motorsport travel news - Archive 04-06

Here's some motorsport venue news that I've collected in my research for grand prix cities over the years. Here's the 2004 collection. From here you can go back in the history of this fine website and you'll find tidbits of travel information, exciting changes to motorsport schedules especially venues and other website news that might be of interest for the sports traveler, a kind of blog of thoughts and ambitions. Of interest might be if some of my predictions are true. Not many consultants want their chrystal balls out in the open, but here goes. Knock your self out. If you've got some news that you'd like me to add to the current news page, let me know via the contact link in the left column. Godspeed on your motorsport adventures! Cvetko Ostroznik.

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News Appears in Reverse Chronological Order. First news is last on this page.

'04 NEWS ARCHIVE MENU
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motorsport travel news archive Feb 04


February 04

> * 022804: IRL Homestead Miami Season opener is this weekend.

> Going to the Adelanto Grand Prix (Off road) this weekend in San Bernardino County, California. Victor Valley Daily Press reports that you watch out for the sherrifs and their strict DUI policy! Find Adelanto California Hotels

> Plans afoot to build a NASCAR standard track in Orgeon or South East Washington? Reports KGW.com

> * 022604: Sorry news has been so thin on the ground lately. I've been in not so sunny (damn cold) England all week updating my guides to Silverstone, Brands Hatch, and Donington Park ahead of the 2004 season. Next stop on the 2004 leg of the fan in a suitcase world tour is SUNNY (I hope it doesn't rain all weekend like the last 2 years), Melbourne, Australia. More from there once I get over the jetlag.

> One more note today, I read sadly that the St. Petersburg Grand Prix for Champ Car is not to be this year (perhaps ever again). Sad. Here's the story with all the ins and outs of the deals that lead to the cancelation of what was a GREAT place to have a race. Source: St. Pete Times

> Will last week's race at Rockingham Raceway, NC be NASCAR's last visit there? That's what WISTV local Television seems to think. I hope not, but then there's markets in the NorthEast and Pacific North West that need opening up to really bring NASCAR to the American masses. Time will tell, I'm sure, but money will decide.

> * 021904: Added a page of pictures of the Gilles Villeneuve Museum in Berthierville Quebec, just 60 miles from Montreal, and from what I see, well worth a visit for Formula One fans seeking some history (ah, those were the days!). Thanks again, Dane! Find Bertheville and Montreal Quebec Hotels

> * 021804: Three NASCAR NEXTEL Cup teams and one NASCAR Busch Series team are scheduled to test at Kentucky Speedway next week in preparation for circuit visits to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Kasey Kahne will test his Akins Motorsports NASCAR Busch Series No. 38 Great Clips Dodge on Monday, Feb. 23, and Dale Jarrett and his No. 88 UPS Ford Robert Yates Racing team will test Feb. 24-25. Rusty Wallace and his Penske South No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge also will test on Feb. 25 along with Jeff Green and his Petty Enterprises No. 43 Cheerios Dodge. Fans can view testing from the area outside the Turn 3 Fan Center.

> * 021704: Road construction begins on the 2004 Grand Prix of Long Beach ahead of the April 18 series kick off race. Bring on that ChampCar season so I can quit holding my breath!

> * 021604: > A limited number of reserved camping spaces remain for the March 12-14 Golden Corral 500 weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. There is still room left in the Legends campground, which features wider, more luxurious 25 ft x 45 foot camping spaces. The Legends campground is made up of rows named for some of the best in NASCAR racing, such as Allison Ave., Baker Blvd., Cale's Curve, Darrell Drive, Elliott's Edge, Fireball Fairway, Gordon Gorge, Harry's Hollow, Irvin Inlet, Jarrett Junction, Kulwicki Knoll and Labonte Lane. The Legends Campground is adjacent to Entrance E and is conveniently located near Gate 2 for East Turn Grandstand access, or near Gates 1 and 15 for frontstretch entrance. Spaces in this reserved lot are $125 and are going quickly. A very limited number of spaces remain in the coveted infield camping area. Infield camping spaces are sold on an annual basis and start at $210 for the year. This is the only way to be inside the ring of action for the entire Golden Corral 500 weekend. There will also be plenty of unreserved spaces for the Golden Corral 500 weekend. Those cannot be reserved through the ticket office, but they will be available through race weekend for $40. Call the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office now at (770) 946-4211 to reserve your camping spaces. Find out about tickets for the Atlanta NASCAR event and of course you can always find Atlanta Speedway Hotels at Grand Prix Cities or Hotels near Big Ticket Venues

> * 021504: With the kind contributions from Sydney resident, motorsport enthusiast and club racer, Dale Latham, I've added a guide to Oran Park, New South Wales in Australia. Over the next few days I'll be formating reams of information he's also contributed to help those of you going racing in Australia to destinations near Sydney like Eastern Creek, Bathurst, Mount Panorama, Oran Park, and eventually even Wakefield Park (eventually) and a guide to the beautiful city of Sydney itself! Contributions are always welcome from race fans. Click the "contact" link in the right column if you're interested. Coming soon, look out for Dale's slamming in car video, "how NOT to take a corner at 150KMs an hour"! Classic. Thanks, Dale!

