COTA Honors Project Team with Construction Milestone Ceremony

// More Photos in the Gallery: COTA Topping Out Ceremony

 // Ceremony

Earlier today, hundreds of hard-working Austin Commercial workers, contracting businesses and team members were recognized for their hard work at a "Topping Out" ceremony at the Circuit of The Americas. A tradition around the world, Topping Out ceremonies celebrate the completion of structural work on a project as an honorary evergreen tree is placed alongside state and national flags atop the structure; this symbolizes growth and is said to bring ongoing luck to a construction project.

Supporters gathered at the southeast point of the three-leval, 270,000 square foot pit building where the symbolic tree was hoisted after a ceremony. Guests shared in the excitement as Circuit investors Red McCombs and Bobby Epstein presented State Senator Judith Zaffirini, Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gomez, Austin Commercial SVP Bill McAdoo and newly announced Circuit investor and local entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria. They each shared what the premium sports, entertainment and business development facility in southeast Travis County meant to them before placing tokens of today into a time capsule, to be buried and then opened in 25 years.

Red McCombs added a newly-minted silver dollar after joking about holding onto it for its current value. Bobby Epstein included a packet of Texas wild flowers; instead of a previously planned neighborhood in this locale, Circuit of The Americas will work to showcase and preserve the natural beauty of Texas Hill County. State Senator Judith Zaffirini delivered an inspiring speech before rolling up a 2012 Formula 1 driver lineup poster to the time capsule. She highlighted F1 driver Sergio Perez's excitement for Circuit of The Americas as his home circuit and emulated what many Americans already feel, "Mi Casa, Su Casa," in order to open our doors to our international neighbors and friends. Bill McAdoo added a current COTA site plan while John Paul DeJoria dropped a CD of Austin music into the box, signifying our recognition as The Live Music Capitol of The World.

Circuit president Steve Sexton also recognized the hard work and effort of all:

This project has required the continuous efforts from many different groups and individuals throughout the area. This ceremony marks a significant milestone in the construction. It was important for us to celebrate this achievement with the many people that have helped make it possible.

Each of the speakers took time to congratulate the truly stellar team of workers who've worked hard to make this project a reality.  In just one year, the project has transformed from little more than a bare piece of land into an amazing display of hard work and dedication from all parties involved.

Following the ceremony, everyone was invited into the neighboring media center to have some good 'ole Salt Lick BBQ.  Arguably the best in the state, if not country, Salt Lick proudly served the hundreds of workers and guests their famous menu, complete with ribs, brisket and some blueberry cobbler - Yum!

// Construction Milestones

Here is a list of the latest accomplishments that we are celebrating:

• Support beams installed in the highest point of the pit building, which is completely structurally erected;
• One third of the pit building's roof has been installed;
• More than half of the requisite structural steel has been installed in the permanent grandstand building;
• The road base for the racetrack between Turn 19 (T19) and Turn 20 (T20) has been installed;
• Exterior stone work on the media, technology and conference center is underway;
• Access roads through the paddock area (by the pit building) are taking shape;
• Dirt backfill around the Tunnel 1 area has been completed with crews shaping the racetrack to cross over the Tunnel 1 structure;
• Topsoil if going into sections of the infield with grass planting to happen next in those areas; and
• Amphitheater is taking shape with crews finishing the earth moving to that area.

By the numbers:

• 3.5 million cubic yards of dirt have been moved on the job to date, with 780,000 cubic yards of dirt brought onto the site;
• 711.5 tons of steel for the permanent grandstand have been erected
• 78,000 yards of concrete have been poured; and
• 550 workers are currently onsite and involved in the construction process.

// Looking Back, Yet Ahead

It's almost hard to believe this is what Circuit of The Americas looked like one short year ago:

On Location at the Circuit Of The Americas from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

// See You Sunday!

Don't forget to join us on Sunday for our Downtown Watch Party for the Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix! Click here for further details.

Internal Conflict at COTA

Late last night media reports throughout the Formula 1 industry were packed with news of Tavo Hellmund, Founding Partner of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, taking legal action against COTA to regain his foothold there.

