The Bear was told this is a “15 minutes of fame” deal. Cash paid to Bernie (a kind of application fee to FOA), but unlikely to get much beyond that. The number to get the “purpose-built” facility entirely prepared (garages, spectator amenities, track, etc.)? Murphy was quoted “a quarter billion dollars.”
Though three “possible sites” have been mentioned, The contemplated site is said to be a 7/8ths oval south of Austin, which makes sense to the Bear, since it will already have been “permitted” for racing activities…Thunderhill, baby! From NASCAR West to F1 in one big leap.
The deal has been floated by Full Throttle Productions, LP, whose managing partner is apparently 39-year-old Tavo (C.T.) Hellmund, most recently a part-time (14 starts) driver in NASCAR West’s K&N Pro Series (before that Formula Ford in Britain, and a few other nondescript racing adventures). Can a promoter for which a “big event” was drawing 9,000 to the Allstate Thunderhill 150 really build a $250 million facility and promote an international event that will have to draw 150,000 spectators to succeed? Can a promoter whose racing career was characterized by “under-funded efforts,” raise a quarter billion dollars for a facility, plus at least another $10 million for promotion and other operating costs? Can all that get done in 24 months?
“C.T.” is the son of the Tavo Hellmund, who promoted CART in Mexico City in the early 1980’s, now an Austin Ford dealer.
Murphy thinks the Austin Formula 1 race will have more in common with the F1 events in Moscow, Mexico, and India, than it will with Bahrain, Brazil, and Belgium. Time will tell, won’t it?