Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
Formula One
F1: McCombs Behind Austin Race
Texan Red McCombs is the primary financial backer of the United States Grand Prix coming to Austin...
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted July 27, 2010   Balen (BEL)
Texan Red McCombs is one of the primary financial backers of the Austin GP. (Photo: Getty Images)
Wealthy Texan Red McCombs is the main investor behind the Austin Formula One project.

Born in 1927, McCombs made his fortune in car dealerships and was a founder of Clear Channel Communications. He is ranked by Forbes as one of the 400 richest Americans. He used to own the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Vikings sports teams, and the business school at the University of Austin is named after him.

He also owns McCombs Energy, and as already reported here, there is a push to use the new track to help develop alternative fuels.

McCombs admitted he knew nothing about F1 before the project started. He says Bernie Ecclestone asked him Tuesday morning if the track will be ready by 2012, and he replied: "Remember, we are talking about Texas. We are not talking about anywhere else..."

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005. Check out Adam's Blog or follow him on Twitter

Tunnelheads, Pick Your Starters! Win Weekly! Win Monthly! Win The Championship!
adam_cooper's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Cooper

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.