I watched V8s for years and lived in Texas at the time of this event. I went and had a blast. Pits were open and I got to see these cars up close. There weren't too many people there so I was able to sit pretty much anywhere I wanted. And it was cheap to go up the tower and watch a race. I had a hard time finding anyone to join me, even after buying the tickets myself. No one knew or really cared about this series. Shame it never came back, but I ended up moving to Australia later that year.
Welcome Down Under buddy. Supercars are dying these days if you ask me. They used to be amazing. But Motorsports has always struggled in this country compared to others
@@JestaBl1tz the f1 melbourne gp is breaking records every time it’s held. Grassroots go-karting is also growing. I feel like it’s a supercars-specific problem
I actually remember watching this race. I think I was still in elementary or middle school and I remember watching it on Speed. I didn’t know much about any other series except for NASCAR at the time. I distinctly remember the Pepsi Max cars and that T1 hairpin. After this race I became a massive fan of V8SC, and I genuinely think this is what got me into Motorsport as a whole.
If you’ve never been to Bathurst, go. Same with Summernats, if you haven’t been, go. There is nothing like these two very unique events anywhere else in the world. Bathurst has calmed down a lot since it’s no longer “Holden vs ford” but it’s still a spectacle and Summernats is controlled chaos.
Aussie here buddy and We loved the Supercars to recently. The new cars have lost popularity as its no longer Ford vs Holden which Australia was about. So many changes. Been a HUGE fan since before the gtr's in the 90's but they are losing me. We didnt even know as Aussies that our Supercars left the country and had these races
@@JestaBl1tz I think it's less that it's not Ford Vs Holden anymore but more that we get less than 20% of the series on free to air TV these days. Used to have full coverage for every race weekend, now it's crap. Used to attend the Clipsal 500 every single year as a kid, haven't been once since it went to pay TV.
This race was my intro to V8 Supercars. Im like 45 minutes away from COTA and I remember some employees at K1 Speed raving about them and how excited they were to see them. I had hardly ever heard of or seen them before so when I looked them up I was captivated.
If I remember correctly, around this time, Kurt Busch, driving for Furniture Row Racing, performed the first test of a NASCAR at COTA. I think it was done to compare performance and judge the track’s suitability.
Tbh right if they wanted the maximum possible exposure they should've: 1: use the full course layout 2: make it an endurance race 3: the co-drivers must be a driver that is or has raced in an American racing league e.g. NASCAR, indycar, imsa, etc.
I was working for the GRM team at this event (Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat). It was so much fun and it's one of the few events where we bothered to leave the hotel to check out out the town. We played some shuffleboard at the pub, I strained my groin on a mechanical bull. I remember a local telling me that an important NASCAR event was rained out the previous weekend and was rescheduled to the next one when we were in town, that torpedoed a lot of the audience numbers for us both live and tv. They said to make it feasible we'd have to be there for 3 events and 6-7 weeks, the promotor felt it was too risky and we never got a second chance. I'm sure that's only part of it. It was a shame, the people I met there were really welcoming and absolutely loved it. I can't tell you how many BBQ's I was invited to after the weekend.
I'm genuinely surprised at that attendance figure given the relative obscurity of the series out side of the country. But I didn't realise they also went to Bahrain as early as 2006! I thought it was a one off thing in 2010 because of the Yas Marina 400 being on that year too.
Point to add to the “bringing in a US driver to help generate headlines”, Supercars had a golden opportunity to do so. Kiwi driver Marcos Ambrose, who was a fan favourite in Supercars in the early-mid 2000s was racing in the NASCAR cup series at the time. I think if Supercars tapped him to drive, NASCAR would’ve jumped onto the event a bit more since they had one of their drivers involved, and it would be a refresh for the local fans seeing Marcos back in a Supercar
Another thing was at the time we already had so many American series drivers coming over for the enduro's at the Gold Coast 600 from basically 2010 to 2012 and some beyond that even Ryan Briscoe (Australian-American Indy car driver) Boris Said Helio Castroneves Simon Pagenaud Will Power Marco Andretti Ricky Taylor I really think the race would of been more of a success if we held it as an Enduro along with maybe NASCAR on the same weekend, But instead of the CUP series drivers, Maybe with the Xfinity drivers or the truck drivers as co-drivers, Maybe even some Indycar guys
I was there. I was a major fan of the Pontiac G8 and when I found out they were coming to COTA, I was beyond ecstatic. It was the coolest thing. Meeting all of the drivers like SVG, Winterbottom, etc. Also, Pirelli World Challenge was there as the appetizer before the V8s took to the track. An all-around amazing event for me. Wish they could make it back. Marketing is everything.
Fun fact: At COTA there is an "Oval" circuit which uses T9-10 straight then downhill into T11. Then they use the shortened layout showed in this video but basically backwards (its called the club circuit)
Other than the racing. The thing I remember most was David Reynolds going clothes shopping for a bit for Channel 7 with Craig Lowndes, it’s still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t already look it up.
How large displacement touring cars haven’t taken off in America is beyond me. Also, if they would have used Indy car’s lack of track limits at COTA, that would have been awesome!
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 "Road racing" has never been as popular as oval racing in the US, and historically has struggled to gain traction with fans (maybe with the exception of the Trans-Am glory days) as the two biggest series are oval-focused. This is starting to change in recent years, with the addition of more circuit layouts to the NASCAR calendar and better attendance at those tracks, and the move for IndyCar to a 1/3rd split each of ovals, circuits, and street courses on the calendar. IMSA is gaining more popularity as well with the Sports Car Championship. It's probably a matter of who came first. If some form of touring car racing got popular in the 50's instead of NASCAR, we'd likely have a series that looks very much like V8SC be the premiere attraction instead of the Cup Series.
Its pretty much dead here anyway. Still running but there is now very little australian about it. American cars no one really wants to buy anyway. We no longer manufacture our own cars and its an absolute travesty, especially given the billion or so dollars invested in designing the absolutely killer VE Commodore, designed here locally rom the ground up to be a global platform and be sold in the US (and with a massive demand from Americans wanting not just the Commodore Sedan but our utes too, then mysteriously not marketed at all in the US because it competed with local GM designs. Basically when the US had its last financial meltdown GM and Ford demanded and recieved handouts from the US government, then turned to the Australian government and demanded more because GM owns the Holden brand, which was still wholly financially viable, got told to piss off, so they shut it all down, gave US gm workers fat bonuses, then opened up mexican factories. Ford decided to do the same thing, and Toyota with a decent tradition of manufacture here realised they didnt have to compete at all, shrugged their shoulders, said sayonara and noped the fuck out of Altona.
@@homerunman9381 The greatest irony was that rally didn't take off in the US since they literally invented it by accident during their "prohibition" era!
@@mikespearwood3914 that was where NASCAR was born from. Bootleggers got together and organized local races, before the inaugural big event, held on Daytona Beach...two long straightaways on the sand with U-turns on each end, and there you have it.
I remember seeing someone comment on a V8SC video about this race, saying that they should go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and V8SC responding with a thinking emoji, or something to that effect. I think they should definitely go there, and do a single race format, a la Bathurst 1000, with driver swaps and all that.
Laguna Seca. Nuff said. That would have been *epic* - sadly its all american camaros and mustangs now, and as GM has now shut down Camaro production lord only knows what abomination theyre going to try and emulate next....
