A Look at Tracks Shared by Formula 1 & NASCAR

In the world of motorsports, NASCAR is the most popular version in the United States, while Formula 1 is the most watched globally.

So the comparisons are inevitable, especially considering that there is typically minimal crossover from one to another.

Would a successful driver in one series be able to excel in the other? Speculation tends to run rampant simply because there isn’t a lot of factual history to provide an answer. Most fans can only name a small number of, if any, racers who have competed in both. One can’t really blame them since there aren’t many.

But while the drivers who have started a grand prix and a NASCAR Cup Series race could probably all ride to the track in one car together, the history of tracks being used by both sanctioning bodies is much more lengthy. This weekend’s Cup visit to Circuit of the Americas is merely a continuation of that history.

Current fans will likely know that both levels have raced at COTA because of how recently it has occurred. F1 started using the Austin, Texas, track in 2012, and NASCAR joined in nearly a decade later. No driver has competed in both levels at the track, but that could always change in the future.

One of the more recognized tracks in this category is Watkins Glen International. Both levels of racing have a substantial past at the winding course in upstate New York. F1 utilized the track for the U.S. Grand Prix from 1961 through 1980. NASCAR didn’t share the track much though during that era, only running there in 1964 and 1965.

By the time Watkins Glen had been permanently added to the Cup schedule in 1986, F1 had moved on to street courses in cities like Long Beach, Dallas and Detroit. The ever-increasing speed and rigidity of the F1 cars proved to be more dangerous on the high-speed closed course at WGI than temporary street circuits. A pair of gruesome fatal accidents in 1973 and 1974 put the future of the facility in doubt. Then, a failure by the track to make an $800,000 payment to the teams following the 1980 race turned out to be the final nail in the coffin.

From 2000 to 2007, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course hosted the U.S. Grand Prix. Of course, NASCAR hit the bricks back in 1994, but that was on the 2.5-mile oval. Technically, F1 has run on the oval as well. The Indianapolis 500 was considered part of the series’ world championship from 1950 through 1960.

It was a peculiar association, considering no competitors…