December 30, 2024Dec 30 Author I assume there probably is some sort of insurance they don’t want to have to pay
December 30, 2024Dec 30 On 12/29/2024 at 11:30 AM, gofuckyourself said: My kids (13 and 15) got into F1 in a big way this past year. Their interest in it has even sparked my interest. As part of that they love COTA go karting and we've gone every month since the summer. But now they're now only allowing 16 and over with a valid driver's license to race the go carts, starting Jan 1st. Just amazingly idiotic on so many levels. As an alternative, K1 is aight. Not as big or fast of a track, but they tend to maintain their karts better than COTA does. Still not great maintenance there, but COTA does a terrible job with them, esp for what you pay. You never know what kinda shitty kart you'll get at COTA. Last 2 or 3 times I went to COTA with my boys, we all got wildly varying karts every race, with different levels of power, steering out of whack pulling hard to one side, shitty brakes, etc, etc. Edited December 30, 2024Dec 30 by wood
January 3Jan 3 I used to race over at K1 all the time, I think I have over 100 races there. Stopped going after the karts kept getting shittier and shittier, also had a clearly drunk guy crash into me. To hear that COTA karts are worse is sad but not surprising, considering what thread we are in.
January 4Jan 4 12 hours ago, faps said: I used to race over at K1 all the time, I think I have over 100 races there. Stopped going after the karts kept getting shittier and shittier, also had a clearly drunk guy crash into me. To hear that COTA karts are worse is sad but not surprising, considering what thread we are in. Yeah and it's a shame because COTA's track is actually not bad at all once you get away from all the dumbasses that don't have a clue how to drive it. I wonder what the Andretti place in SA is like. Anyone been?
February 3Feb 3 LOL Bobby thinks a parking garage will help COTA's ingress/egress/parking situation. https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/article/circuit-americas-parking-garage-20096582.php :jagsguy: When it comes to parking for sporting events, everyone with any sense avoids parking garages like the plague. The only location I can think of where a garage will help anything would be in the Paddock, where it won't help the typical fan even a little bit. Edited February 3Feb 3 by wood
February 3Feb 3 Author I’ll definitely avoid that. Definitely avoid whatever area it connects to. All that space and they are going to waste money on a garage.
February 13Feb 13 Author I’ve never gone out here for nascar but I assume tickets will get cheap closer to the race. I want to check it out this year
February 13Feb 13 I did it once. I enjoyed hearing those cars around the track, they're quite loud. But the races themselves are an absolute beating. The "stage" racing is the worst invention since New Coke. But if you actually enjoy NASCAR racing then you'll probably like it.
February 13Feb 13 12 hours ago, Updawg said: I’ve never gone out here for nascar but I assume tickets will get cheap closer to the race. I want to check it out this year last year I would have been better off buying a weekend pass on Thursday/Friday instead of buying individual tickets the day of the races on Saturday and Sunday morning
February 13Feb 13 Author I need to look at the schedule. My kid just got into racing so want to check out the track. We aren’t nascar fans though. I’ve been to almost every F1 weekend and prefer Fri and sat. Is it the same with nascar weekend?
February 13Feb 13 Don't even bother with Friday. Saturday there won't be much of a crowd at all so you can sit wherever you want. Sunday will be better but nowhere near F1 levels - you can still sit in whatever stands you want depending upon your budget. If you go general admission you can still sit pretty much anywhere but the better spots in various sections will be gone early. They are running the shorter course this year so there will be more laps and more action in front of wherever you choose to sit.
February 14Feb 14 Yeah Sunday last year really wasn't even close to MotoGP level ... and damn, the yellows between the stages are just brutal. So stupid. ETA: Oh, and they'll likely restrict you from a huge portion of the track again this year, which sucks balls. Some of the best action last year was in parts of the track inaccessible to the fans. Edited February 14Feb 14 by wood
February 14Feb 14 9 hours ago, wood said: Yeah Sunday last year really wasn't even close to MotoGP level ... and damn, the yellows between the stages are just brutal. So stupid. ETA: Oh, and they'll likely restrict you from a huge portion of the track again this year, which sucks balls. Some of the best action last year was in parts of the track inaccessible to the fans. Yup, so stupid that they've been running the whole track but only allow access to part of it. But I guess if, as @Bill Brasky says, they're running the shorter course this year, then restricting access to the long end of the track won't be as impactful.
