So I am far from the resident contributor to ECB with any wealth of auto racing expertise. Hell, beyond what I gleaned from playing Al Unser's Turbo Racing for the old NES System, I have almost no auto racing knowledge.
That said, who needs to have auto racing knowledge to be excited about this news? The IndyCar Racing League (IRL) is looking at downtown Baltimore for the site of a new street race in the Indy Series, joining St. Petersburg, FL, and Long Beach, CA, as the only American cities to host a street race! Presently IRL would like to add Baltimore to its 2011 schedule.
Could this stretch of Pratt Street along the Harbor soon be home to cars going over 150mph?Presently, public sentiment seems to be strongly in favor of Baltimore hosting this race. According to a poll presently appearing on the Sun's webpage, just shy of 85% of the 1250+ voters are in favor of Baltimore hosting the IRL race.
What are the downsides? Obviously many, many, many streets would have to be closed down for such a race. But the race would take place on the weekend and traffic would be minimal. Further, most people could take public transit into the event. Another downside is that the Harbor area would essentially be shut down aside from the event. But if you have thousands of people coming to the Harbor especially for this event, I don't think that the merchants are going to worry about other tourists being kept away. Safety and noise are also concerns of Baltimore's elected officials (some of whom may or may not steal gift cards to Best Buy designed to go to poor kids). Let me tell you this... after living in Baltimore for three years, I actually think that the prospect of debris flying from cars going upwards of 150 mph in an IRL race is safer than strolling the streets of Baltimore on an average weeknight. And noise... we're talking daytime. It'll be loud though, no doubt.
What are the upsides? Many. You get to feature downtown Baltimore and its very picturesque waterfront and harbor in a very positive way (for as much shit as I do give Baltimore, and I do give it shit, everybody knows that I have much love for Otterbein, Mount Vernon, Federal Hill, Locust Point, Little Italy, and the Harbor). More importantly, with Preakness and Maryland's horce racing industry facing an uncertain future, you are able to host an event which will bring in up to an estimated $100 million dollars in tourism revenue over the four days that the city would host the leadup to the race and the race itself.
Finally, the IRL would have the ability to spread some love for auto racing into what is presently the abyss between Dover/Richmond Speedways and New Hampshire Speedway. New York, Pennsylvania, and the DC area comprise a 200-mile long mass of humanity, and probably less than 2% of the millions whom live there could name an IRL driver other than Helio Castroneves (Dancing with the Stars) and Danica Patrick (media saturation). Street courses are the most fun type of racing to watch, as you can see cars tearing down the streets that are normally reserved for dense downtown traffic. It's dangerous, it's fun, and it's a lot more visually appealing than watching cars circle tracks.
My advice - keep your mouth shut, Baltimore, and don't blow this one.
9 Responses:
The team of people scheduled to promote this event have a horrible track record when it comes to running successful financial races. With Chuck Kosich at the helm, this one is sure to lose millions as well.
agree, the city of Baltimore obviously didn't due any due diligence here. They will spend millions to fix the streets and this will be a one and done. This group cannot manage a successful event ever in any city.
Wake up Baltimore !!
To be fair, the city already did just re-do Russell Street and Pratt and President Streets could use it. Looking at the proposed course, if the city can combine race preparation with already needed public works projects, I'd be in favor of it.
I have NO idea how they propose race cars will cross the Light Rail tracks or the old trolley tracks on Light Street though.
J-Red, I would imagine they would be able to cover them with some sort of nearly slopeless material that fits almost seamlessly into the street so that the ridiculous expensive cars traveling over 150 mph don't go airborne when they hit the tracks.
My friends and I were discussing potential Formula 1 tracks for a US Grand Prix next year (rumors are yes). One of the debates was street courses like Monaco but we had trouble coming up with them.
Honestly, this isn't the most exciting course but then again, it is far from being an awful course either. I think it would be a solid start towards getting open wheel racing to have a bigger following here.
Plus, there's going to be a US team in F1 next year - USGPE. Drivers aren't announced yet but things are sounding exciting. HQ is in Charlotte.
As a Montgomery county resident who would enjoy watching on TV or attending, but won't be the inconvenienced by the pre-race public works mess it will create in Baltimore, I'm in favor of this event. I wish Baltimore good luck in landing the race and hosting it. But I'm not getting my hopes up.
Didn't some racing league hold a big race in DC a few years ago around the RFK grounds? I remember people saying the same things about how this was going to be a yearly event and it was going to promote racing to the Mid-Atlantic region, and it was going to pump tourism money into the city's coffers, and blah blah blah. Now I can't even remember any of the details about the race to make my point. Which, I think, makes my point.
After much searching, I finally found something about the race through Google: It was the American Le Mans series in 2002.
While it might be exciting for race fans, there are big time costs guaranteed for the city with very dicey odds for the benefits to outweigh the costs.
The city of San Jose subsidized its Grand Prix to the tune of $4 million (on top of major capital expenses) only to find the race moved to a nearby location well short of the run predicted by its backers when they took advantage of a loophole in their contract.
It took St. Petersburg multiple expensive failures before being able to get its races up and running. Portland failed to get enough fans to keep its Grand Prix going.
The most likely scenario I see is Baltimore's city government getting sucked into paying a lot for preliminary work and then having the whole thing collapse as costs spiral or the organizers pull out.
If this circuit produces exciting racing, there could be more racing series attracted to race there. This is where the city could make some real money. Imagine if F1 wants to race there. This could be the start of something good.
F1 can't even come to an agreement to head back to Indy. If they can't make it work in Phoenix, currently the 5th largest city in the US, or Indy, what makes you think Baltimore can draw the crowds to pay Bernie's umpteen million franchise fee?
The St Pete grand prix filed bankruptcy at least once, I know because I lost about $500 on an invoice they got out of paying. A friend of mine got screwed by them 3 or 4 years ago when they went over budget on an equipment rental contract, then promised him he could bill the difference on next's years invoice, only to give the contract to another company the next year.
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