ALMS, and open wheel racing to return to Detroit !!!

[nthfinity]

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../60928006/1508

Penske Ready to Return Racing to Det roit By AUTOWEEK AutoWeek | Published 09/28/06, 5:49 pm et Racing and business entrepreneur Roger Penske is about to create more magic for Motown. It will not be returning the National Football League’s Super Bowl to Detroit—a project he undertook and delivered almost single-handedly—but resurrecting something with which he is far more familiar, big-time motor racing. Penske is expected to announce that he will stage a race on Detroit’s Belle Isle, one of the largest city parks in the United States. Leading the Labor Day weekend bash on Belle Isle will be the Indy car stars. Making the proposition sweeter is the American Le Mans Series undercard. Why: Not only will fans see cars like Corvettes, Audis, Aston Martins and Cadillacs compete, the city should benefit from their hometown corporate interests as well. All is contingent on the Detroit City Council’s approval and signing a contract at a meeting scheduled for Friday, Sept. 29. Penske has a press conference scheduled for noon to announce the event with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Suggesting this is further beyond the “what if” stage is that Brian Barnhart, president and COO of the Indy Racing League, Judge Mary Waterstone, president of Friends of Belle Isle, as well as the city of Detroit police chief, the chief operating officer for the city and the president and CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, the organization through which Penske will work to promote and distribute funds, will all be on hand. While funding for the track and infrastructure improvements has not been identified, plans call for money generated from the race to benefit Belle Isle, a city park that in recent years has had to close multiple public facilities as a result of budget shortfalls. “This is really a byproduct of Roger’s desire to revitalize Detroit,” said Bud Denker, executive vice president of Penske United Auto Group. “As chairman of the Downtown Detroit Partnership to clean up the city, he realizes to get these big events like the Super Bowl and the baseball all-star game is essential. But you must have annual events to drive people downtown on a regular basis. They have to be things people can look forward to going to. “This is all a result of his desire to help Detroit. We’re [Penske] not looking to make money on this; the money we make we want to push back to benefit Belle Isle.” The track will be the same shortened version last used in 2001. The slightly larger than two-mile street course will undergo improvements to the asphalt surface as well as to the paddock area. Additionally, it is expected that the corporate hospitality services will be dramatically increased. Helping to increase the number of corporations involved in the racing and hospitality aspect is the ALMS. General Motors, Ford (through Aston Martin), Audi and Compuware, the major sponsor of the Le Mans-winning Corvettes, are all headquartered in and around Detroit. One area of concern is moving the volume of spectators on and off the island in a clean, quick and orderly fashion. Those concerns remain, but Denker said Penske learned valuable lessons with the Super Bowl effort. “The good news is we’re not going to close down the island,” Denker said. “Less than one-third of it will be used for the track and that leaves the rest open for the general public to use.” Penske has a long history of racetrack ownership and of promoting races. He successfully launched and ran races in Cleveland at the Burke Lakefront Airport, at Michigan International Speedway, in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and built the California Speedway.

I can't wait! hells yeah! OH man... this will be GREAT!

(yeah, im excited LOL)