V8 Supercars Austin 400 Texas May 17-19, Visitor Questions

[68LS1]

Hi Guys, looking like my calendar may now allow me to get over to see the first ever round held in USA, fingers crossed. Season has produced some good racing so far.

http://www.v8supercars.com.au/events/austin-400

Is there interest for this event in the States?

I'm considering some of the tour packages available, hoping to make informed decision, so just an Aussie looking for some local knowledge. Have found on previous trips you guys are great hosts with lots of great local info.

For those who have been to the track where are the best viewing spots?

What are the best hotels to stay in?

Where are the places (food & bars) to visit in the area.

Who here from the forum is attending? Be great to catch up for a chat.

cheers Roger

[Streetking]

Roger, I live here in Austin and hope to meet up with you. The best Hotels are the Four Seasons and the W downtown. As far as food, there are quite a few in the downtown area, depends what you like. Eddie V's , really great steaks https://www.eddiev.com/, Truluck's for seafood http://trulucks.com/pages/downtown-austin, Perla's for seafood http://perlasaustin.com/, swift's attic http://www.swiftsattic.com/desktop/, if you need anymore specifics, please PM me.

SW

[carbuff]

Roger,

To add to SW's comments, I happen to live in the downtown area. There will be a large variation in what you will spend depending on what area of town you stay in. SW mentioned some of the pricey places to stay, and the location / quality can't be beat! :) And he gave great restaurant recommendations as well.

If you want to stay a little further out from downtown to save some money, the track is past the airport on the southeast side of downtown. There are hotels closer to the airport which may be a bit cheaper.

I haven't attended an event at the track yet, so I can't speak to the specifics of getting in/out of the event. I know that the F1 event had a pretty good system running of shuttles/buses which took people back and forth. I don't know if they will do that for any of the other events, but I doubt that they will (they didn't for the recent Sports Car race there).

As for bars, the most famous 'district' of Austin is 6th Street. However, I would only recommend that you take a walk down it and see if it's your thing or not. The crowd can be very diverse, and it's more of the college-age area. There will be a lot of live music options at all of the bars along 6th, and those can be a lot of fun, again depending on your tastes in music. We have a laid-back new area called Rainey St. which has some great outdoor bars. You'll find music there also, along with some great 'trailer food'. 4th and 5th Streets also have some good bars and restaurants (a couple which SW mentioned), and the west side of 6th Street as well.

All of the above is within easy walking distance of the downtown hotels.

South Congress Avenue is a fun place to walk at night. A popular destination there is the Continental Club, a local bar whose owner is a hot rodder. You will often find a nice array of cars parked along the street outside of the club. There are some good restaurants along that strip as well (South Congress Cafe, Vespaio, Botticelli's, Guero's). Also, a cool hotel to stay right in that strip is Hotel San Jose. All of this is a relatively short walk to the areas above also, or a $7 cab ride.

Hope all of this helps! Austin is a fun place, I hope you enjoy the visit!

[68LS1]

Hi Guys, thanks for the info. Will start my decision making on which tour.

Hope to catch up also StreetKing.

thanks again.

Are there any Pro-touring events happening around the same time?