Auto Racing Capsules: Race promoters reveal 1st details of Austin track
AUSTIN (AP) — Promising a fast track with sight lines that will let spectators watch most of the race from wherever they sit, the promoter for the revival of the U.S. Grand Prix said the proposed course is 3.4 miles long with 20 turns and elevations up to 133 feet.
Tavo Hellmund, managing partner of Full Throttle Productions, told The Associated Press the track will include grandstands near the start and finish line for at least 20,000 spectators with room for 50,000 or more around the rest of the track. It could cost up to $220 million to build.
Hellmund called the design "a throwback to old, classic tracks" with several turns inspired by racecourses in Europe.
Formula One officials were expected to formally announce details of the course designed by German firm Tilke on Wednesday.
Formula One hasn't raced the U.S. Grand Prix since it was last held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007. Formula One announced it had a 10-year deal to race in Austin beginning in 2012.
The race in the Texas capital would mark the first U.S. Grand Prix on a course specifically built for an F1 race.
The Austin track is designed to use the natural topography of gently rolling hills on 900-acres a few miles southeast of downtown. Hellmund said designers delivered a track with difficult turns and straightaways to get drivers at speeds around 200 mph.
The design has been approved by Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, Hellmund said.
"He likes it," Hellmund said. "I wanted a track that required commitment, is fast, technical and fan friendly."
Hellmund said he wants a facility that will allow spectators to still see the race on distant parts of the track and let them walk to different areas to watch.
"One of the biggest complaints in racing is that you can only see part of the track," Hellmund said. "There will be access to allow people to roam."
Race promoters are facing tight deadlines to get it built. Construction hasn't begun, squeezing the time for builders to pave roads and build grandstands and pit areas.
Hellmund said he hopes to break ground by December or January, if not earlier. Failure to get it completed on time is not an option, he said. Red McCombs, former owner of the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Vikings is one of the chief financial backers of the project.
Before its run in Indianapolis, Formula One had been hosted by Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix and other cities on city street circuits. The race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was run on a road course built inside the oval track. Watkins Glen, N.Y., hosted a Grand Prix from 1961-80.
Austin seemed an unlikely destination for a Grand Prix event on a circuit that includes stops in Monte Carlo, Sau Paulo and Singapore. But with a metro area population of about 1.7 million, Austin is a 3-hour drive or less from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
NASCAR
NASCAR's Drive for Diversity goes reality TV
NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Brunelli is a fan of "Jersey Shore" and "The Real World," so the 17-year-old race car driver knows just how addictive reality TV can be.
Addictive enough to draw in viewers who don't know Jeff Gordon from Jeff Burton? That's the gamble behind "Changing Lanes," a new show that airs not on a sports network but BET.
Yes, BET. Where better to reach a completely new audience? "Changing Lanes" chronicles 10 young female and minority racers in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program as they compete for four spots on a team.
"I've got friends here who don't know about racing, and they're going to watch it and I think give it a lot more respect," said 16-year-old driver Darrell Wallace Jr.
It's got all the staples of reality TV: contestants living in a house together and getting eliminated one by one. Well, not all the staples — Brunelli is relieved the show sticks to the drama on the track and in the drivers' back stories.
Rapper/actor Ludacris narrates the eight-episode series, which premieres Wednesday night.
The show is the brainchild of Max Siegel, who spent two seasons running Dale Earnhardt Inc. until the team merged with Chip Ganassi Racing. His sports marketing agency now runs the Drive for Diversity program, which has struggled to produce racers for NASCAR's top series.
Siegel's team, Revolution Racing, fields cars for the contestants on the show.
This is a sport where sponsorship is critical to success and each driver is like his or her mini-corporation. Siegel figures there's nothing like a reality show to introduce companies to the personalities of up-and-coming racers.
"That's a hope," Brunelli said, "that someone takes a liking to you personally."
-- Rachel Cohen
Gant to highlight Darlington festival
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Former NASCAR star Harry Gant will take part in Darlington Raceway's Historic Racing Festival next month.
Gant won four times at Darlington in 22 years of racing. Gant will sign autographs and will take part in an question-and-answer session with Ned Jarrett, Leonard Wood and Waddell Wilson.
The Darlington festival is set for Sept. 24-26. The event will feature drivers, owners and cars that were key to motor racing history.
IndyCar
Tracy to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IndyCar veteran Paul Tracy has signed a two-race deal to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. He will drive the No. 24 car at Kentucky on Saturday and in the race in Motegi on Sept. 18.
Tracy has competed in three races this year, including a 14th-place finish driving the No. 24 at Watkins Glen in July. He will drive for Mike Conway, who is recuperating from injuries at the Indy 500 in May.
The 41-year-old Tracy has 31 victories in major open-wheel series but has not raced regularly since 2007. He finished sixth in his last IndyCar start in Edmonton on July 25.
Rahal to drive for Fisher at Kentucky
NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) — Graham Rahal is re-teaming with Sarah Fisher Racing for this weekend's IndyCar Series race at Kentucky.
Rahal drove for Fisher's team at St. Petersburg, Alabama and Long Beach early in the season, then finished 12th at the Indianapolis 500 for his father Bobby's Rahal-Letterman Racing team. The Ohio native also drove for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at Iowa and has signed to drive six of the final eight races for Newman/Haas Racing.