Tavo Hellmund reveals the newly named Circuit of The Americas F1 project with Red McCombs and Bobby Epstein on April 12, 2011.You may recall that in November 2011, Hellmund called a press conference where he established his position with COTA and voiced his frustrations with execution of the F1 contract outside of his control.  Things have been quiet since that announcement and Tavo has only been rumored to be procuring new investors, presumably for other track locations and not COTA.

Saturday's news has ignited a new controversy that's likely to create more distractions from the world class facility under construction just outside of Austin, Texas.  The details of the relationship between COTA and Hellmund have been discussed in more detail by the Austin American-Statesman, whose coverage has insight into this relationship before these troubles became public. 

Tavo states that he was due $18 million as part of a buyout agreement for his share of the project and the race contracts with Formula 1 and MotoGP.  As Tavo claimed in the press conference in November, that contract has not been executed and he is still legally the Chairman of the circuit, according to the lawsuit fillings.

Additional details are likely to emerge as the week progresses, but the project is not necessarily hindered by this announcement.  COTA reaffirms that construction is on schedule in the following statement we received today:

"This is just a latest step in a pattern of behavior. Mr. Hellmund uses negative press to try and create an advantage for himself at every turn.

The fact is, he has has been found to be in breach of contract by Formula 1 and he has not fulfilled his agreements with Circuit of The Americas. Our focus remains positive. We are creating the most incredible entertainment and racing venue in the world, construction is on schedule and seat license and suite sales are very strong."

-- Circuit of The Americas Management

This is not the first lawsuit or threat thereof, but it is likely to cause the most rubber-necking because of the parties involved. When building a project of this magnitude there are bound to be disagreements and setbacks. While it may be some time before we have a clear and concise understanding of the behind the scenes work to bring our inaugural race to fruition in November, we hope for an amicable solution to keep this dream alive and on track (pun intended).

Hold on to your seat licenses - while Tavo had no further comments for Autoweek, he did say he would have more to share "soon."  And, the suit "does not seek to halt the F1 race scheduled for November."

"Formula 1 and Circuit of The Americas Ready to Roll"

Adding to the positive news from the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting earlier this morning, Circuit of The Americas has issued a press release confirming:

COTA has reached an agreement with F1 Management, ensuring the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix remains on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship race calendar.

Bernie Ecclestone "received his check today" (Joe Saward believes the price tag to now be $35MM).

Construction will resume immediately, ensuring completion for the 2012 race date.

Tavo's vision is referenced but as reported earlier, we do not see his information on the COTA website any longer.

You can read the full release here.

Congratulations to our friends at Circuit of The Americas! We are hopeful that the Texas weather will continue to cooperate so construction can progress at full steam ahead.

We are already reading your mind. You're thinking: "When do tickets go on sale!?" You should sign up for their official email list by clicking HERE.

//UPDATE

Formula 1 adds the news to their front page

An Epic Day in Austin, Texas

260 days. That is how long curious Austinites, die-hard F1 fans and everyone in between had to wait since the first F1 USGP Press Conference in July 2010 and this week's coming out party in Austin, Texas. In Tavo's defense, to say they have been busy would be an understatement.

We arrived at the Palmer Events Center on a typical April afternoon in Austin: 80' F (27' C), sunny with a few clouds in the sky, and so many people frolicking about in the neighboring Zilker Park, you begin to wonder if anyone works a typical 9-5 job in this town. As evidenced throughout Austin's cohesive, collaborative, laid-back yet get-down-to-business vibe, we passed by the sunny fun-loving people in the park and walked into the Palmer Events Center, where we were transported to a high tech press conference with a platform for innovation and excitement, and some cool backdrops. The stage was bordered with two giant screens looping some new and some familiar snapshots of Austin; the Williams F1 car served as a focal point and photo op; and about 100 media and invited parties began to fill the room.

We mingled, ran into our friend USF2000 Driver Rodrigo Sanchez, met a few new folks and took our seats behind the "Reserved Row," not knowing who would join us, but impressed when we were joined by Del Valle School Board President Richard Vasquez, Austin City Manager Marc Off, Texas Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, Texas Sen. Kirk Watson, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell (hard to see from this angle) and Council member Mike Martinez.

SPEED TV's iconic Bob Varsha welcomed everyone and noted that he had visited the construction site and was "impressed with what was being accomplished at the track site." Before introducing the founding team on stage, Red McCombs, Tavo Hellmund and Bobby Epstein, he also shared his newfound love for the city of Austin, and shared our sentiments that it is an active and entertaining town supported by the welcoming and fun-loving people of Austin.

