Austin Gets Some V8

V8 Supercar coming to Austin: Less F1, more NASCAR? (Photo courtesy of Circuit of the Americas)

With so much attention paid to Formula One, the fact that Austin's Circuit of the Americas plans to host multiple events gets overlooked. With MotoGP already confirmed for 2013, the track will also become the first US home for the V8 Supercar Championship, with other human and electric-powered events to come.

Starting in 2013, Austin will host the race for five years. If V8 is not a household name in America, that is because it is effectively (and in the broadest possible terms) Australia's answer to NASCAR. The sport uses heavily modified production cars (either the Ford Falcon or GM's Holden Commodore, the two biggest selling passenger cars in Australia) across the 15 date season. Currently, V8 races are only held in Australia, New Zealand and Abu Dhabi: The Austin deal is part of a planned expansion for the sport to six markets beyond the Antipodes. Circuit president Steve Sexton said, “The addition of V8 Supercars into our lineup at Circuit of the Americas will add to what we already know will be a rich and exhilarating fan experience."

That said, this partnership is a radical step for the track and for the championship, and one that may cause some ructions in the homegrown NASCAR scene. It seems inevitable that the Austin race will get compared to the Sprint Cup Series' two road courses – Infineon Raceway in California, and the former US home of F1 racing at Watkins Glen in New York. Current V8 Supercar champion James Courtney said, "Texans definitely like everything big and loud and that’s exactly what V8 Supercars are. They are going to love the way we bash each other, getting sideways and smoking the tyres. I definitely think they will take to it with both hands and really get into it."

V8 is unusual in that there are two basic formats to the races: A single 500 mile endurance race, or two shorter sprint races over race weekend. The Austin race will be sprint-style, with two 200 kilometer races between Friday qualifying and Sunday.

As for the car, V8s are unusual amongst racers in that they run on 85 percent CSR Ethanol (a corn-based mix of 85% denatured ethanol fuel and gasoline), which should sit well with Council Member Chris Riley. It was Riley that helped broker the environmental deal between the city and the track management approved at Wednesday's council session. Part of that agreement is that the track should host alternative energy and energy efficient car races. "This project shouldn’t just be about fast cars," Riley said (although considering that an electric Peugeot EX1 just beat the 12 mile Nurburgring in a little over nine minutes, averaging 85 miles per hour, "electric" is certainly no longer a synonym for "slow.")

Bike enthusiast Riley is also pushing for cycling and foot races on the track, and that fits in with earlier statements about the track. RunTex founder Paul Carrozza was one of the project's first public supporters and has talked about the track's potential for foot races. Austin's street racing calendar of marathons, half marathons and 5Ks has stretched the streets to breaking point, and several high-profile charities have discussed moving their fundraising races to the circuit. There has also been interest from the speed and endurance skating community.

Last month, Austin Sports Commission director Matthew Payne said that discussions are already underway with several human-powered sporting events companies including Vagary Events (organizers of last month's Dirt Remedy 2011 mountain bike series at Emma Long Metropolitan Course.)