I made sure to go to this event because I didn't trust that there would be a second running. The tickets were overpriced and it felt like the majority of the crowd were Australians who came over. The drivers were interested in my Indy 500 apparel, and quite a few of them stuck around and attended the 500 while in the States. I had intended to buy a ton of merch but all that was available was from Red Bull and Jack Daniels. But I also made friends with some Aussies who I'm still in regular contact with.
You're instinct was correct as it turned out. It's really cool that you've made some friends from the trip there, I believe they said on the broadcast of one of the races that 2,000 Australians made the trip there, but I could be wrong.
They missed the trick of doing it at VIR or Sonoma, which feel like Aussie tracks hidden in the USA. The way the track flows and the way that the cars would bounce over the curbs, it would feel like an Aussie track.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 me too, I’ve gone to all the INDYCAR races since there return, and I’m going to go the E race there. Can’t wait for the INDYCAR game so I can finally drive it
V8 supercars also did an exhibition race on the streets of Kuala Lumpur (footage can be found here on YT) for their KL GP (Not F1) with one car from each competing manufacture (5 cars) to show case V8 supercars to the SE Asian region for the upcoming multi year deal to race V8 Supercars at the KL GP. Unfortunately due to legal reasons the KL GP was scrapped entirely. Was a shame it was scrapped as the KL GP was hosted on a great street circuit.
I was one of the lucky ones who got to go over to Texas for this event. It had its issue with drivers learning the track on wet weather tyres as V8SC didn't take enough tyres etc. The weekend was great and I have been back to Texas a couple of times since. Was an awesome weekend.
Two things IMO: 1. They needed to tack on an X-finity series race (or even Cup series!). That would have brought more local fans in who would naturally like Supercars 2. The broadcasting time was terrible for Australia which means your fanbase is already 'locked out'. I think there is a lot of synergy between Supercars and a NASCAR series so I hope something is tried again. Maybe even have a NASCAR event in Australia as a doubleheader with Supercars.
NASCAR and supercars are in a great position rn. They're introducing fans like crazy to eachother. Unlike f1 which just tries to steal fans, NASCAR and supercars help each other which is nice
They could have done something like what Stock Car Brazil does with their main event with guest drivers: share the cars in alternating races, one for regulars, one for guests. Allocate points based on combined results for the meet for the car. That way there's an incentive to get the best guest possible and have them perform to avoid costing their co-driver in the championship.
While on the topic of interesting places to try and race, between 1996 and 1998, NASCAR raced in Japan. (Albeit these were events that did not pay points in the official standings.) You might wanna have a look at that. NASCAR also toyed around in Australia for while, but I let you have the fun of digging those things up. :)
I see a lot of parallels to this and the JGTC race at Fontana in 2004. Not quite the best track layout to showcase the cars and hard to justify returning. Crowds were strong at that event too. Sonoma was rumored as a possible return venue for JGTC but it never happened
I've always thought that Watkins Glen would be a fantastic track, and have it be a "Pro-Am" style like Gold Coast used to be. As an American, I think that Supercars is one of the best disciplines in motorsport currently.
With Australia's GM & FORD manufacturers collapsing over the last couple of years. This new (and following) years format should do well in the States with the 3rd gen Camaros and Mustangs, taking place of the GM Holdens & Ford Falcons. 1st races were this weekend and even with 2-3yrs of development. It was as entertaining as hell as no-one got it all together. Be a long year of balancing to come. If you can. I highly recommend watching the years progression. Should be very interesting. =D
it's a different series without falcons and commodores though. i'd instead suggest anyone interested watches some aussie 5 litre stuff, get a taste of the good old days.
In my dreams, they decide to come to the US again, and run the Nashville Street Circuit the same weekend as Indycar. But wherever they decided to go if they ever came back to the US, I’d be there.
Before you said Laguna Seca that was the first track that popped into my mind. Would have loved to see them go through the Cork Screw. By the way, in 2015/16, I spent 6 weeks in Australia going to sprint car races, late models, sidecars, TT motorcycles, saloons, in 5 states, and wanted to catch Super Cars. But alas, they run a different time of year.
I think something like this could be more successful today given that we now have Scott McLaughlin in IndyCar. You could use him to be a star driver so you have the drive that is know by American fans and still is a home grown talent. You also have the fact that Andretti competes in Supercars so that is two names that Americans will know. It might also be good to hold it during a Indycar race or even crazier an event like the Indycar NASCAR double header this year and make it a triple header.
Maybe they can use the top 10 US Drivers from Nascar to PAIR with the top 10 AUST Drivers in a 60 LAP RACE with Changes to Drivers and all that stuff.????
I've been properly following the Supercars championship for a few years now, watching what I can live with the time difference from the UK to Australia. I never knew about this race, I was aware of the Abu Dhabi races - or at least one of them. Another really informative video. And I will probably go and have a look for these races when I have a chance to do so.
Shout out to Marcus Ambrose for putting this series on the map. But before the Supercars can get a main stay, they’ll probably need to partner with Indycar or Nascar for a double header weekend. Another idea is to have a 12hr race at Daytona with Nascar. My heart says include all feeder series in the race (Super 2, Xfinity, Trucks) but my mind says start with 6hrs and have the top 2 series compete only for now
4:00 The alternative to sticking within the white lines is the IMSA race in 2015 which just looked silly with cars running as wide as possible, most modern circuits have the same problem but it somehow seems worse at COTA.
...or put some barriers up! By trying to make it safer for the drivers they've sanitized the whole thing at COTA, yet they still run on tight street courses elsewhere..
They also IIRC had a demo with NASCAR at COTA as well, and this is one of the times the branding was changed on the cars. See the 1997/8 Super Tourin Bathurst 1000s (that is probably worth its own video) where the Vauxhalls were rebadged as Holdens. You had Holden Vectras. Which means, John Cleland drove both a Holden* and a Ford in Aussie racing, didn't he?
lol then GM nuked local holden production and started importing 4 cylinder front wheel drive Vauxhall Insignias as a 'luuk guise! Noo cummader!' and then when they predictably didnt sell because *no one wanted them* made the claim that 'Australia doesnt want family sedans any more, they actually want SUVs' and that was the end of it all. Sad as hell, ive had several models of commodores and those and falcons are the kinds of things aussie teen boys would have posters of on their walls. My last car was a 2010 VE Commodore V6 and it was literally the bees knees, closely followed by my second favourite car ive owned which was a 1995 VS Commodore, those things were that damn light that even accellerating away from traffic lights on a greasy road it would just spin up (and not intentionally) - both of those cars were 'oh my lord one day im going to own one of those' moments for me, and are cars that were not only affordable for anyone after a few years of being out, but were still viable reliable and inexpensive to maintain, unlike things like BMWs or Mercs which are inherently trash after their limited 'close to new' lifespan and notoriously expensive to repair or maintain. a $3000 ten year old commodore or falcon will always be an absolute bargain, a $3000 merc or bm is always something you have to warn your idiot mate not to buy or they will regret it. Theres a saying here - You go to a pub, look at the menu, but pretty much always buy the chicken parma - Holden Commodores are the Auto equivalent of Chicken Parma, you go to a second hard car yard, have a poke around, kick tyres, test drive something, but youll still go with the Commonwhore.