You may recall that McCombs and Epstein were announced as the major financial backers at July's press conference and Tavo is the ring leader in this entire project. McCombs quickly took over and before announcing first order of business, the naming of the track, he reminded people of the scale and magnitude of this project, equating it to "a SuperBowl every year" for the city of Austin. There has been so much buzz around this press conference in the past week, including speculation about what was going to be announced, that we were confident a title sponsor would be named, thereby revealing something of the sort: "The AT&T Williams Momentum Park." That was my calculated guess because AT&T is headquarted in Texas and has strong business and historical ties to central Texas, that Williams F1 car keeps popping up, and Momentum Park was a name that was referenced via some online research.

Alas, McCombs, Epstein and Tavo revealed the track as "Circuit of the Americas - Home of the World Championships, United States," or "COTA" for short. I've heard some mixed reviews of the name, but the thought behind Circuit of the Americas was to tie in the United States with Canada, South and Latin America, where I think F1 fans might rival US F1 fans in number. I'm unable to embed the video here, but SPEED TV just posted a great 8 minute+ video of the highlights of the press conference. If the full press conference is published, we will share that video with you in the future. For now, you can watch the SPEED TV video of this F1 USGP April Press Conference by clicking here.

McCombs then invited Steve Sexton, F1US and now COTA President, to the stage and Steve also shared Varsha's sentiments of the warm welcome he has received as a new Austin resident. Then the discussion transitioned from the "Who" to the "What and Where." This is not just a race track, folks. The Circuit of the Americas is a destination: a high-end, multi-purpose development that has grown from 970 acres to 1,100 planned acres. Tavo began to paint a clearer picture of what we can expect at the Citcuit of the Americas:

• 40,000 square foot, 3-story tall conference center bordering the 300 yard pit area
• 14 executive suites, each 3,600 square feet with elevators, kitchens, latest A/V gear, high-speed connections and capacity for 75 people each (to be used by teams and sponsors on race weekends for meetings and hospitality)
• Main grandstand includes luxury suites for business entertaining and capacity of about 750, including commercial kitchen and cafe
• Media and conference center - business conferences, seminars and receptions, and converting to international media center
• 500-person banquet hall (private or corporate dinners and nonprofit fundraising galas)
• 5,400 square foot Medical Building with year-round use as a training facility (professionals and students) and converting to trauma care center for driver-athletes
• Live music entertainment venue during race and non-race weekends, including indoor and outdoor space, and spanning the equivilent of 3 football fields wide with a capacity of 35,000
• 22-story Observation Deck providing breath-taking and memorable views of the destination set amidst the gorgeous Texas Hill Country
• Entertainment and festival venue with capacity of 35,000

This article, "Circuit of the Americas Partners with Texas Schools," is a great overview of the educational institutions that have jumped on board with COTA and their specific roles "linking classroom learning to practical application work." We are really hoping to hear that Austin's own University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University-San Marcos are also jumping on board!

Tavo continued to highlight the business and economic impact of the facility not only during this fast-paced construction phase that we are currently in, but also the sustained opportunities for local and global companies for the duration of the 10-year contract with Formula One Management and F1 racing:

• Agreement with Austin Energy to build a new energy sub-station in Del Valle
• Research and development opportunities almost solidified with two large auto manufacturers
• Potentially 1300-employees tied to the multi-purpose facility
• Construction expenditures alone of over $400MM, with a focus to keep 80% or more of that in the pockets of local Texan businesses
• In addition to plans for on-site retail, the COTA team is in talks to bring a major hotel developer to the development
• In the course of a single F1 race weekend (which, as we know, is only 3-5 nights out of the facility's 365 days of planned business), you can expect 300,000 guests to spend 3-5 nights in the Austin and surrounding Central Texas areas and spending an average of $1400-1600

Tavo then shifted the focus back to the "Who and What" by introducing two icons in an equally exciting motorsport field: 1993 World GP Motorcycle Champion Kevin Schwantz and 2010 MotoGP "Rookie of the Year" Ben Spies. Schwantz made the highly-anticipated announcement of the addition of MotoGP motorcycle racing to the circuit's lineup. MotoGP is to the world of motorcycle racing what Formula One is to the world of automotive racing: they are both the cream of the crop in their respective fields; partnering the highest advancements in technology and innovation to deliver non-stop excitement to their large international audiences. The introduction of MotoGP's partnership with The Circuit of The Americas facility was met with energetic support from the crowd as Schwantz also reported a 10-year agreement was met to bring MotoGP to Texas from 2013-2022.

