Grand Prix of Boston promoters are "peeling out of Boston," and the Verizon IndyCar Series "will not race in the city" this year, according to Mark Arsenault of the BOSTON GLOBE. Grand Prix of Boston President & CFO John Casey said, "The relationship is untenable." The city's inaugural IndyCar race had "been scheduled for Labor Day weekend, on a 2.2-mile temporary street course around the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center." Casey said that the promoters instead will "turn to Plan B and try to hold a Labor Day race in a backup city in the Northeast." He added that the promoters "have had contact with two other cities," one of which is in New England. Casey: "They are both willing to do it without the headaches of Boston." Arsenault noted Boston "is 0-2 recently on new, attention-grabbing sporting events, with the demise of the race coming less than a year after Boston's bid" for the '24 Games collapsed. Casey said that city officials "made relentless and unrealistic demands on the promoters that eventually just became too much to bear." Casey: "I'm writing a book about this whole process. It's so ridiculous, it's hysterical." City of Boston Chief of Operations Patrick Brophy in a statement said race organizers "were unwilling or unable to meet the necessary requirements to hold an event of this size." Brophy said that the city "insisted on protections for the taxpayers and the neighborhood." Brophy: "They didn't want to do it, and we're OK with it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/30).
HE SAID SHE SAID: In Boston, Battenfeld & Stout cited sources as saying that it was "clear that the promoters were not telling the truth about reaching agreements with other agencies and landowners to build the course." The "swift and ugly end to the IndyCar race" is a big blow to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, who "wanted to show Boston could host a major sporting event" after the city's Olympics bid collapsed (BOSTON HERALD, 4/30). Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles said of the result, "We're very disappointed." In Indianapolis, Cavin & James noted one of the cities that "could play host could be Providence," which IndyCar "considered before putting its focus on Boston." Miles: "We have a couple of ideas. We're working hard to see if there's a Plan B" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 4/30). Race promoters in a post on the Grand Prix of Boston's Facebook page on Saturday announced that ticket refunds for the event begin today, adding that they "plan to refund purchases in the order they were received." Grand Prix of Boston Public Relations Manager Jana Watt "declined to say how many tickets had been sold" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/1). The number of tickets being refunded are in the "thousands" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/1).
WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE: The HERALD's Joe Battenfeld wrote Walsh "got burned" by the race's "fiery crash." Walsh ignored a series of "repeated wrong turns and warning signs that the race would never get off the starting line." Walsh's administration "spent a year pushing an idea that seemed ludicrous to many Bostonians: hosting a high-speed IndyCar race in a city that can't even fill potholes or sync up its traffic lights." Walsh also "enabled the race promoters, who made repeated false claims about winning approvals and were ill-prepared to deal with the half-dozen city, federal and state agencies that controlled roads where they wanted to build the course." Walsh now could "face the ire of all the thousands of race fans who bought tickets and reserved hotel rooms, not to mention the charities and sponsors that expected to benefit from it." Battenfeld noted the cancellation also "could end up costing Grand Prix of Boston investors a lot of money." Meanwhile, Casey "went out flame-throwing, blaming Walsh -- the major champion of the race -- for its demise, saying the city proved too difficult to work with." But the Walsh administration said that it was "clear that the promoters were not telling the truth." A top Walsh official said, "They were the most disorganized group I've ever seen" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/1). In Boston, Mike Ross wrote the race even with political support "was doomed from the start" and its opponents "flocked." The "bigger risk to Boston is not a race that will occur over Labor Day Weekend," but instead the "message we send to the outside world that their ideas are not welcome here" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/1).