February 14Feb 14 10 hours ago, utee94 said: Yup, so stupid that they've been running the whole track but only allow access to part of it. But I guess if, as @Bill Brasky says, they're running the shorter course this year, then restricting access to the long end of the track won't be as impactful. Oh yeah, I forgot they were talking about doing that. It'll help keep the cars in front of the fan-accessible parts of the track more. The only series iirc that's ever done that was V8SC, and it did that, but it also seemed too short, and left a lot of people wishing they had run the full circuit for at least one of their races that weekend. Edited February 15Feb 15 by wood
February 14Feb 14 I was out hunting the weekend of V8SC unfortunately. That was the first actual event at COTA wasn't it, or was it the Grand Am weekend? COTA needs a damn expressway connection to SH130 with direct connectors. That is the only way to help ingress and egress. Or a rail line running out there, but that has an even less chance of happening than the direct connection.
February 14Feb 14 3 hours ago, utee94 said: Yup, so stupid that they've been running the whole track but only allow access to part of it. But I guess if, as @Bill Brasky says, they're running the shorter course this year, then restricting access to the long end of the track won't be as impactful. https://www.jayski.com/2024/11/20/circuit-of-the-americas-to-change-course-layout-for-cup-and-xfinity-races/
February 14Feb 14 2 minutes ago, Bill Brasky said: https://www.jayski.com/2024/11/20/circuit-of-the-americas-to-change-course-layout-for-cup-and-xfinity-races/ Oh yeah I wasn't doubting you, just citing you. And yes they definitely ran the shorter course for the Ozzie V8s, and I definitely wished they'd run the full course. Having seen NASCAR run the full course, I think I'd be pretty disappointed in watching them run the abbreviated version.
February 14Feb 14 I think the long course is better on TV and the short course better in person. For Nascar if you sit in the right spot in the turn 12 bleachers you can see ~80% of the turns which is pretty good for a road course. I'm wanting to check out the turn 2 general admission area as well to see how much can be viewed from there
February 15Feb 15 On 2/14/2025 at 11:29 AM, faps said: I was out hunting the weekend of V8SC unfortunately. That was the first actual event at COTA wasn't it, or was it the Grand Am weekend? COTA needs a damn expressway connection to SH130 with direct connectors. That is the only way to help ingress and egress. Or a rail line running out there, but that has an even less chance of happening than the direct connection. That would definitely be nice, but the biggest problems with ingress and egress are on the property at COTA itself. And a rail line, as someone mentioned on the Autosport board the other day, will never make any sense as long as it would be just COTA at the end of the line. There are only a few days out of the year that COTA would actually need it. The biggest help imho would be COTA getting its shit together on race days, not skimping on buses, on-site personnel and traffic control, cooperating with the neighbors who sell parking, like Daytona and IMS do, instead of trying to shut them down, etc. Hell, Daytona arranges free parking right across the road from the NASCAR T4 entrance for people who don't want to pay for on-site parking (which is typically not crazy expensive to begin with). We parked there last year, at the mall. This year my kid parked there again and slept in his car instead of going to a hotel. He said the track had also provided portapotties in the lot for people who might be staying in their cars. Bobby would rather set himself on fire than do anything like that. Oh, and the first event was the 2012 USGP. MotoGP was next in April 2013, and then V8SC in May. Here's some typical COTA fuckshittery though: COTA has a page with a history of the events they've held. On it, they list V8SC as a support race of the Pirelli World Challenge weekend. LMAO WTF? It was the other way around. It was all billed as a V8SC race weekend, with PWC as a support series. Even wikipedia shows PWC as a support race for V8SC that weekend. PWC has its own weekends here now. I guess this is COTA's lame attempt to make a current race weekend seem like a bigger deal than it actually is, and maybe also to diminish V8SC after they pulled out of COTA. https://circuitoftheamericas.com/timeline/#2012-2 Edited February 16Feb 16 by wood
February 16Feb 16 On 2/15/2025 at 7:07 AM, utee94 said: Yeah the Ozzie V8s were absolutely the headliner that weekend. Yeah, just more of the usual COTA revisionism. I guess they're still pissed at Supercars for pulling out before the money shot.
