Tavo Hellmund

Charles Tavo Hellmund (born February 24, 1970 in Austin, TX) is an American former racing driver and Midget Series promoter.

A native of Austin, Texas, Hellmund's father was a racing promoter as well, having promoted the Gran Premio de México in 1980 and 1981. Tavo competed in the British Formula Three Championship in 1995 and 1996 and won races in FIA, NASCAR and SCCA sanctioned events, including the NASCAR race at Laguna Seca in 2001. As a promoter he has been involved with music events, FIFA World Cup and was responsible for the return of the USAC National Midget Series to Texas after a nearly forty year absence. His Texas Racefest was one of the most successful regional short-track events from 2005-2009.

His relationship with Bernie Ecclestone (CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Administration) has spanned nearly 40 years; knowing him as a young boy, followed by a stint on the Ecclestone-owned F1 team, and later working with him to learn more about the business side of the Formula 1 brand. Today Hellmund is considered one of the most knowledgeable people in the United States about Formula One.

In July 2010, Hellmund announced he and his investors, including Red McCombs and Bobby Epstein of Prophet Capital, signed a deal with Formula One in April to return the United States Grand Prix to the F1 schedule in 2012. Hellmund and his investors will build a new track outside of Austin, Texas that will be designed by Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl. According to Hellmund the track will have significant elevation changes and be a more traditional grand prix track as opposed to the characteristically wide and flat curves featured on other modern Tilke tracks. Motorcycle champion and Hellmund close friend Kevin Schwantz is also involved in the project.