Formula 1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone, has hit back after he was branded "foolish" for refusing to move the date of the United States Grand Prix to avoid a clash with a Nascar event.
The F1 race at Austin's Circuit of the Americas (Cota) is scheduled for November 2, meaning it will run alongside the Nascar Sprint Cup's AAA Texas 500 just 220 miles away at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Texas Motor Speedway president, Eddie Gossage, found it hard to believe F1 could not find another week for the US Grand Prix and criticised Cota officials for not standing up to Ecclestone.
"I absolutely think it's foolish. Nobody wins. It's a shot fired by Formula One at Nascar. I can't say I was surprised because Bernie Ecclestone does a lot of foolish things," Gossage said, according to the bet365 F1 betting page.
"The thing he unfortunately doesn't recognise is there is an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to major American motor sports. The 800-pound gorilla is Nascar."
He added: "It wouldn't have happened if they [the Cota officials] had the strength and the fortitude to stand up and say no."
Ecclestone responded by claiming the logistics of F1 meant there was no room for manoeuvre in the 2014 calendar, a point that some sports betting fans have disagreed with.
"There are issues that can occur, but he [Gossage] and other people do not realise these things," the 83-year-old said.
"The race prior to the one in the US is in Russia, in Sochi. We've never been before, and we have to get out of there and into Austin. That is probably a lot easier than trying to get into Brazil, and then we have to get out of there [Sao Paulo] to go to Abu Dhabi.
"So he is extremely lucky he doesn't have to do what we have to do."
