Indianapolis is My Home

19
Jun

For the First Time I Missed the F1 Race

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Indians, Sports, US Grand Prix - F1

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Lewis Hamilton sets Indianapolis Motor Speedway records in the 2007 US Grand Prix by being the first rookie, 2nd youngest driver and only black driver to win a major race at the speedway. The USGP Indy website has the details.

Hamilton, age 22 years, 161 days old, became the first rookie to win the USGP at Indianapolis and the second-youngest driver to win a major event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only Troy Ruttman, who won the 1952 Indianapolis 500 at age 22 years, 80 days old, was younger when he took the checkered flag at IMS. Hamilton also became the first black driver to win a major race at IMS.

All of that happens, and for the first time since it’s been coming to Indianapolis, I missed attending the F1 race, a.k.a. the U.S. Grand Prix. I’ve got a friend that lives in Las Vegas and is a huge F1 fan. He’s come in every year and has been generous enough to provide me a ticket to the race each year. I normally serve as the sherpa of camera cases and other items in exchange, which is fine with me.

This year I didn’t get to attend the race because my wife surprised me with a Father’s Day gift that was a weekend in Cincinatti with my family. The weekend included attending a Cincinatti Reds game with my son and my brother and his daughter. It was a really good time and I got to see Sammy Sosa hit a grand slam to basically seal the game as a win for the Texas Rangers. I was impressed with the Great American Ball Park, but it maybe increased my appreciation for Victory Field even more. The only thing Victory Field is lacking from the major leagues is a couple more extra decks of seats. Good times though, I think I’ve convinced my son to join me at more Indians games now.

The big question though about F1 is whether or not it will be back. Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of F1, has supposedly given Tony George, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a figure that he and F1 needs to stay in Indianapolis. According to WIBC the cost for this year may have been somewhere around $15M to host the event.

Do you scoff at that figure? Do you like watching F1? Honestly, I don’t think $15M is an unfair price to pay to host an international event like the F1 in our city. I think if we’re serious about being recognized as the capital of racing and motorsports, we need to continue hosting the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis every year. WIBC also reported that the projected revenue for the city for race weekend exceeded $100M, sounds like a good payback and investment to me. Let me also say that I believe F1 should add another United States race to the calendar as well. My friend and I think it should be Vegas and the straight away should be “The Strip”, but from what he says, the city officials aren’t too keen on that idea. Again, I don’t think they’re seeing the overall financial impact to hosting the race every year.

What do you think? Do you attend the race? Does it have a chance? Do we need to tell F1 and Bernie to hit the road? Let me know in the comments.