The big daddy of new events to grace our wonderful city is the first ever NASCAR race at circuit of the Americas. As of now the race is still a go and will kick off Friday May 21, with the big race on Sunday the 23. I’m not the biggest race fan, but I’m excited to check out my first NASACR race if I can score a ticket. It’s just one more event that raises the status of Austin as a world class tourist destination, not to mention a great place to call home.
Austin now has two major races with NASCAR and the only Formula One stop in the US. Circuit of the America also hosts the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, one of the premiere motorcycle racing events in the world. Other smaller races and shows over the years have included a classic car racing and car show, solar car races, and the X games.
Besides for the obvious music events at the amphitheater[c1] , the space is also home to go carts, a bike night where you can ride your bicycle on the race track, and opportunities to rent racecars for the big track. The Go Carts are cool, but you can’t drive them on the famous race track, so that kinda seems like a fail.
Other race tracks in the region
As a 40th birthday present to myself, I decided to buy a dirt bike, and have made a few trips out to the big boy dirt track in Del Valley, with visions of Road to Glory in mind. In the spirit of Nasacar, we have been looking around at some of the smaller tracks in the region, and what it takes to get out of the go-carts and into a $2,000 bitch’en camaro on a dirt track in the middle of nowhere Texas .
