The Long Beach City Council selection committee yesterday announced that it has recommended retaining the annual IndyCar race instead of pursuing F1. The city hired KPMG to conduct a study over whether to continue with the long-running Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach or switch to a plan for an F1 race. The City Council will officially vote on the decision in early August. Though the recommendation still needs to be formally adopted, race President & CEO Jim Michaelian and IndyCar CEO Mark Miles both described their respective entities as "delighted" (Adam Stern, Staff Writer). In California, Tim Grobaty in a front-page piece writes the city council process seemed "somewhat wasteful," as the IndyCar race has been an "annual success every year and has put the city at the forefront of open-wheel racing." The Indianapolis 500 is the only event that "surpasses the Long Beach race in attendance." Meanwhile, F1 is a "money pit, with costs estimated at well over $100 million, with a slim chance of making money" (Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, 7/26).
OFF TO A FLYING START: In Indianapolis, Jim Ayello reports IndyCar officials were "so thrilled" with yesterday's test of the new '18 Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that they "canceled Wednesday's test session." Juan Pablo Montoya was among the test drivers, and he was "most encouraged by the benefits the design will afford drivers." He is "confident that discarding the rear pods and shrinking and lowering the wings will make racing in traffic easier and encourage more passing and closer racing" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/26).