Not sure what else they could have done other than what was mentioned in the video, but I do feel if Supercars tried to do it again now it would probably gain more attention. You now have two cars that are both distinctly American in history being ran in the series and run in NASCAR and Trans Am, we now live in a world where you have more access to Supercars and their events through SuperView across the globe, and outlets like iRacing where anyone can run the Supercars and race them around any track you'd like. NASCAR's new car has also seen a rise in road course racing which includes visiting COTA, so it could be possible to schedule Supercars on the same weekend, maybe race Friday and Saturday, as support races for NASCAR's Xfinity and Cup Series, in between practice, qualifying and race events. Plus, there are lots of diehard NASCAR fans (like myself) that also get tired of NASCAR, their decisions, the races, etc., so following along with Supercars more has been a breath of fresh air, something new to enjoy, and I think a lot would also follow if Supercars did race in America again.
I think it helps that both cars are very well known to American race fans. Albeit the Camaro is somewhat of an unknown after 2024 I believe. I think a NASCAR/V8 Supercar weekend (whilst unlikely) would be awesome to see.
I think it was a great idea on paper but I think that they should’ve made a bigger trip out of it to make sure pepe remember it. Maybe start in Portland and work the way down the coast and hit Sears point and laguna seca and Long Beach and then they could hit COTA to show off that new facility
If Supercars decides to come back to the US, I’d love to see them come to Barber for a late season enduro race. Beautiful track, exciting racing, great crowds for Indycar, easy to make the logistics work with regular cargo flights from Melbourne or Sydney to Memphis or Atlanta and easy trucking (especially from Atlanta), a chance for NASCAR and Indy stars to team up with the regulars as well as see Power and McLaughlin hustle Aussie V8s on American soil. This race can even be partnered with a NASCAR race at Talladega as both Barber and Talladega are around 70-80 km (45-50 miles) apart. Drivers can move rather easily from one track to another.
I think the idea mentioned in the video of an event similar to the Gold Coast 600 at Laguna Seca, Long Beach or Portland would've been a far better showcase of these cars. Further to that, they could've expanded the idea of the international drivers featured at the Gold Coast event from the few years prior (2010-2012) where it was a co-driver event, and only drivers that did not usually race in Australia could be nominated to co-drive the cars with the regular series drivers. This would've brought a ton of attention to the sport in the US, and would've provided an opportunity to watch potentially NASCAR, Indycar and IMSA drivers competing in another series against each other on 'home soil' and in the correct timezone. I'd be surprised if this idea wasn't floated at the time, but it's also disappointing that it never happened.
v8 Supercars even raced in Shanghai International Circuit,2005. DTM also held 2 street races in Shanghai in 2004 (with a naughty manhole cover)and 2010. I don't know whether these street tracks were failures or not.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 absolutely. The series is entirely comprised of American brands now (RIP Holden, also the Ford Falcon) so it would make perfect sense for there to be a separate US series.
I have another suggestion for if V8 Supercars ever want to come back to the States considered Watkins Glen's as a track I feel like that has a perfect mixture of turns and like something that they're similar to in Australia like the Gold Coast
I would pay to see V8 Supercars race Road Atlanta or Watkins Glen. Maybe having a sprint race and endurance event at different tracks would have been more successful.
I agree. Possibly a venue change and longer races for sure. Sprint races aren't personally my favourite, they sound good on paper but aren't always as exciting as you'd expect. Always been more of an endurance guy anyway, but I think the added challenge of running the cars for longer is one of the things that helps to make races like the bathurst 1000km and LeMans so legendary. Come to think of it, most of the legendary races are endurance races apart from maybe Monaco which is GP length. I'm sure there are shorter ones but my brain is shit, so let me know if you can think of any people!
COTA is good for F1, similar to Albert Park. But when you were listing off the great events of V8 Supercars, you didn't say Albert Park, in fact they were all FIA Grade 3 tracks, so why not do the same in the USA. Willow Springs would be incredible, as would Daytona, Sebring, but with the event happening to plug the May-Sep gap in the calendar, that opens up Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, VIR, Road Atlanta. I mean ECR is just down the road, and that could have worked well too. Circuits where you couldn't compare lap times with F1 or mostly IndyCar (or Nascar unless the V8's were quicker). But I also think this is why IndyCar at COTA didn't work either, the constant comparisons.
As an Aussie fan, a format that could work would be to go 'over there' for a month (or so), do 2 sprint race events and 1 enduro event (at different circuits) then it wouldn't be 'going all that way' for 1 race. Also as a bit of trivia, Dick Johnson (Australian Touring Car, later V8 Supercar driver) raced NASCAR in 89/90, and there is even scenes of him racing that was included in Days of Thunder.
I just discovered your channel and I am absolutely hooked. Lovely content, very well explained and I've learned a lot! Keep up the great work, mate! You deserve many more subscribers and I'm always excited to see a notification pop up from your channel! Cheers~
What should the v8sc done at USA 1-track shoul had been laguna seca, sonoma or an oval road corse 2-make a 3\4h endurance race with the regular driver if the car plus a wildcar per car plus 2 sprint races where in 1 would be the regular drivers and the others just the wild cars,
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Marcus Ambrose somewhere in here considering he was a supercar championship a few times and then drove in nascar for a few years. One of the only supercar drivers to do so. Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure he got bullied quite a lot in nascar which held him back
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 obviously wasn’t necessary but thought it would have been a good tidbit to add. I enjoy your vids none the less man, keep it up 👍
i wanted to see em do a couple more races in the americas..on some of their classic historical tracks, like Road America, Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio, VIR, and even up into canada at Mosport...IMO it would have been much much better for the series..
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 they work in iRacing! im sure theyd work in real world too...but yeah the distance was the big killer... alot of the smaller supercars teams dont have the spare cash to throw at travelling halfway around the world... going over for just one round hurt big time... if there was 2 or 3 it might have made it worthwhile...
Note that all non AUNZ races have been conducted on Tilke-designed circuits. They don't appear to be well-suited to the style of racing that Supercars engages in and are quickly forgotten. If there is ever a return trip to the USA then something like the tracks back home would be more appropriate.
I've always wondered how Nissan got into the V8 Supercar series. As far as I know they've never made a V8 powered car, at least not in the US. Did they make a Maxima with a V8 in Australia? I think they should go to Laguna Seca.
A track like Mid-Ohio, Portland, or Barber would be good for V8s. Laguna Seca or Sears Point in theory, but both are a bit over-done. Or a street circuit, but I don't know that any of the traditional American ones are well suited (not Long Beach; hairpin too tight and straight is too long. Maybe Detroit?) Supercars work best at circuits that are a bit narrow, a bit tight, make the cars look big and powerful. An F1 circuit makes them look small and slow, which is why none of their modern F1 circuits (Albert Park, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, COTA) have produced particularly memorable events. Even shortened layouts failed to improve things, because they didn't fundamentally change the nature of the circuit, just got cars back to the start a bit quicker.
As a longtime V8 Supercars fan (circa 2005ish?), who was born and raised in the US. The problem with hosting any race in the US is the logistics of even GETTING to, and staying in Austin to watch a race. The country is so big that it was impossible for a lot of fans to make the trip for it. Not to mention the absolute lack of hype about an event like it by media. So being able to garner attention requires more than just track and the resulting racing. There's always external factors that effect the impact of a race. If it had been in Portland you bet your ASS I would have made the drive. The US NEEDS a series like V8 supercars, as we really don't have a fiercely competitive touring car series.