While I was live-tweeting snippits of the press conference via our Twitter feed, I heard Schwantz ask Spies "How excited are you to be able to come and race in Austin in 2013?" His response was "Very!" and I think you can expect to see an expansion of our COME AND RACE IT© product line to show our support of MotoGP's introduction to the Texas lineup.

As the press conference wrapped up and we were directed to make our way to the shuttles leaving for the construction tour of the facility, we snagged two great interviews with Bob Varsha of SPEED TV and Christian Epp of Tilke Engineering. You can enjoy them on our dedicated Press Conference page or via our Vimeo Channel.

For all high-def photos and official facility renderings, check out our Gallery.

Next up from us: our recap of the site tour, and hopefully next up from COTA: the "When" and more announcements on the "Who" regarding this decelopment of epic, Texas-sized proporstions.

In the meantime, tell us what you thought of the Press Conference and enjoy the first-ever video of the drive up Turn 1 at The Circuit of The Americas!

On Location at the Circuit Of The Americas from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

The Flying Lap - Peter Windsor Discusses F1 on Web TV

One of the amazing outcomes of launching this site has been the incredible converstations we have started with what we once considered "out of reach" F1 insiders. We never thought we would be in the same room as Red McCombs, shake hands with Susan Combs, or chat up a new friend named Tavo. We never thought our passion for Formula One racing would connect us with other fans in Atlanta, Canada, South America, London or Australia. We underestimated the number of F1 and motor enthusiasts in the Austin area alone! However, once we started talking about our exponential enthusiasm for F1 coming to Austin, we realized people were listening, and we started to listen back.

During the summer we read about a weekly chat on Twitter titled #F1Chat.  Hosted by a Formula One racing enthusiast and marketing maven, Lois Martin, #F1Chat was interesting to us because it encompassed the short 140-character appeal of Twitter but allowed users to stay on guided topic by using the keyword (or "hashtag" as they're called on Twitter) #F1chat.  I have really enjoyed sharing Lois's F1 enthusiasm, despite being located across the country, and during one of the chats, I was surprised to "see" Peter Windsor pop in and engage in the discussion.  Just a few months ago Lois's popular weekly chat became affiliated with Formula1Blog.com, an amazing online resource with incredible in-depth analysis and discussions of all things Formula 1, and she joined the group as Contributing Editor and continues to host #F1Chat.  Which brings us full circle, because...

A great new online show debuted last week called "The Flying Lap With Peter Windsor."  It is a live online Formula One Q & A show on Smibs.tv hosted by Peter Windsor and starring some incredible guests.  Here's the trailer:

This week's show will feature Bob Bell, one of the most successful F1 engineers of the past 30 years, and Todd McCandless, creator of one of the most prolifically-read formula one blogs on the internet, Formula1blog.com.

The show airs live at 12 noon CST on Wednesday, however there is also a special feature this Thursday.  Because we don't want you to miss a beat (and we think helping our friends with some good 'ol word of mouth is cool), check out any or all of the following links:

Smibs.TV
The Flying Lap Website
The Flying Lap TV Channel

The Flying Lap on iTunes

The Flying Lap on Facebook

The Flying Lap on Twitter

Peter Windsor's Website - The Race Driver

Peter on Twitter

Formula 1 Blog

Formula 1 Blog on iTunes

Formula 1 Blog on Facebook

Formula 1 Blog on Twitter

#F1Chat on Twitter

Lois on Formula 1 Blog

By no means is this an all-encompassing post on all the amazing people we've met, but we wanted to share this post so you can tune in to tomorrow's show.  We'll continue to share amazing resources with you as beginner and veteran F1 fans alike! 

Have any resources we should check out? Post them in our comments.  Here is last week's The Flying Lap show which included an intriguing discussion about the Senna movie.

