COTA Cancels all Non-Pro Events

WTF? Sorry, post from other site, but might affect people here.

http://jalopnik.com/5970719/austins-circuit-of-the-americas-cancels-track-days-screws-over-racing-fans-everywhere

Yeah, just saw the news. I'll see if we can find out anything more.

That really seems insurance related. Just a guess though.

Not explaining it is a bad move.

Doesn't bode well, people are talking about going after the $25 Million tax now. I can see why.

And I was looking forward to running pathetically slow laps with my Miata there and maybe going to see the V8 Supercars.

They will get no support from me now.

What a let down.

Have the owners asked the other major tracks how well they do without renting to the little guys?

I can think of one track that finally went "members-only", but many more who have to invite other groups in just to keep the lights on.

I'm skeptical that they can pay the bills with marquee events only.

They did an update and it says that CotA media coordinator responded by saying they canceled with anyone who hadn't signed a rental agreement yet because apparently they are packed to the gills with events.

We'll find the truth at some point.

i'm not surprised by this.. i kinda knew something like this when i first read that Red McCombs was involved.. when he owned the Vikings, he tried for years to get the state of MN to build him a shiny new football stadium without kicking in any of his own money, and he wanted to get the stadium built without a guarantee that he'd keep the team there and he wanted most of the revenue generated from it. thankfully, the MN legislature called his bluff and told him to take the team somewhere else if that's what he wanted to do, and he sold the team and went away. then when you mix in the ginormous greedy fustercluck known as Formula 1, you just knew that they would pull something like this.

I don't believe Red has been involved for quite some time now.

well, it is their sandbox

only time will tell

I was actually surprised that they were letting people sign up in the first place. The original line was no track days and very few amateur races will be held there.

At the end, I think they are going after the corporate rentals. I know cadillac already has time booked there and rumor has it ford is testing there soon too. Detroit is much deeper pockets then the normal track day enthusiast. It's not like texas is short of tracks for track days. I mean it would be cool to run the same track as F1 but there are 4 tracks within 3 hours for me to run at. There are many choices.

As usual, Steven Cole Smith has the answers:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121222/F1/121229952

BMW CCA was hosting a race there this season and I was seriously considering towing down - guess I better inquire if they have been sacked first.

Typical Jalopnik and their sensational journalism....

If you read the COTA media person's response, they cancelled SOME events. Not ALL events.

Let's think about it for a minute. If you have driving events, chances are, the ultimate would be at COTA. COTA, wanting to make money and pay for the track, will take as much as they can. The response is probably bigger than expected, so some things have to shuffle. Especially when you're getting V8 Supercars, Grand Am Series, etc. As COTA, you're going to take those over an HPDE every time. Something tells me the 4 events that were cancelled were because of another event (Indy, Nascar, etc) that we haven't heard about yet.

But, it's the internet. So, when someone gets butthurt, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. I think it's comical and sad that the guy who got his event cancelled and bitched about it at the same time said he was excited about having the event there......

So many people want to knock COTA are the same ones that would jump at the chance to drive on it.

-Rob

“The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.”

wow just wow .....

They've just announced they will honor ALL agreements for track days.

wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....

Where does it say that? MVP told us 600-650 per person for the weekend. They would need 50 car run groups to cover that, I suppose it's possible since its a big track but I dono.

wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....

That is what the viperclub got quoted. 50-75 car's though.

wearymicrobe wrote:

wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....

That is what the viperclub got quoted. 50-75 car's though.

At 50 that's $1000 per person.....I suspect there are enough to afford that level. I'd LOVE to run the track but at that price + getting down there, that's tires/brakes for a season and 5-6 days.

But they aren't advertising for guys like me.

z31maniac wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....

That is what the viperclub got quoted. 50-75 car's though.

At 50 that's $1000 per person.....I suspect there are enough to afford that level. I'd LOVE to run the track but at that price + getting down there, that's tires/brakes for a season and 5-6 days. But they aren't advertising for guys like me.

1000$ or so a person, with meals, and with garage space and lifts + TONS of track time.

Different price point I guess but I think it is a decent deal for the quality of the track and a Viper/Ferrari/Exotic will burn 2-3K worth of consumables in a day if you run the whole day.

carguy123 wrote: I don't believe Red has been involved for quite some time now.

i haven't followed it too closely, but i remember that he was a part of the group that made the initial announcement..

regarding the costs to run there at the $1000 per person level- that's pretty close to being in line with what people pay to be in a Chumpcar race if they are going in with a car that's already built, so it's not too bad.. i wonder how much cheaper they'd go if someone didn't want to full on package with garages and catered meals and what not- just show up, pick a spot on pit road, and head out for the track.

wearymicrobe wrote:

z31maniac wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

wbjones wrote: “The cost of private track rental is $50,000 for an entire day.” wow just wow .....

That is what the viperclub got quoted. 50-75 car's though.

At 50 that's $1000 per person.....I suspect there are enough to afford that level. I'd LOVE to run the track but at that price + getting down there, that's tires/brakes for a season and 5-6 days. But they aren't advertising for guys like me.

1000$ or so a person, with meals, and with garage space and lifts + TONS of track time. Different price point I guess but I think it is a decent deal for the quality of the track and a Viper/Ferrari/Exotic will burn 2-3K worth of consumables in a day if you run the whole day.

It just depends on what they consider an appropriate amount of people on track..............for a track that size..........I'd think 30 would be EASY.....so 7-8 sessions should be no problem.

We will just have to see how it works out. I don't have a truck or trailer, but I'll rent both to bring my track rat Miata down there for a 2 day weekend.

Ditto, it would be awesome to track the Challenge Mustang there, and if it was once $1K would be OK

The David Murray Track Days event there is $899.

A couple years ago, you could rent Hallett for the day (weekday) for about two large, and that included corner workers, everything except the optional timing thingies, pics and food.