Driveway Austin

Did You Know?

• The track was built on a former landfill that was originally earmarked for an industrial site that never materialized.
• The Driveway Series bicycle race has been held since 2006, with about 400 riders participating as of the 2020 season.

History

Driveway Austin began as the final project of Bill Dollahite, who retired from driving IMSA World Sports Cars behind the wheel of a Ferrari 333 SP. His vision was to build a European-style, Formula 1-inspired track that would function exclusively as a racing school. After two years of searching, he found a site in 2003: 50 acres of riverbank in east Austin where Walnut Creek meets the Colorado River. The land had originally been set aside for an industrial project that never happened and had since become a landfill.

Dollahite co-founded the track with local investors JB Hager and John Korioth, along with 25 other backers. He personally designed every element of the circuit, taking cues from famous tracks like Imola, Monaco, and Road Atlanta. The first section, called the Short Course, was finished by September 2005. Work on the rest of the track then began, involving three years of engineering and planning.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the additions took place on October 10, 2007. Construction of the Grand Prix Course and all other layouts started in 2008 and wrapped up by the end of that year. After nearly five years of development, the Driveway was fully complete. It was the first road course of its kind in the Austin area, opening before Harris Hill Raceway in San Marcos.

The name came from a run-in with a city inspector. While Dollahite and friends were lapping the first paved section, he told the inspector it was just a driveway to a 1954 house on the property. The facility operated as both a school and a hangout for car enthusiasts. Early events were mostly autocross and karting.

Over time, the training program taught teenagers, first responders, and professional drivers alike. The track hosted performance driving, manufacturer testing, and media sessions for film and photography. Sebastian Vettel drove laps there during the 2015 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. RADwood, a show for 1980s and 1990s cars, was held at the track in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, when asked about the future, Dollahite said he was grateful to have shared the place with the community, noted that the track had grown to have its own life, and mentioned his eventual retirement.

Track facility

Driveway Austin was a road course set in a wooded, elevated area along a river, with a greenbelt and a perimeter trail for hiking and biking. It operated as a racing school rather than a competition venue, so there were no grandstands or typical big-track amenities; instead, the focus was on training facilities. Drivers could only use the track as students or for recreational driving, never for sanctioned races. The track ran counterclockwise and offered three main configurations, each designed to highlight different driving skills.

The 0.7-mile, 7-turn Short Course, inspired by Fiorano, emphasized flat-surface handling at speeds mostly under 80 mph, with sweepers, double apexes, and late apex turns. The 0.95-mile, 11-turn Elevation Course used varying terrain, including a corkscrew similar to Laguna Seca and a bus stop switchback. The 1.61-mile, 14-turn Grand Prix Course focused on high-speed driving, with corners borrowed from the Nürburgring and Road America; most cars could exceed 100 mph, particularly on a 2,500-foot straight. For safety, the track met FIA standards with gravel traps, soft walls, and hard walls to stop out-of-control vehicles.