USGP Press Conference Recap...via Twitter

While Kevin was at ground zero last week reporting on the Press Conference in Austin, I was watching along with the Austin-American Statesman’s live feed on Ustream.  A great feature of using Twitter is that a viewer can watch a webinar, Ustream, or live web chat and interact with other viewers by using a hashtag.  A hashtag is simply this sign # followed by a term.  Hashtags allow users to search for tweets that have a common topic.  For example, this past week I watched Lois Martin’s #F1chat (it’s every Monday if you are interested in watching or chiming in on Twitter, although this week it got hit by a spammer).  During the press conference, lots of people were tweeting quotes from Tavo and Red using hashtags such as #F1 or #USGP. 

Here are my tweets from that hour+ surrounding the press conference.  I started out complaining to the Statesman because we couldn't hear a thing! And it worked; they listened to our disgruntled tweets and fixed the audio.  Then I tweeted quotes from Tavo and Red as they spoke (which is typical of tweeters attending a live conference, so they can share the info with those not in attendance).  Disregard the misspellings, I was trying to get our tweets out ASAP:

• TAVO! TAVO! (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) 10:03 AM Jul 27th via Ustream
• sound is very low - hard to hear (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) 10:08 AM Jul 27th via Ustream
• "there's been speculation that there was foreign money involved..." but tavo worked tokeep it local #USGP #Formula1 10:09 AM Jul 27th via HootSuite
• Red McCombs involved, interesting #USGP #FOrmula1 10:10 AM Jul 27th via HootSuite
• "Judge a man by the success of his relationships with his family & friends" not his wallet - Tavo #Formula1 #USGP 10:11 AM Jul 27th via HootSuite
• TURN IT UP ALREADY (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) 10:12 AM Jul 27th via Ustream
• THANK YOU! My ear is next to my speaker! @statesmanf1 turn it up please! RT @liamthenry: @austingrandprix God damn this is stupidly quiet! Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:16:39 AM via HootSuite
• can anyone of the 808 viewers hear this? bc a lot of us can't #formula1 (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:17:25 AM via Ustream
• much better - thanks! #formula1 (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:19:10 AM via Ustream
• Red McCombs thanks Susan Comptroller for her work in bringing #formula1 to Austin, you can follow her here http://twitter.com/txcomptroller Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:21:13 AM via HootSuite
• Del Valle! #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:21:47 AM via HootSuite
• More about McCombs Partners: http://www.mccombspartners.com/ #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:22:19 AM via HootSuite
• @StatesmanF1 It's much better, thanks! :) cc @liamthenry @tojohn123 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:24:04 AM via HootSuite
• Is this a #UT press conference or a #Formula1 Press Conference? #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:24:21 AM via HootSuite
• @tojohn123 LOL still waiting for him to tie it all together Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:26:31 AM via HootSuite in reply to tojohn123
• Texas has a reputation for getting things done - Red McCombs #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:27:06 AM via HootSuite
• "We're more than a state capitol and a university - this is a vision for Austin" -Red McCombs #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:27:51 AM via HootSuite
• If you're excited ab #Formula1 coming to Austin, show your support! www.comeandraceit.com (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:29:20 AM via Ustream
• Tavo is doing a great job being patient while Red rambles #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:30:32 AM via HootSuite
• The Official Formula 1 United States site: http://www.formula1unitedstates.com/ #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:31:35 AM via HootSuite
• Thanks Red! We're excited to hear you're behind it #Formula1 #USGP (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:34:31 AM via Ustream
• Official Formula1 United States Twitter: @f1unitedstates #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:35:24 AM via HootSuite
• "Permanent facility" - Tavo's key point on success of #USGP #Formula1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:35:55 AM via HootSuite
• Austin - perfect access to Canada, Mexico, South America _Tavo #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:36:46 AM via HootSuite
• facility w/in 10 miles of airport, hotels, highways -Tavo #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:37:49 AM via HootSuite
• Tavo talks ab Austin being sensitive to environmental concerns #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:38:47 AM via HootSuite
• "This facility will be a world class multi-purpose facility" _tavo #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:39:56 AM via HootSuite
• Tavo: "There will be a great connection...between the universities...a technology sector. something much more than US Grand Prix" #Formula1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:41:35 AM via HootSuite