March 7Mar 7 Anyone who rides any ride built in that soil, built and maintained by Bobby, is braver and/or stupider than I am. And I'm pretty stupid. 1000 room hotel and massive convention center (when Austin is already renovating theirs)? OK Bobby. Been talkin' that hotel shit for 15 years.
March 8Mar 8 The smart play would have been to have the conference center open prior to the Austin Convention Center shutting down for 3 years after this year’s SXSW.
March 8Mar 8 Author I don’t see how that will be done by October. When I was out there the other week it didn’t look like much was done. But they will probably open up a bare bones amusement parkThat soil etc was my first thought as well
March 8Mar 8 1 hour ago, Updawg said: I don’t see how that will be done by October. When I was out there the other week it didn’t look like much was done. But they will probably open up a bare bones amusement park That soil etc was my first thought as well Yeah they already let people ride the handful of small rides that are completed. They'll just call it an 'opening' in October, probably during F1 weekend, and just let people pay stupid amts of money to ride whatever happens to be completed by then.
March 28Mar 28 Any of y'all going out for MotoGP? LOL I totally forgot it's starting today until I got a text from my buddy showing the T15 stands pretty much empty. My other buddy who knows things said they sold 37K tickets this year for Sunday, and that the past four years have also been around 38K-ish. That's just amazing to me when you see the crowds they draw elsewhere.
April 27Apr 27 A buddy of mine marshals sometimes at COTA. He just sent me a video showing no marshals in sight around the stadium complex during a hot track session of the GT World Challenge event. Edited April 27Apr 27 by wood
May 17May 17 On 4/27/2025 at 11:31 AM, wood said: ... and this. Loose banners on a live track. This reminds me of the "1" documentary where pit crews are putting barriers back together prior to a Grand Prix race because the track owners haven't done shit to get it ready for the race.
August 27Aug 27 Buddy of mine out at COTA sent me this yesterday. Godspeed, all ye who dare to ride those rides.
September 4Sep 4 Fuck Bobby Epstein. ETA: The way that dotted line is drawn, it actually looks like maybe it's blocked off from just after T1 almost to 12. Nothing surprises me at COTA anymore. Well ... I guess I'd be surprised at them doing things well, but that rarely happens. Edited September 4Sep 4 by wood
September 6Sep 6 On 9/4/2025 at 5:46 PM, wood said: Fuck Bobby Epstein. ETA: The way that dotted line is drawn, it actually looks like maybe it's blocked off from just after T1 almost to 12. Nothing surprises me at COTA anymore. Well ... I guess I'd be surprised at them doing things well, but that rarely happens. At LSLM quali today. What's especially frustrating is that they're not using Lot N for parking like they did last year. Entry from N is way easier than booking it from Lot F.
September 6Sep 6 And a nice light drizzle keeping temps down today and tomorrow. Could make quali and the race tomorrow interesting.
September 6Sep 6 So it looks like fans are limited to T12 or T15 to T1. And that's it. I asked on reddit whether the esses were blocked off. Dude responded with this pic. Everything is fenced off from the exit of T1 to the T15 grandstand. Can't even get on the bridge. Fuck Epstein so much. Edited September 6Sep 6 by wood
September 6Sep 6 Me & my boys were given free tickets, Paddock Passes, and parking passes for the whole weekend. No point in even going though if we can only see a third of the track, and can't see the best parts.
September 7Sep 7 5 hours ago, wood said: Me & my boys were given free tickets, Paddock Passes, and parking passes for the whole weekend. No point in even going though if we can only see a third of the track, and can't see the best parts. Eh, T12-T15 are the best parts.