It was a serious good try by them,they also did the same in Malaysia,Abu Dhabi, Bahrain,China.Im sad they never came to India when they had plans to host 2 races,it never came to fruition
They should have done at most 2 sprints with one enduro. Might have been nice to have a pairing of an Aussie and a US driver to create a little more engagement with the US public.
Do you think it could of been an idea to have the "Gold Coast 600" styled Texas event just run with NASCAR drivers as their co-drivers instead? It would of worked considering we had Holden (GM, Chev) Ford Australia (Ford America). It would of gotten all NASCAR fans curious about how their drivers stack up against other drivers of a similar category on the other side of the world
Now that the Supercars are essentially the two horse race between Ford and Chevrolet, they should make a better push to USA. They’ll be a good competition to NASCAR especially on road courses
TA2 is a road course V8 series that is already in US, and IMHO, those 'cars' look better than new gen3. That Chevy is a brick on wheels. Also Brasilian V8 stock cars (Chevy vs Toyota) are great, with Tony Kanaan and some drivers that could have some recognition in US
What do i think that would been great? A mix of this: An exhibition crossover race (IMSA vs. V8 or NASCAR vs. V8), and a different track, like Long Beach, Sonoma or Watkins Glen.
Bit left field, but Thunderhill Raceway & Barber Park in an Endurance config with teams encouraged to pick up US drivers as codrivers would work IMO. That or teams spend a month in the US running undercard events at NASCAR, Indycar, etc.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 Heh probably, but hey, we manage to run our largest motorsporting event of the year on a public road 400km from the largest city.... time to step up? lol
The endurance races in the races in the super car series draws the biggest attention with Bathurst being the biggest. Finding a tighter more technical track doing an endurance event and having as many American co drivers doing a stint in the hot seat would have been massive but honestly the cost and time to get to and from the USA was the down fall. For them to go there meant we got no racing at home for a month and the drove the aussies fans mad. More than 2 weeks no racing bogans start rioting 😂😂
I was there. It was an amazing trip. But the supercars are required to run mufflers. Not a great look when you go to a gig and the support acts are louder than the headliners...
I remember my thought when the news about the inclusion of COTA in calendar of the V8SC appeared: someone should definitely give a wild-card to Marcos Ambrose. But this didn't happen.
Supercars should try for Hawaii.. Alot closer to home, i cant see the locals close streets for several weeks as track gets put up then down, mabey theres a track..? We had a nascar track in Melbourne, some US teams would come over and race in there off season against aust nascars, same with drag racing, i bet several other motor sports too its no big deal in oz to see overseas events come here, indy, f1, moto gp.
I think it would be different if V8 SC wasn’t having to fight with the SCCA for track time. Iirc this was a weekend of the old Pirelli World Challenge (now GT world challenge America) is what limited the races to 4 sprints
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 aye, not to be mean, but the Cadillac hauler leaving the track in the background of some of the footage is what reminded me of such an event.
I honestly didn't even know they came over and I live here in Texas. That being said, I think had COTA had given the drivers both the Short Circuit and the Full Course it at the least would have been unique in that sense. But I do agree a Nascar driver appearance, Indycar driver appearance, hell could have even given Travis Pastrana or Boris Said a call at the time and they probably would've been all over it. Nevertheless A LOT of my Nascar buddies just watched the opening laps of the 2022 season and WOW! we love the sounds of the engines and how the cars look! We're gonna try to keep up with the series
I watched V8s for years and lived in Texas at the time of this event. I went and had a blast. Pits were open and I got to see these cars up close. There weren't too many people there so I was able to sit pretty much anywhere I wanted. And it was cheap to go up the tower and watch a race. I had a hard time finding anyone to join me, even after buying the tickets myself. No one knew or really cared about this series. Shame it never came back, but I ended up moving to Australia later that year.
Really cool story and awesome to hear you enjoyed the event!
Welcome Down Under buddy. Supercars are dying these days if you ask me. They used to be amazing. But Motorsports has always struggled in this country compared to others
@@JestaBl1tz the f1 melbourne gp is breaking records every time it’s held. Grassroots go-karting is also growing. I feel like it’s a supercars-specific problem
@@bobateacuber7646 1 single event does not mean its going well thou either. Compared to other countries we lack.
We use these model cars to rip the best burnouts and skids the world has ever seen as well 😂
I actually remember watching this race. I think I was still in elementary or middle school and I remember watching it on Speed. I didn’t know much about any other series except for NASCAR at the time. I distinctly remember the Pepsi Max cars and that T1 hairpin. After this race I became a massive fan of V8SC, and I genuinely think this is what got me into Motorsport as a whole.
Awesome to hear this got you into motorsport. Certainly, a unique event to get you into racing, but awesome all the same.
If you’ve never been to Bathurst, go. Same with Summernats, if you haven’t been, go. There is nothing like these two very unique events anywhere else in the world. Bathurst has calmed down a lot since it’s no longer “Holden vs ford” but it’s still a spectacle and Summernats is controlled chaos.
@Deevizm ahhh Summernats..... the Most aussie motorsport event ever
Aussie here buddy and We loved the Supercars to recently. The new cars have lost popularity as its no longer Ford vs Holden which Australia was about.
So many changes. Been a HUGE fan since before the gtr's in the 90's but they are losing me.
We didnt even know as Aussies that our Supercars left the country and had these races
@@JestaBl1tz I think it's less that it's not Ford Vs Holden anymore but more that we get less than 20% of the series on free to air TV these days. Used to have full coverage for every race weekend, now it's crap. Used to attend the Clipsal 500 every single year as a kid, haven't been once since it went to pay TV.
This race was my intro to V8 Supercars. Im like 45 minutes away from COTA and I remember some employees at K1 Speed raving about them and how excited they were to see them. I had hardly ever heard of or seen them before so when I looked them up I was captivated.
If I remember correctly, around this time, Kurt Busch, driving for Furniture Row Racing, performed the first test of a NASCAR at COTA. I think it was done to compare performance and judge the track’s suitability.
Tbh right if they wanted the maximum possible exposure they should've:
1: use the full course layout
2: make it an endurance race
3: the co-drivers must be a driver that is or has raced in an American racing league e.g. NASCAR, indycar, imsa, etc.
My thoughts exactly!
So basically it's Gold Coast 600
I think that would've been a really cool idea and format.
I was working for the GRM team at this event (Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat). It was so much fun and it's one of the few events where we bothered to leave the hotel to check out out the town. We played some shuffleboard at the pub, I strained my groin on a mechanical bull.
I remember a local telling me that an important NASCAR event was rained out the previous weekend and was rescheduled to the next one when we were in town, that torpedoed a lot of the audience numbers for us both live and tv. They said to make it feasible we'd have to be there for 3 events and 6-7 weeks, the promotor felt it was too risky and we never got a second chance. I'm sure that's only part of it.
It was a shame, the people I met there were really welcoming and absolutely loved it. I can't tell you how many BBQ's I was invited to after the weekend.
Awesome story, thanks for saying. Always cool to hear from people who were involved in these events in some capacity.
I'm genuinely surprised at that attendance figure given the relative obscurity of the series out side of the country. But I didn't realise they also went to Bahrain as early as 2006! I thought it was a one off thing in 2010 because of the Yas Marina 400 being on that year too.
Yeah even though Muricans love their big v8s I'm very surprised that many actually showed up
Very good spectator figures for that event certainly.