• Tavo: People will say "That's that incredible research & development center which also holds the Formula 1 Grand Prix" #Formula1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:42:26 AM via HootSuite
• "This is more than just a race." _Tavo #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:43:12 AM via HootSuite
• Yes, it's live Tavo! www.formula1unitedstates.com (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:43:47 AM via Ustream
• Tavo just restated RT @austingrandprix: The Official Formula 1 United States site: http://www.formula1unitedstates.com/ #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:44:02 AM via HootSuite
• 2 months ago our statement that we were ready to go WAS accurate -Tavo #Formula2 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:44:23 AM via HootSuite
• Q&A about to start re Formula 1 returning to Austin Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:45:12 AM via HootSuite
• "How do you move from being a Football fan to an F1 Fan?" LOL Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:45:57 AM via HootSuite
• Competition is competition. Red parallels football with skill, speed to determine to win #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:47:13 AM via HootSuite
• Tavo: It's the same. who finishes 2nd is the first loser. we didn't lose. we got the #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:48:26 AM via HootSuite
• Tavo: access-Elroy Wandering Creek site, primary entrance off 812 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:49:16 AM via HootSuite
• McCombs: what will the economic impact be for you? "Well i hope it will be immense." #Formula1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:50:08 AM via HootSuite
• McCombs: What will the economic impact be for you? "Well I hope it will be immense" #Formula1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:50:31 AM via HootSuite
• 1st contact: over 20 yrs ago; 2nd less than 1.5 yrs but more than a few months ago -Tavo Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:51:28 AM via HootSuite
• We're bridging the gap vetween Austinites and #Formula1 fans worldwide 222.theaustingrandprix.com Thank (#acl live at http://ustre.am/1r6y ) Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:52:41 AM via Ustream
• Thanks for the RT's and interacting with us today! More to come! #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:55:04 AM via HootSuite
• RT @f1unitedstates: The official website of Formula 1 United States Grand Prix™ www.formula1unitedstates.com Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:59:09 AM via HootSuite
• naturally! RT @beerandracing: LOL, Red McCombs ends @f1unitedstates #USGP announcement w/ 'Hook 'em Horns'! #F1 just got their first cowboy! Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:59:43 AM via HootSuite
• RT @beerandracing: "Red also owns McCombs Energy, & as already reported, there's a push 2use new track 2help develop alt fuels." #USGP #F1 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:02:31 AM via HootSuite
• RT @StatesmanF1: Here's the story on Red McCombs joining the Austin #F1 project. http://bit.ly/bSok89 #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:03:17 AM via HootSuite
• OFFICIAL SITE MAP for #USGP #Formula1 http://ow.ly/2hhNh Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:18:17 AM via HootSuite
• On phone with Kevin, on location at AT&T Conference Center after #Formula1 #USGP press conf - MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS! Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:20:56 AM via HootSuite
• Official #USGP #Formula1 Press Release (if you missed the press conf) http://ow.ly/2hi82 Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:27:03 AM via HootSuite
• Read more about Tavo & Red: http://ow.ly/2himK #Formula1 #USGP Tuesday, July 27, 2010 11:33:01 AM via HootSuite

One of my favorite tweets was from a follower who was at the gym and couldn't get off the elliptical machine because he was reading our tweets to follow the press conference:

@dimitrypatent: "In the gym, can't get off eliptical until I hear the loc of f1 track in austin. Thx 4 the live updates @austingrandprix"

Now that's technology for ya!

Here are videos (six total) of the press conference in its entirety, from KXAN's YouTube channel (watch out, sound starts immediately upon clicking any YouTube links):

What are your thoughts and concerns after watching the press conference?  Were you satisfied with the information surrounding the track location?  I was relieved to see the track location on a map and content to visit the official website, but felt like the only other substantial "news" was the announcement of McCombs Partners and Prophet Capital Management Ltd. as investors.  Another interesting element was the attendance, support and identification of MotoGP World Champion Kevin Schwantz as an investor as well.  Tavo coined the Austin track as "world-class multi-purpose facility" so I bet we will also see motocross coming to "Speedcity" (Red's nickname for the new facility).  I'm still anxious to see a track design from Tilke or a site development plan.  Assuming ground breaking really does occur in December, we're guessing we'll see more detailed track information in October.  Your thoughts?