September 7Sep 7 6 hours ago, wood said: Me & my boys were given free tickets, Paddock Passes, and parking passes for the whole weekend. No point in even going though if we can only see a third of the track, and can't see the best parts. So you and your boys had free everything...but no point in going? Your act of hating on Epstein since 2012 has gotten a little stale...
September 7Sep 7 48 minutes ago, utee94 said: Eh, T12-T15 are the best parts. Correct but don't let facts get in the way of Wood's irrational hate
September 7Sep 7 46 minutes ago, utee94 said: Eh, T12-T15 are the best parts. Not for seeing what what F1 cars and WEC prototypes are designed to do ... but it's all subjective. Everyone can decide what they like best - if the track's open as it should be. Even if they were the best parts, you should still be able to go and see everything and then decide. It's so crazy. Imagine paying full price to go to a baseball or football game, only to get there and find out you can see 1/3 of the field. Welp, that's what they've done here.
September 7Sep 7 i really like the climb up to turn 9, quick little switchback and seeing how fast F1 cars change direction through that section is incredible. Edited September 7Sep 7 by elfenix
September 7Sep 7 On 9/6/2025 at 10:24 PM, Tyrone Krivacs said: Correct but don't let facts get in the way of Wood's irrational hate Fuck off with that shit. You think the slowest area of the track is the best? OK, cool. A whole lot of people don't. But even if you do think that, don't you like to see some other parts of the track from time to time? I have my favorite parts of the track at every track I go to, but I like to see the whole track over the course of a weekend, to see how the different cars perform in different areas, the different lines different drivers are trying, etc. As for my 'irrational hate', you must not have seen how other fans are reacting to it. I can tell you don't go to COTA much, or if you do, you don't go to other tracks where they give a fuck about the fans and try to do things the right way, to provide a good fan experience and a quality product. Like I said, go to some other pro sports event & see how well you like it when you show up and can only see 1/3 of the field. Oh, never mind, because that would never happen. But I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine with it if they closed all of your favorite COTA viewing spots, right? Sure you would. COTA management is off the charts bush-league. It's embarrassing. Edited September 8Sep 8 by wood
September 7Sep 7 31 minutes ago, elfenix said: i really like the climb up to turn 9, quick little switchback and seeing how fast F1 cars change direction through that section is incredible. Yep. And WEC prototypes on the edge through the esses, passing sportscars on the outside of 6 or 8, and screaming through 9 & 10. I mean ... I can remember seeing that back in the day. It's been a while since that was allowed though. Edited September 7Sep 7 by wood
September 7Sep 7 1 hour ago, Tyrone Krivacs said: So you and your boys had free everything...but no point in going? Your act of hating on Epstein since 2012 has gotten a little stale... My boy is going to tomorrow because he needs to to keep building his portfolio of motorsport pics. He caught the bug from me. Of course, T15-1 don't exactly offer a lot in the way of a good variety of action shots, but he can't be choosy right now. I'm not going, because why? To sit at spots I don't like and watch the cars on the screens (if they happen to be working)? My 19 yo was gonna go until he saw on reddit that most of the fans areas would be closed. I found out from him. So yeah, 2 paddock passes, several tickets, and some A lot parking passes will go unused because (for us, like many people) what's the point of going if you can't walk the track. And if you don't like my 'act' (narrator: It's not an act), then save yourself from it & don't read my stuff. Oh yeah. Fuck that little bitch pos Epstein. Fucker has taken about half a billion $$$ from the State of Texas (yes, billion, with a b). So far. You'd think with all that money Hot Wheels has thrown at him, he could afford to provide minimum staffing, and that buying a ticket would get us full access to view the whole circuit. Edited September 7Sep 7 by wood
September 8Sep 8 Author I like to walk around as well especially for events like this when there is no crowd. But we had club passes yesterday so we just stayed there the whole time. Was fun watching pit stops but the viewing is limited
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