mexican Grand Prix.
Bobby Epstein, the driving force behind COTA, is already billing it as the 'Tex-Mex two-step', a tagline we can only hope does not catch on.
Attendance figures for year three of the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) are still to be released but it had the feel of a big event with massive general admission.
So it was a success despite a bizarre piece of scheduling, which saw the race take place at the same time as a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway near Forth Worth, located some 300km away (200 miles).
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| NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: NASCAR) |
According to Black Book F1, Eddie Gossage, the entrepreneur of the Texas Motor Speedway, wasn't impressed with F1's diary-work.
"Race fans shouldn't have to choose," he said over the weekend.
"Some chose here, some chose there. This was a shot at NASCAR by Bernie [Ecclestone]. The folks in Austin should have been stronger and pushed back, but I think that's their relative inexperience."
Thankfully for Gossage, who seemed a touch sore about the whole thing, there will be no such clash next year, with the F1 race taking place a week earlier as part of a new back-to-back with the returning Mexican Grand Prix.
Bobby Epstein, the driving force behind COTA, is already billing it as the 'Tex-Mex two-step', a tagline we can only hope does not catch on.
 |
| Start of the US Grand Prix at Austin, Texas. (Photo: WRi2) |