Considered one of the best young American drivers on the circuit, Rahal didn't have Kentucky included in his deal with Newman/Haas before hooking up with Fisher's team.
Fisher is scheduled to drive at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday.
ALMS
Grand Prix proposal rejected in Okla City
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Council has rejected a plan that would have committed $7 million in city money to land a Grand Prix race.
The council voted 6-2 against the proposal Tuesday. Opponents said they did not feel comfortable committing the money in the current economic climate.
The proposal by Oklahoma City Grand Prix LLC called for an American Le Mans Series race during the Fourth of July weekend next year. The money was to be repaid by the group over a 10-year period.
Businessman Trent Ward helped lead the effort to secure the funding. After the vote, he said the opportunity to host such a race probably won't come again.
Elsewhere
Are kids old enough to be playing adult games?
They sail solo around the world, climb the highest mountains and race around ovals at breakneck speeds.
They're kids, some not old enough to get into an R-rated movie on their own.
On Sunday, a 13-year-old became the youngest person to die at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he fell off his motorcycle and was run over by a 12-year-old during a race, raising the question: How old is old enough when it comes to extreme sports?
"They're not just small adults," said Dr. Lyle Micheli, director of the division of sports medicine at Children's Hospital of Boston and an adviser to the International Olympic Committee's medical commission on youth sports. "Kids are different. Kids have to be protected by society."
Peter Lenz fell off his motorcycle during a warm-up lap for the U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union event at the speedway. Then he was hit by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat.
Kids pushing boundaries is nothing new. Mozart was composing music when most children are still mastering their ABCs, and an 8-year-old's paintings are fetching six figures in Britain. Tiger Woods first showed off his golf skills at the grand old age of 2.
But several child psychologists said there's a big difference between academic or cultural prodigies — even phenoms in traditional sports — and kids who risk their lives.
In the last six months:
— 13-year-old Jordan Romero became the youngest climber to summit Mount Everest;
— 16-year-old Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail around the globe solo, nonstop and unassisted;
— 14-year-old Laura Dekker from the Netherlands is currently at sea trying to top Watson's record.
"A lot of teens, physically, are very much able to do similar things as adults because their body types have developed, and they've got the muscular strength," said Dr. Robyn Silverman, a psychologist who specializes in child and teen development. "Where we go wrong with these teens is that they have problems with impulse control, stress management, abstract thinking.
"They really need to be able to understand the risks," Silverman added. "It looks so cool and teens have this process in their heads: 'It's cool, let's just do it.' There's not the, 'Let's step back and look at the pros and cons of the situation,' as adults would."
That goes beyond the physical risks, Silverman said. Lenz had been riding bikes for six years, winning nine national championships and nine regional titles. He appeared to be a rising star in a series that bills itself as a prep for riders 12 to 18 who hope to compete at a higher level. Photos of the crash show Lenz sitting on the track with his arms raised and then getting up, raising his arms so other riders could see him.
But one rider did not.
In some cases, parents can't — or aren't willing — to impose boundaries on their children, said Kiki Weingarten, an education and parenting coach.
"You have some parents who enjoy their children's notoriety — good, bad or indifferent. You have the Lindsay Lohan moms, the 'Toddlers and Tiaras' moms," Weingarten said.
Some parents are concerned their children won't like them. "No, no, no, no. You don't have to be their best friend. They don't have to like you. You have to be an authority figure.
"Somebody," Weingarten said, "has to be the authority figure."
But kids, like adults, are different, and some are able to handle the physical, mental and emotional rigors of extreme or high-level sports. Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon was driving Quarter Midgets at age 5, and two-time Cup winner Tony Stewart raced go-karts at age 7. British diver Tom Daley was 15 when he won the world title in the 10-meter platform last summer.
Rather than imposing hard-and-fast age limits, each child should be considered individually, said Robert Epstein, former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and author of "Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence."
"Look directly at competence and maturity and then decide," Epstein said. "In our society, we treat all young people as equally incompetent and irresponsible, and we don't really nurture their confidence. So end up nurturing immaturity. ... As long as you're holding people back, holding them down, you don't see what they can do."
Marianne Sunderland understands the concern — and disapproval — over children taking on what seem to be very adult pursuits. She's had the same reaction herself.
"I think of a 13-year-old climbing Mount Everest and I think, 'Are you serious?' But I don't know mountain climbing," Sunderland said.
She does, however, know her own two children, Zac and Abby, and what they did to prepare for their around-the-world sails. Zac Sunderland set the then-record for a solo sail around the world last summer at 17. Abby, at 16, failed earlier this year in her attempt to top her brother's mark.
The Sunderland kids are experienced sailors. But when Abby Sunderland first talked of sailing around the world, her father tried to dissuade her by taking her out for long voyages in tough conditions. That, however, only fueled her passion for sailing, Marianne Sunderland said.
After making sure their children were emotionally ready for their voyages — including knowing that they could stop at any time — did the Sunderlands let them go.
"All I would say is that the parents should know their kid better than anybody," Marianne Sunderland said. "I wouldn't send Abby to climb Mount Everest next week. She's not ready. You try to train them. Or give them the experiences they need. If they continue to have a passion for it, you have to be able to judge if they're skilled enough or mature enough."
-- Nancy Armour
