Champ Cars Coming To Vegas
Champ Cars are the Formula 1 cars of the American racing circuit, and they are enjoying immense popularity thanks to the number of street races that are being organised. Last year the cars tore through the streets of San Jose, and in the past the likes of Long Beach and Denver have also hosted street race events. However, in 2007 it will be the turn of Las Vegas to hold a Champ Car street race, becoming the sixth North American city to host an open-wheel race event.
Although it doesn’t seem that Vegas needs much more money, there are downtown areas that could do with an injection of cash, and Las Vegas officials hope the event will have the same impact that it did on the Long Beach area. The Long Beach race prompted a massive revitalisation of the area, and Vegas will hope for something similar.
However, there have been problems at some of the previous races, and this sort of event can backfire if not properly organised. Events are often tarnished by the amount of money spent and the difficulty in bringing in the crowds. Despite this, the success of such events has been increasing as motor sport enthusiasts try to find excitement in a sport increasingly dominated by technology.
Despite the failures of previous cities like Denver, Las Vegas organisers are highly confident that the event will be a massive success. They hope it will attract over 150,000 fans and have an economic impact of nearly $80 million on Vegas as a whole, which could improve the downtown area significantly.
The event will be hosted by a Phoenix-based company for the next five years, and will be run on a 14 turn, 2.4 mile circuit. The event will be the opener for the 2007 World Champ Car season and will be part of a three-day ‘festival of speed’ in the area.
Although it is likely that the event will experience some teething problems along the way as all of these races do, Las Vegas looks set to be one of the most exciting race venues on the 2007 open-wheel racing calendar, and sporting spectacle not to be missed