Even China in 2005
Point to add to the “bringing in a US driver to help generate headlines”, Supercars had a golden opportunity to do so. Kiwi driver Marcos Ambrose, who was a fan favourite in Supercars in the early-mid 2000s was racing in the NASCAR cup series at the time. I think if Supercars tapped him to drive, NASCAR would’ve jumped onto the event a bit more since they had one of their drivers involved, and it would be a refresh for the local fans seeing Marcos back in a Supercar
Another thing was at the time we already had so many American series drivers coming over for the enduro's at the Gold Coast 600 from basically 2010 to 2012 and some beyond that even
Ryan Briscoe (Australian-American Indy car driver)
Boris Said
Helio Castroneves
Simon Pagenaud
Will Power
Marco Andretti
Ricky Taylor
I really think the race would of been more of a success if we held it as an Enduro along with maybe NASCAR on the same weekend, But instead of the CUP series drivers, Maybe with the Xfinity drivers or the truck drivers as co-drivers, Maybe even some Indycar guys
Ambrose is Australian
@device - correct. I was going to point that out as well.
I was there. I was a major fan of the Pontiac G8 and when I found out they were coming to COTA, I was beyond ecstatic. It was the coolest thing. Meeting all of the drivers like SVG, Winterbottom, etc. Also, Pirelli World Challenge was there as the appetizer before the V8s took to the track. An all-around amazing event for me. Wish they could make it back. Marketing is everything.
That pontiac front end on a commodore.. just butchery. Same with whatever you called the monaro
@@falconmclenny7284 pontiac front end on a commodor just makes me think of the vk commodore as it almost looks like a transam
@falconmclenny7284 there are quite different Holden grills are one piece while Pontiac has two pieces.
They should have used the full f1 layout and made it an endurance race
Nah SuperSprints are better and it's too long for a V8 Supercar. Enduro's are for 3 tracks only
@@mrdiamond365_ It's only Sandown & Bathurst for now
@@ArnoldTriyudho yes but Gold Coast is the only other one that should have it
Fun fact: At COTA there is an "Oval" circuit which uses T9-10 straight then downhill into T11. Then they use the shortened layout showed in this video but basically backwards (its called the club circuit)
I remember that layout purely from the Forza Motorsport game.
Other than the racing. The thing I remember most was David Reynolds going clothes shopping for a bit for Channel 7 with Craig Lowndes, it’s still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t already look it up.
How large displacement touring cars haven’t taken off in America is beyond me. Also, if they would have used Indy car’s lack of track limits at COTA, that would have been awesome!
It does surprise me somewhat to be fair.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 "Road racing" has never been as popular as oval racing in the US, and historically has struggled to gain traction with fans (maybe with the exception of the Trans-Am glory days) as the two biggest series are oval-focused. This is starting to change in recent years, with the addition of more circuit layouts to the NASCAR calendar and better attendance at those tracks, and the move for IndyCar to a 1/3rd split each of ovals, circuits, and street courses on the calendar. IMSA is gaining more popularity as well with the Sports Car Championship.
It's probably a matter of who came first. If some form of touring car racing got popular in the 50's instead of NASCAR, we'd likely have a series that looks very much like V8SC be the premiere attraction instead of the Cup Series.
Its pretty much dead here anyway. Still running but there is now very little australian about it. American cars no one really wants to buy anyway. We no longer manufacture our own cars and its an absolute travesty, especially given the billion or so dollars invested in designing the absolutely killer VE Commodore, designed here locally rom the ground up to be a global platform and be sold in the US (and with a massive demand from Americans wanting not just the Commodore Sedan but our utes too, then mysteriously not marketed at all in the US because it competed with local GM designs.
Basically when the US had its last financial meltdown GM and Ford demanded and recieved handouts from the US government, then turned to the Australian government and demanded more because GM owns the Holden brand, which was still wholly financially viable, got told to piss off, so they shut it all down, gave US gm workers fat bonuses, then opened up mexican factories. Ford decided to do the same thing, and Toyota with a decent tradition of manufacture here realised they didnt have to compete at all, shrugged their shoulders, said sayonara and noped the fuck out of Altona.
@@homerunman9381 The greatest irony was that rally didn't take off in the US since they literally invented it by accident during their "prohibition" era!
@@mikespearwood3914 that was where NASCAR was born from. Bootleggers got together and organized local races, before the inaugural big event, held on Daytona Beach...two long straightaways on the sand with U-turns on each end, and there you have it.
I remember seeing someone comment on a V8SC video about this race, saying that they should go to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, and V8SC responding with a thinking emoji, or something to that effect. I think they should definitely go there, and do a single race format, a la Bathurst 1000, with driver swaps and all that.
Laguna Seca. Nuff said. That would have been *epic* - sadly its all american camaros and mustangs now, and as GM has now shut down Camaro production lord only knows what abomination theyre going to try and emulate next....
I made sure to go to this event because I didn't trust that there would be a second running. The tickets were overpriced and it felt like the majority of the crowd were Australians who came over. The drivers were interested in my Indy 500 apparel, and quite a few of them stuck around and attended the 500 while in the States. I had intended to buy a ton of merch but all that was available was from Red Bull and Jack Daniels. But I also made friends with some Aussies who I'm still in regular contact with.
You're instinct was correct as it turned out. It's really cool that you've made some friends from the trip there, I believe they said on the broadcast of one of the races that 2,000 Australians made the trip there, but I could be wrong.
They missed the trick of doing it at VIR or Sonoma, which feel like Aussie tracks hidden in the USA. The way the track flows and the way that the cars would bounce over the curbs, it would feel like an Aussie track.
VIR is one of my all time favorite tracks. Supercars racing there would be incredible. Also Laguna Seca and road America would be cool.
Virginia International Raceway with V8 Supercars I think would be a great spectacle.
Me, living close to Portland, hearing you bring up PIR just made me happy
I think that's an awesome track for racing.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 me too, I’ve gone to all the INDYCAR races since there return, and I’m going to go the E race there. Can’t wait for the INDYCAR game so I can finally drive it
V8 supercars also did an exhibition race on the streets of Kuala Lumpur (footage can be found here on YT) for their KL GP (Not F1) with one car from each competing manufacture (5 cars) to show case V8 supercars to the SE Asian region for the upcoming multi year deal to race V8 Supercars at the KL GP. Unfortunately due to legal reasons the KL GP was scrapped entirely. Was a shame it was scrapped as the KL GP was hosted on a great street circuit.
I was one of the lucky ones who got to go over to Texas for this event. It had its issue with drivers learning the track on wet weather tyres as V8SC didn't take enough tyres etc. The weekend was great and I have been back to Texas a couple of times since. Was an awesome weekend.
Awesome to hear you enjoyed the weekend! Didn't know that about the wet tyres.
Two things IMO:
1. They needed to tack on an X-finity series race (or even Cup series!). That would have brought more local fans in who would naturally like Supercars
2. The broadcasting time was terrible for Australia which means your fanbase is already 'locked out'.
I think there is a lot of synergy between Supercars and a NASCAR series so I hope something is tried again. Maybe even have a NASCAR event in Australia as a doubleheader with Supercars.
