Baltimore Officials Aiming To Bring IRL Street Race To City In '11

BRD COO Says IRL Race Will Come To Baltimore In '11 If Track, Date Provided

Baltimore Racing Development (BRD) yesterday said that if "all goes according to plan, the city would have its own Grand Prix IndyCar event running on a street course through the Inner Harbor on Labor Day weekend 2011," according to Sandra McKee of the Baltimore SUN. BRD COO Jay Davidson: "Given what our communications have been with the IRL, I would say (whether or not the race comes here) is on our end. If we can provide the track and the date, they will come." Davidson added that the race would "end the summer season on the proposed 2.4-mile street course" as part of a three-day festival in Baltimore. BRD consultant and former IRL driver Al Unser Jr. said the IRL is looking at Baltimore "as the East Coast Long Beach Grand Prix." McKee notes the first proposal for "such a race came during Mayor William Donald Schaefer's administration in the mid-1980s," but that proposal and others for auto racing events in the city and state "stalled." And while the city has "not yet determined to move forward, the race proposal was given substance by a unanimous City Council resolution passed" August 10 that gives BRD "exclusive rights for two years to pursue bringing an IRL race to Baltimore." BRD also is "in the unusual position of having" IRL Commercial Division President Terry Angstadt publicly express the league's "interest in coming to the city." McKee notes one "major issue is infrastructure." BRD has said that private investors "would pay for barriers, fencing, grandstands and other equipment with money they would hope to recoup from ticket and sponsorship sales," while "such things as street repairs necessary for the racecourse and police and safety equipment are usually financed by the host city" (Baltimore SUN, 8/18).

ECONOMIC IMPACT: BRD officials said that the race would bring between $60-100M in "direct and indirect economic impact to the city, given attendance of 150,000 and the addition of 400 workers." In DC, Tim Lemke notes if the race is approved, it would be the "only IRL race on the East Coast north of Florida." Meanwhile, BRD has hired MJ Promotions, which promoted the former Champ Car World Series races in Cleveland and Houston, and BRD officials said that they "hope to raise at least $10[M] in sponsorships and that [they] have just started reaching out to the business community" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 8/18).