- United States Grand Prix
F1 'foolish' to race on same day as NASCAR
Formula One has made "a foolish move" by scheduling the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Texas on the same day as the NASCAR race in the state.
That's the view of Eddie Gossage, president of the Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) where the NASCAR races will be held. While those races take place at TMS in Fort Worth, the grand prix will also be held on November 2 in Austin as part of the back-to-back pairing with Brazil which has been employed for the last two years.
However, despite a Gossage believes Formula One is making a mistake by trying "to compete" with NASCAR.
"It's a foolish move by Formula One," Gossage said. "Our two NASCAR Sprint Cup races draw the two largest crowds in Texas sports. It isn't the smartest move to try to compete with that. I'm sure regardless of what they say publicly, the folks at the Austin track are pulling their hair out over this one. They don't have any say over their date."
COTA chairman Bobby Epstein doesn't agree, saying some form of clash is inevitable but that the two races attract different crowds.
"Due to the large number of NASCAR events scheduled annually, there will occasionally be overlaps with events at Circuit of the Americas, and that will happen next year," Epstein said. "However, there are few similarities between a NASCAR race and the Formula One United States Grand Prix weekend we have developed. We see this as a great opportunity to draw sports fans from around the world to Texas and to proving again that Austin is the place to enjoy premium racing and entertainment."
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