NASCAR and supercars are in a great position rn. They're introducing fans like crazy to eachother. Unlike f1 which just tries to steal fans, NASCAR and supercars help each other which is nice
That's cause NASCAR is copying supercars.@@benson_weaver
@@deathtrooper2048 a little on the road course side, but NASCAR is still an oval racing series
@@benson_weaver I meant with the car itself
They could have done something like what Stock Car Brazil does with their main event with guest drivers: share the cars in alternating races, one for regulars, one for guests. Allocate points based on combined results for the meet for the car. That way there's an incentive to get the best guest possible and have them perform to avoid costing their co-driver in the championship.
While on the topic of interesting places to try and race, between 1996 and 1998, NASCAR raced in Japan. (Albeit these were events that did not pay points in the official standings.) You might wanna have a look at that.
NASCAR also toyed around in Australia for while, but I let you have the fun of digging those things up. :)
Thanks for reminding me of that, I'll definitely do some research for that.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742The legendary Drift King was also participated in the race.
@@KikuraKun yeah Keiichi Tsuchiya drive in all 3 Japan races
I see a lot of parallels to this and the JGTC race at Fontana in 2004. Not quite the best track layout to showcase the cars and hard to justify returning. Crowds were strong at that event too. Sonoma was rumored as a possible return venue for JGTC but it never happened
I keep forgetting about that event. Was certainly cool to see though.
I've always thought that Watkins Glen would be a fantastic track, and have it be a "Pro-Am" style like Gold Coast used to be. As an American, I think that Supercars is one of the best disciplines in motorsport currently.
With Australia's GM & FORD manufacturers collapsing over the last couple of years. This new (and following) years format should do well in the States with the 3rd gen Camaros and Mustangs, taking place of the GM Holdens & Ford Falcons. 1st races were this weekend and even with 2-3yrs of development. It was as entertaining as hell as no-one got it all together. Be a long year of balancing to come. If you can. I highly recommend watching the years progression. Should be very interesting. =D
it's a different series without falcons and commodores though. i'd instead suggest anyone interested watches some aussie 5 litre stuff, get a taste of the good old days.
In my dreams, they decide to come to the US again, and run the Nashville Street Circuit the same weekend as Indycar. But wherever they decided to go if they ever came back to the US, I’d be there.
That's certainly an interesting combination.
Before you said Laguna Seca that was the first track that popped into my mind. Would have loved to see them go through the Cork Screw. By the way, in 2015/16, I spent 6 weeks in Australia going to sprint car races, late models, sidecars, TT motorcycles, saloons, in 5 states, and wanted to catch Super Cars. But alas, they run a different time of year.
Supercars at Laguna Seca I think would be amazing.
The Bathurst track has 'The Dipper' which is similar to 'The Corkskrew'.
I think something like this could be more successful today given that we now have Scott McLaughlin in IndyCar. You could use him to be a star driver so you have the drive that is know by American fans and still is a home grown talent. You also have the fact that Andretti competes in Supercars so that is two names that Americans will know. It might also be good to hold it during a Indycar race or even crazier an event like the Indycar NASCAR double header this year and make it a triple header.
Maybe they can use the top 10 US Drivers from Nascar to PAIR with the top 10 AUST Drivers in a 60 LAP RACE with Changes to Drivers and all that stuff.????
If the Australian V8 super cars want to race in America let them loose at Walken's Glen international raceway which is a really awesome road course
I've been properly following the Supercars championship for a few years now, watching what I can live with the time difference from the UK to Australia. I never knew about this race, I was aware of the Abu Dhabi races - or at least one of them.
Another really informative video. And I will probably go and have a look for these races when I have a chance to do so.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I would check out the races because they are an entertaining watch.
As an Aussie i did not know this event happened, and im a Supercar fan
Missed opportunity to have Scott Dixon or Will Power to race in this event.
Either would've been a cool addition. However, I think this event fell on the same weekend as Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
Shout out to Marcus Ambrose for putting this series on the map. But before the Supercars can get a main stay, they’ll probably need to partner with Indycar or Nascar for a double header weekend. Another idea is to have a 12hr race at Daytona with Nascar. My heart says include all feeder series in the race (Super 2, Xfinity, Trucks) but my mind says start with 6hrs and have the top 2 series compete only for now
4:00 The alternative to sticking within the white lines is the IMSA race in 2015 which just looked silly with cars running as wide as possible, most modern circuits have the same problem but it somehow seems worse at COTA.
Or IndyCar in 2019.
I remember Indycar doing that for it's trip to the circuit. Looked strange in my view but I think it helped the racing.
...or put some barriers up! By trying to make it safer for the drivers they've sanitized the whole thing at COTA, yet they still run on tight street courses elsewhere..
They also IIRC had a demo with NASCAR at COTA as well, and this is one of the times the branding was changed on the cars. See the 1997/8 Super Tourin Bathurst 1000s (that is probably worth its own video) where the Vauxhalls were rebadged as Holdens. You had Holden Vectras. Which means, John Cleland drove both a Holden* and a Ford in Aussie racing, didn't he?
Holden Vectra's were sold in Australia though, so not a completely crazy rebadge?
lol then GM nuked local holden production and started importing 4 cylinder front wheel drive Vauxhall Insignias as a 'luuk guise! Noo cummader!' and then when they predictably didnt sell because *no one wanted them* made the claim that 'Australia doesnt want family sedans any more, they actually want SUVs' and that was the end of it all. Sad as hell, ive had several models of commodores and those and falcons are the kinds of things aussie teen boys would have posters of on their walls. My last car was a 2010 VE Commodore V6 and it was literally the bees knees, closely followed by my second favourite car ive owned which was a 1995 VS Commodore, those things were that damn light that even accellerating away from traffic lights on a greasy road it would just spin up (and not intentionally) - both of those cars were 'oh my lord one day im going to own one of those' moments for me, and are cars that were not only affordable for anyone after a few years of being out, but were still viable reliable and inexpensive to maintain, unlike things like BMWs or Mercs which are inherently trash after their limited 'close to new' lifespan and notoriously expensive to repair or maintain. a $3000 ten year old commodore or falcon will always be an absolute bargain, a $3000 merc or bm is always something you have to warn your idiot mate not to buy or they will regret it.
Theres a saying here - You go to a pub, look at the menu, but pretty much always buy the chicken parma - Holden Commodores are the Auto equivalent of Chicken Parma, you go to a second hard car yard, have a poke around, kick tyres, test drive something, but youll still go with the Commonwhore.
Not sure what else they could have done other than what was mentioned in the video, but I do feel if Supercars tried to do it again now it would probably gain more attention. You now have two cars that are both distinctly American in history being ran in the series and run in NASCAR and Trans Am, we now live in a world where you have more access to Supercars and their events through SuperView across the globe, and outlets like iRacing where anyone can run the Supercars and race them around any track you'd like. NASCAR's new car has also seen a rise in road course racing which includes visiting COTA, so it could be possible to schedule Supercars on the same weekend, maybe race Friday and Saturday, as support races for NASCAR's Xfinity and Cup Series, in between practice, qualifying and race events. Plus, there are lots of diehard NASCAR fans (like myself) that also get tired of NASCAR, their decisions, the races, etc., so following along with Supercars more has been a breath of fresh air, something new to enjoy, and I think a lot would also follow if Supercars did race in America again.
I think it helps that both cars are very well known to American race fans. Albeit the Camaro is somewhat of an unknown after 2024 I believe. I think a NASCAR/V8 Supercar weekend (whilst unlikely) would be awesome to see.
