Red Bull Racing heads to Houston
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Next stop: Houston. Photo: Denis Ruvic/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Racing will soon take over downtown Houston.
Driving the news (very, very fast): Red Bull F1 drivers David Coulthard and Arvid Lindblad will zip around Discovery Green on Sept. 7, ripping burnouts and donuts on city streets in the Red Bull Showrun.
- Drivers in other sporty cars, including a drifting McLaren P1 Hypercar, will also take the streets.
The intrigue: A fan zone will open from 10am to 3pm with realistic racing simulators, Houston car clubs, food trucks and merch.
- Driving demonstrations will run from noon to 2pm.
How to go: The Red Bull Showrun is free and open to the public, although a handful of grandstand tickets are still available for $60.
- Later that night, four spinners will go head to head in the nation's inaugural Red Bull Turn It Up DJ battle at NOTO. Those tickets are $5 in advance but will increase in price closer to the event.
Flashback: Houston has a rich car culture, from slabs to our ever-widening freeways. But open-wheel race cars also play a small but important part in that story.
- The city hosted an annual IndyCar Series grand prix on public streets in downtown and near NRG Stadium from 1998 to 2014.
The big picture: The Houston show is part of Red Bull's effort to continue popularizing Formula 1 racing in the U.S.
- The motorsport saw a spike in Americans' interest after Netflix debuted its "Formula 1: Drive to Survive" docuseries in 2019, but that growth has somewhat plateaued.
- Austin has hosted the U.S. Grand Prix at a purpose-built track since 2012. Last year, officials reported weekend attendance of 432,000.
Between the lines: Red Bull Racing has been pushing to keep that momentum going in part by hosting events like the upcoming one in Houston.
- The team has showcased their skills similarly in Dallas, Nashville and most recently in Washington, D.C.
- After Houston, the drivers will move on to Minneapolis the following weekend.
The bottom line: The D.C. event drew nearly 60,000 people, according to a spokesperson.
- With nearly as many expected in Houston next month, start planning your trip now.