Grand Prix: From zero to 175 in 6 months

Race officials say the three-day event will be as much about extreme fun as about extreme speeds.

By BRYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 15, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- The CART racing league's loss of some of its top drivers and sponsors to rival leagues won't threaten the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, race organizers said at a news conference Wednesday.

That's because the Grand Prix will be a "show" or "festival" as much as an automobile race, featuring events such as extreme skateboarding and bicycling, they said.

The St. Petersburg race, scheduled for Feb. 21-23, will kick off next season for Championship Auto Racing Teams. Promoters will turn part of First Street S, Bayshore Drive and a runway of Albert Whitted Municipal Airport into a temporary race course, with speeds expected to reach 175 mph on straightaways.

"It's the proven urban festival format we've been able to corner the motorsports market on," CART spokesman Adam Saal said.

The new race is modeled after one of CART's most successful and profitable events for two decades, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Calif., also run on a temporary course on city streets.

Like the Long Beach race, St. Petersburg's will wind along the waterfront and feature extra events for fans. Along with extreme sports events, the Grand Prix also will feature a stage with live bands and a "lifestyle expo."

General admission tickets good for Friday and Saturday begin at $25, and children under 12 will get in free with a paid adult. Organizers hope those things will attract area residents who aren't CART fans.

"Open-wheel racing fans and CART fans will get us 40 percent full," said Tom Begley, the race's on-site general manager. "We need to touch different markets."

Despite good attendance at events like Long Beach, CART has suffered several setbacks that lead observers to question how long the series can survive.

Top team owner Roger Penske switched from CART to IRL this year, taking away two-time champion driver Gil de Ferran and Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves. Now CART's most recognizable driver, Michael Andretti, is considering switching.

At the same time, NASCAR and the upstart Indy Racing League have competed for fans and drivers.

So CART is hoping St. Petersburg can help it secure its future. The city will host one of two new street races being organized by the Long Beach race promoter. The other will be run in Denver on Sept. 1, 2002.

"We need to get reset on what works for us: Urban street races in scenic city centers," Saal said. "Our races will shine in this environment."

Dover Motorsports will spend "millions of dollars" to stage the race here, said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, a Dover subsidiary.

City officials and organizers have spent months designing the course and planning details like whether to weld manhole covers shut or replace them with locking models. (They chose locking covers.)

Now they must spend the next several months efficiently building the circuit and planning the surrounding events. Race organizers will pave a new taxiway at Albert Whitted to serve as the pit lane. And they must smooth the runway surface that will become the front straightaway. That work is scheduled to begin in September.

Dover also will buy all new concrete safety barriers for both sides of the 1.78-mile race course and construct huge grandstands. That will start in January.

"Our commitment from the company is to overproduce the first year," Michaelian said. "We don't want to spend a lot of time after the race explaining why we didn't do it right this year."

Kevin Dunn, the city's managing director of development coordination, said he is confident the race will come together smoothly. Tuesday, he showed off a 3-inch-thick operations manual for the Denver race.

"This is the level of planning detail we'll have here in St. Pete," Dunn said. The book includes a "minute-by-minute," detailed schedule of all the daily tasks to be done leading up to and following the race. After the Denver race, Dover's race operations manager will take charge in St. Petersburg.

Dunn said a city committee of officials from departments like police, sanitation, fire and engineering will work closely with organizers in the next several months. Dover Motorsports will reimburse the city for their services, he said.

"It's hard to believe that in just a few months from now, the best open wheel racers in the world will be running on the streets behind me," Mayor Rick Baker said at the news conference.

-- Times staff writer Mike Stephenson contributed to this report.

Ticket information

Fans may call (888) 34-SPEED between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or visit www.gpstpete.com any time to buy tickets. Preliminary races will be run Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22, with the main CART race Sunday, Feb. 23.

General admission: Friday-Saturday $25. Sunday only $35. All three days $45, includes unreserved grandstand seating Friday and Saturday but not Sunday. Children under 12 get in free with paid adult all three days.

Reserved grandstand seating: Three-day $80 to $105 for adults, $55 to $80 for children. Sunday only $55-$75 for adults, $35-$55 for children.

Club packages: From $125 to $695 for adults.

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