I think it was a great idea on paper but I think that they should’ve made a bigger trip out of it to make sure pepe remember it. Maybe start in Portland and work the way down the coast and hit Sears point and laguna seca and Long Beach and then they could hit COTA to show off that new facility
I like that as an idea. A US trip that visited more circuits would be a good way to do it.
V8 Supercars on Watkins Glen 🥺😍
A name that comes to mind is Marcos Ambrose who raced in the USA and V8 Suoercars
If Supercars decides to come back to the US, I’d love to see them come to Barber for a late season enduro race. Beautiful track, exciting racing, great crowds for Indycar, easy to make the logistics work with regular cargo flights from Melbourne or Sydney to Memphis or Atlanta and easy trucking (especially from Atlanta), a chance for NASCAR and Indy stars to team up with the regulars as well as see Power and McLaughlin hustle Aussie V8s on American soil.
This race can even be partnered with a NASCAR race at Talladega as both Barber and Talladega are around 70-80 km (45-50 miles) apart. Drivers can move rather easily from one track to another.
Those cars around Barber would be great to watch for certain.
How did I miss this race?! I love V8 Supercars and I would've found a way to go to this.
I think the idea mentioned in the video of an event similar to the Gold Coast 600 at Laguna Seca, Long Beach or Portland would've been a far better showcase of these cars. Further to that, they could've expanded the idea of the international drivers featured at the Gold Coast event from the few years prior (2010-2012) where it was a co-driver event, and only drivers that did not usually race in Australia could be nominated to co-drive the cars with the regular series drivers. This would've brought a ton of attention to the sport in the US, and would've provided an opportunity to watch potentially NASCAR, Indycar and IMSA drivers competing in another series against each other on 'home soil' and in the correct timezone. I'd be surprised if this idea wasn't floated at the time, but it's also disappointing that it never happened.
This sounds like an awesome idea for sure.
I would love to watch V8SC in USA but the economics of traveling all the way from Australia to the US must be hella expensive and annoying
i want to say at one point supercars we’re trying to be apart of the indycar weekend at belle isle but that fell through not long after
v8 Supercars even raced in Shanghai International Circuit,2005.
DTM also held 2 street races in Shanghai in 2004 (with a naughty manhole cover)and 2010.
I don't know whether these street tracks were failures or not.
That track could very well feature in this series.
They should of had Marcus ambrose as the face of it as a wild card I guess because he raced v8 supercar and nascar
I wish there was a separate V8 Supercars series in the US. There's not a single touring car series in the US right now.
IMSA or TransAm don't count? Am I missing something? Michelin Pilot Challenge Series? Dude...
@@imfrcd *touring car racing,* not endurance racing or GT racing
A US version of V8 Supercars would be a great watch I think.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 absolutely. The series is entirely comprised of American brands now (RIP Holden, also the Ford Falcon) so it would make perfect sense for there to be a separate US series.
Charlotte Roval would be fun to watch
Fun fact:at the firsts seasons of the stock car brazil,they raced in Estoril,theres no footage yet and yes photos from the race
I didn't know that, very interesting.
I have another suggestion for if V8 Supercars ever want to come back to the States considered Watkins Glen's as a track I feel like that has a perfect mixture of turns and like something that they're similar to in Australia like the Gold Coast
I would pay to see V8 Supercars race Road Atlanta or Watkins Glen. Maybe having a sprint race and endurance event at different tracks would have been more successful.
Either track would be great for this series I think.
I agree. Possibly a venue change and longer races for sure. Sprint races aren't personally my favourite, they sound good on paper but aren't always as exciting as you'd expect. Always been more of an endurance guy anyway, but I think the added challenge of running the cars for longer is one of the things that helps to make races like the bathurst 1000km and LeMans so legendary. Come to think of it, most of the legendary races are endurance races apart from maybe Monaco which is GP length. I'm sure there are shorter ones but my brain is shit, so let me know if you can think of any people!
I live about 45 minutes from COTA. And boy do I wish this stuck around.
COTA is good for F1, similar to Albert Park. But when you were listing off the great events of V8 Supercars, you didn't say Albert Park, in fact they were all FIA Grade 3 tracks, so why not do the same in the USA. Willow Springs would be incredible, as would Daytona, Sebring, but with the event happening to plug the May-Sep gap in the calendar, that opens up Watkins Glen, Lime Rock, VIR, Road Atlanta. I mean ECR is just down the road, and that could have worked well too. Circuits where you couldn't compare lap times with F1 or mostly IndyCar (or Nascar unless the V8's were quicker). But I also think this is why IndyCar at COTA didn't work either, the constant comparisons.
Watkins Glen could be fun in these
I can certainly see why the comparisons would be a problem. Supercars at any of those tracks would be awesome.
As an Aussie fan, a format that could work would be to go 'over there' for a month (or so), do 2 sprint race events and 1 enduro event (at different circuits) then it wouldn't be 'going all that way' for 1 race. Also as a bit of trivia, Dick Johnson (Australian Touring Car, later V8 Supercar driver) raced NASCAR in 89/90, and there is even scenes of him racing that was included in Days of Thunder.
im from australia and have grown up watching v8sc but i beleive the best racing always came from porsche carrera cup simply because the parity
I just discovered your channel and I am absolutely hooked. Lovely content, very well explained and I've learned a lot!
Keep up the great work, mate! You deserve many more subscribers and I'm always excited to see a notification pop up from your channel! Cheers~
Thanks for the very kind words! I'm glad that I've helped raise awareness of this event for you.
This wasn’t the last time a V8SC took to the track in the USA. Zak Brown raced one at Laguna Seca last year!
I LOVE Supercars. I wish they would come back to the US. Road Atlanta would be an awesome track. Especially with the Gen 3 car.
Road Atlanta would be awesome for this series I think.
I actually had plans to go the race the following year only to get the heartbreaking news of them not coming back
What should the v8sc done at USA
1-track shoul had been laguna seca, sonoma or an oval road corse
2-make a 3\4h endurance race with the regular driver if the car plus a wildcar per car
plus 2 sprint races where in 1 would be the regular drivers and the others just the wild cars,
Time zone was also a big issue. Australia and USA don't exactly have complementary time zones.
Yeah, the COTA F1 race is at 6am on the Australian east coast.
Watkins Glen would have been great for V8 Supercars since Marcos Ambrose won a NASCAR Cup race there in 2011.
And now V8 SuperCars is trying to get support weekends for the Singapore and US Grand Prix
Can you imagine these cars at limerock? Id pay to see that in a heartbeat
That would be an awesome watch I think.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Marcus Ambrose somewhere in here considering he was a supercar championship a few times and then drove in nascar for a few years. One of the only supercar drivers to do so. Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure he got bullied quite a lot in nascar which held him back
I perhaps could've mentioned Marcos Ambrose given his connection with both series'.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 obviously wasn’t necessary but thought it would have been a good tidbit to add. I enjoy your vids none the less man, keep it up 👍
Dick Johnson also did a couple of NASCAR events way back when.
Can you do a video about when Super GT came from Japan to Auto Club Speedway?
I can certainly look into doing that.
i wanted to see em do a couple more races in the americas..on some of their classic historical tracks, like Road America, Road Atlanta, Mid-Ohio, VIR, and even up into canada at Mosport...IMO it would have been much much better for the series..
