Mel Harder, the General Manager and Senior Vice President at Circuit of The Americas (COTA), is no longer employed by the Austin, Texas, racetrack.

“Please be advised that my position of General Manager and Senior Vice President of Circuit of The Americas has been eliminated,” Harder wrote in an email to Roadracingworld.com. “I appreciate the support of everyone that assisted with the events and day to day operations including colleagues at COTA, race series, race teams, automotive manufacturers, artists and the public officials. I am proud of the accomplishments during COTA’s first 3 years of business operations. It has been a pleasure to be a part of the the team that carried out world class race events, concerts and the X Games.

“I am excited to explore new opportunities. I look forward to working with you in a new capacity.”

An attempt to reach Harder prior to post time via his mobile phone was unsuccessful. 

Before coming to COTA, Harder worked at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) for 22 years. As the Senior Vice President of Operations at IMS, Harder played a large role in bringing the MotoGP World Championship and the Kevin Schwantz School to the storied facility.

A press release issued by COTA on February 11, 2013, stated that Harder’s responsibilities were to “manage the Circuit’s motorsports and facility operations; transportation, security, safety and medical teams; and serve as operational liaison with local, state and federal agencies.”

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

UPDATE:

Roadracingworld.com was able to reach Harder late Monday to talk about his announcement that his position at Circuit of The Americas had been eliminated. Here’s how that conversation went.

Roadracingworld.com: Sorry this call couldn’t come under better circumstances.

Mel Harder (MH): Yeah, this is kind of something new for me. I’ve only had two jobs in my whole life.

Roadracingworld.com: When did you find out?

MH: Friday (June 12). Technically, today was my last day.

Roadracingworld.com: Can you offer any insight as to what might have led to this?

MH: I think they’re just trying to be as efficient as they can possibly be and set themselves up for as much success as they can financially. The thing is we accomplished a lot over the last three years. We were voted [by Pollstar] the Best New Concert Venue of 2013 and hosted great concerts: Dave Matthews Band, Jimmy Buffett, Maroon 5. I think we set a model that maybe other racetracks are looking at and wondering if this is the way we should be to be that diversified venue. I’m proud of our accomplishments. We ran the first sports car race, the first sports car race in the dark, which was an amazing event. We had an FIA [World Endurance Championship] and a Tudor [United] Sports Car Championship event all in the same day. There’s so many thing that weekend that were milestones that we could do with the venue.

Beyond that we set up a really solid track rental program that services everyone. It is quite unique. I think a lot of tracks have gone the model of the country club and [hosting] schools, and we set something up that was really diversified and it gave the track day enthusiast, whether you’re riding a motorcycle or driving a car, a place and gave manufacturers a place to come and do the things that they do. I think it was great to be able to set those things up and show that diversification. Those are things I look forward to carrying on to another business opportunity.

Roadracingworld.com: What are you feeling right now?

MH: The things that I brought and that I put in place are going to stay in place, but I wasn’t finished and there’s a long way to go. Yeah, there’s value in what I’ve done, and once again I’m proud of those accomplishments and those are things that will live on for quite some time.

The racetrack, while it’s three years old it acts much older than that yet it’s still an infant. It’s going to need the nurturing and care to bring it along. It will be interesting to sit back and watch it and see how it evolves. I’m sure there will be other changes as the racetrack evolves.

Roadracingworld.com: So what comes next?

MH: The best part is having some time and putting together a good plan on what my next step is. I’m going to take a little bit of time. There’s no sense in jumping in [to something new]. I could go find work, but I want to make sure it’s a good fit and a good fit with my passion and it’s a good fit for the company what stage they’re in and how I fit in with that.

Today’s an interesting day. Since I sent out the communication I’ve got a lot of feedback from the people I worked with. There’s a lot of support and people are excited and want to talk about opportunities. It’s a good spot to be in. While I’m looking at what my ideal plan is I’m going to listen to other people see what other opportunities come up, but it’s the right opportunity that’s going to make the difference.

Roadracingworld.com: Considering you were a big part of MotoGP coming to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a big part of MotoAmerica coming to COTA, do MotoAmerica stakeholders have any reason to be concerned about their future at Circuit of the Americas?

MH: Not at all. One of the things that I’m proud of is MotoAmerica made its debut at COTA. I think it was very fitting for them to debut at a World Championship event. They had a great crowd. They got great support from their partners. It was a really good venue for them to get started. So I’m really glad that we were able to put that together. They did a fantastic job and they enjoyed being around the MotoGP paddock and being around the energy of that weekend. It was a good launch for them. I think it was an important date for both of us. It was an important milestone for MotoAmerica, and it was an important for me to be able to help put that together.

As I said, as with many of the programs I helped put together, I see that will stay in place and will move forward. I think it will be a good fit moving forward with MotoAmerica together with MotoGP at Circuit of The Americas.