I think those tracks would've also worked, albeit the extra distance to travel would've been awkward.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 they work in iRacing! im sure theyd work in real world too...but yeah the distance was the big killer... alot of the smaller supercars teams dont have the spare cash to throw at travelling halfway around the world... going over for just one round hurt big time... if there was 2 or 3 it might have made it worthwhile...
Can we get one of the opposite? NASCAR in Australia?
I can certainly look into doing that.
I travelled across from Aus for this event. For an F1 circuit we were surprised at the facilities for fans. Felt subpar compared to Aus.
That is definitely commitment to make the trip to the US for this round. I hope it was worth the trip though.
Note that all non AUNZ races have been conducted on Tilke-designed circuits. They don't appear to be well-suited to the style of racing that Supercars engages in and are quickly forgotten. If there is ever a return trip to the USA then something like the tracks back home would be more appropriate.
V8s at Laguna Seca would be my Gran Turismo fantasy.
DTM raced in China in 2010 for some reason for the final race
I've always wondered how Nissan got into the V8 Supercar series. As far as I know they've never made a V8 powered car, at least not in the US. Did they make a Maxima with a V8 in Australia?
I think they should go to Laguna Seca.
@@Ocirek should've just released the altima as a v8 RWD instead of what it actually was
I love learning things that's why i rally enjoy your videos
Keep going !!!!!
Doing these videos is also an education for me as well. Glad you're enjoying the videos!
Bathurst style 2 x 200km races Sat/Sun with Aus/US based drivers, similar in time length to NASCAR and more cross over sponsor's potential.
A track like Mid-Ohio, Portland, or Barber would be good for V8s. Laguna Seca or Sears Point in theory, but both are a bit over-done. Or a street circuit, but I don't know that any of the traditional American ones are well suited (not Long Beach; hairpin too tight and straight is too long. Maybe Detroit?)
Supercars work best at circuits that are a bit narrow, a bit tight, make the cars look big and powerful. An F1 circuit makes them look small and slow, which is why none of their modern F1 circuits (Albert Park, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, COTA) have produced particularly memorable events. Even shortened layouts failed to improve things, because they didn't fundamentally change the nature of the circuit, just got cars back to the start a bit quicker.
All of those I feel would work well for Supercars. I see where you're coming from on the track type front.
As a longtime V8 Supercars fan (circa 2005ish?), who was born and raised in the US. The problem with hosting any race in the US is the logistics of even GETTING to, and staying in Austin to watch a race. The country is so big that it was impossible for a lot of fans to make the trip for it. Not to mention the absolute lack of hype about an event like it by media. So being able to garner attention requires more than just track and the resulting racing. There's always external factors that effect the impact of a race.
If it had been in Portland you bet your ASS I would have made the drive. The US NEEDS a series like V8 supercars, as we really don't have a fiercely competitive touring car series.
As a supercars fan I think now they are using Mustangs & Camaros it could set up a potential future venture to the States
Long Beach + Supercars would be a match made in heaven
It was a serious good try by them,they also did the same in Malaysia,Abu Dhabi, Bahrain,China.Im sad they never came to India when they had plans to host 2 races,it never came to fruition
They should have done at most 2 sprints with one enduro. Might have been nice to have a pairing of an Aussie and a US driver to create a little more engagement with the US public.
I think that would have been an awesome spectacle if it became reality.
Do you think it could of been an idea to have the "Gold Coast 600" styled Texas event just run with NASCAR drivers as their co-drivers instead? It would of worked considering we had Holden (GM, Chev) Ford Australia (Ford America). It would of gotten all NASCAR fans curious about how their drivers stack up against other drivers of a similar category on the other side of the world
I think that would've been a good idea, albeit it might be better as a non-Championship race.
Now that the Supercars are essentially the two horse race between Ford and Chevrolet, they should make a better push to USA. They’ll be a good competition to NASCAR especially on road courses
Nascar have 3 manufacturers
TA2 is a road course V8 series that is already in US, and IMHO, those 'cars' look better than new gen3. That Chevy is a brick on wheels. Also Brasilian V8 stock cars (Chevy vs Toyota) are great, with Tony Kanaan and some drivers that could have some recognition in US
What do i think that would been great?
A mix of this: An exhibition crossover race (IMSA vs. V8 or NASCAR vs. V8), and a different track, like Long Beach, Sonoma or Watkins Glen.
Bit left field, but Thunderhill Raceway & Barber Park in an Endurance config with teams encouraged to pick up US drivers as codrivers would work IMO. That or teams spend a month in the US running undercard events at NASCAR, Indycar, etc.
I think those are really good track choices. Perhaps a bit awkward logistically but a cool idea all the same.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 Heh probably, but hey, we manage to run our largest motorsporting event of the year on a public road 400km from the largest city.... time to step up? lol
The endurance races in the races in the super car series draws the biggest attention with Bathurst being the biggest. Finding a tighter more technical track doing an endurance event and having as many American co drivers doing a stint in the hot seat would have been massive but honestly the cost and time to get to and from the USA was the down fall. For them to go there meant we got no racing at home for a month and the drove the aussies fans mad. More than 2 weeks no racing bogans start rioting 😂😂
Gold coast format at the horseshoe layout of Sonoma
I was there. It was an amazing trip. But the supercars are required to run mufflers. Not a great look when you go to a gig and the support acts are louder than the headliners...
Glad you enjoyed the trip! Didn't realise the cars ran mufflers that weekend, thanks for saying.
i wish they would race at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
That track would be cool to see on the schedule.
Yes drive around and around in circles. It is very exciting...
I remember my thought when the news about the inclusion of COTA in calendar of the V8SC appeared: someone should definitely give a wild-card to Marcos Ambrose. But this didn't happen.
A Marcos Ambrose wildcard would've been cool for sure.
He did end up wild carding the following year though
If they had a Supercar and NASCAR weekend the place would be packed!
Supercars should try for Hawaii..
Alot closer to home, i cant see the locals close streets for several weeks as track gets put up then down, mabey theres a track..?
We had a nascar track in Melbourne, some US teams would come over and race in there off season against aust nascars, same with drag racing, i bet several other motor sports too its no big deal in oz to see overseas events come here, indy, f1, moto gp.
The Supercars in LagunaSeca for a Enduro with US Co drivers might have been interesting.
I think it would be different if V8 SC wasn’t having to fight with the SCCA for track time. Iirc this was a weekend of the old Pirelli World Challenge (now GT world challenge America) is what limited the races to 4 sprints
Ah ok, that makes sense.
@@tydyeracinggaming4742 aye, not to be mean, but the Cadillac hauler leaving the track in the background of some of the footage is what reminded me of such an event.
I think it they should have held it at Sonoma, they could have maybe even used the Nascar layout.
Make it a endurance race with two drivers with a American co-driver
Awesome channel very informative videos keep it up :)
I honestly didn't even know they came over and I live here in Texas.
That being said, I think had COTA had given the drivers both the Short Circuit and the Full Course it at the least would have been unique in that sense.
But I do agree a Nascar driver appearance, Indycar driver appearance, hell could have even given Travis Pastrana or Boris Said a call at the time and they probably would've been all over it.
Nevertheless A LOT of my Nascar buddies just watched the opening laps of the 2022 season and WOW! we love the sounds of the engines and how the cars look! We're gonna try to keep up with the series
Boris Said even did a couple of Supercars races already, he took part in 2 of the Endurance races in 2008 and one in 2011.
Did you mean 2023? Or 2022?
The cars look amazing this year in my view. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it this year.