> * 021304: * Jeff Burton, who will drive of the No. 99 SKF Ford at the March 14 Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, has been added to the lineup for the spring race weekend's Speed Zone fan hospitality tent. Burton, a 17-time winner in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, joins Georgia-Pacific driver Kyle Petty and Team Lowe's Racing driver Jimmie Johnson on the bill for Speed Zone. The names of other drivers to appear at Speed Zone will be announced over the next several weeks. The appearance schedule will be released the week prior to the Golden Corral 500. Burton, Petty and Johnson will be on hand the morning of the March 14 Golden Corral 500 to answer questions from fans who purchase the Speed Zone fan hospitality package. In addition to the driver appearances, Speed Zone attendees will receive a souvenir program, event T-shirt, event hat and commemorative program car for just $99. Fans may also upgrade to the Speed Zone PLUS package, which includes a pre-race pit pass, for $199. For more information about tickets or the Speed Zone with Burton, Petty and Johnson, call the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at (770) 946-4211, see also my Georgia Motorsport guide.

* NASCAR to Canada in 2004 and even more in 2005? So reports the Calgary Sun

* I put together some pics of my recent visit to Watkins Glen, New York. Check out also my sidetrip to Weedsport DIRT TRACK hall of fame and Classic Car Musuem. Now there's a lot of fun.

* Citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain are to see a Formula One Sauber Petronos racer drive rapidly (300KPH) through their streets on February 19, 2004.

> * 021204: If you're desperately looking for overflow campgrounds for this weekend's Daytona 500 Great American Race, check out this link from DaytonaBeach.com. If you need a Daytona Speedway Hotel in Valusia County Florida, you can find it here or if you need Daytona tickets

* Altanta Motor Speedway today announced "The Atlanta Sports Council presents 5th Annual Motorsports Luncheon" will be held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Ave, Atlanta, on Thursday March 11, 2004. Keynote speaker this year is Tony Stewart, former NASCAR champion and driver of the #20 Home Depot NASCAR Nextel Cup. Tony will also be available to answer attendee's questions. The Motor Sports Luncheon traditionally is a lead in to the first of two NASCAR races in Atlanta each year. Cost per ticket is $35 with discounts for tables Sports Council Members. To RSVP call 404-586-8510

* Extreme Autofest today announced it's 2004 import car show schedule, begining with an event coinciding with the NHRA Sports Compact Nationals meet at California Speedway in Fontana on March. The show then moves to the following cities: Las Vegas, May 16; San Dego, October 3; Los Angeles, November 21.

> * 021104: IMS in Indianapolis Indiana today announced the release of Bronze Credential Pit Passes for the 2004 Indy500. Almost a month of total access to the track for $100! Count me in! Find Indianapolis Tickets including pit passes, hospitality and full travel packages.

> * 021104: * Free tickets to the March 5-6 Pro-Cuts Texas World Dirt Track Championship at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track in Fort Worth, Texas are now available at 93 Pro-Cuts locations in the Fort Worth-Dallas area. The O’Reilly SUPR late models and modified stock cars will headline both evening’s dirt track racing action. The tickets are available at the participating Pro-Cuts locations with a $15 purchase in haircuts and/or hair care products. Each customer will receive two free tickets to one night of racing with each qualifying purchase. The O’Reilly SUPR late models compete in a five-state area of the Southwest and are the leading late model organization of the region. Modified stock cars from throughout the country are expected to converge on the Dirt Track for the dual evenings of action. Full race programs will be offered each evening in both divisions. Saturday night’s feature winner in both the O’Reilly SUPR late models and the modified stock cars will receive $2,500. Every starter in Saturday night’s modified feature will collect at least $500 with every late model main event starter receiving at least $400..

* The Gulf Daily news reported today that Bahrain Grand Prix organizers have squashed the hope of many traveling race fans, regional and international, of attending the inaugural race at the Sakhir Bahrain F1 Circuit. Proposed plans to provide temporary camping accommodations and bed and breakfast open homes on the island (including the idea that 2 cruise liners will be moored in the gulf) will be shelved this year because there isn't organizers weren't organized enough to organize it, despite having had almost 2 years notice of the event and its date. Next year they hope to have a zillion dollar tent pavilion (or something) which seems a little elaborate since for 50 years fans have been happy enough to know they might find, within walking distance of a race circuit, a patch of land on which to pitch a tent or park their RV camper.

* If, like me, you're in, or headed to, Daytona Beach for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500, this week, don't forget to check out the 19th Annual Daytona Beach Motorsports Expo. Sponsored by Cheverolet, the expo will run on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week and feature appearances by Busch series driver Jason White, Nextel Cup drivers Derrike Cope and Ward Burton, Retired NASCAR Driver Bobby Allison and Retired NASCAR Hall of Famer Harry Gant, Autograph and photograph sessions with NHRA legend Don Garlits, The legendary Vic Edelbrock, and thousands of Motorsports fans. Say hi if you see me wandering around checking the displays!

> * 020904: Added Stuff to do in Sao Paulo on race weekend. Check it out.

* Regular grand prix cities contributing photographer James C. Riley tells me he's posted pics from his visits to the Tarrant County Autoshow in Dallas-Fort Worth And his pics from this year's Montreal Salon de l'Auto in my third favourite Canadian City. I hear that The Montreal Show almost doubled its previous attendance record in January. See also my guide to Montreal and find Autoshow Dates if you're headed that direction to see some open wheel racing buggies this year. You can see all of James' great motor show / race pictures at his website: penultimatelap.com

> * 020604: Tickets to the June 20 Sirius 400 and August 22 GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday 7th February 2004. They can be purchased on www.MISpeedway.com (which has 3D seating charts)or by calling the MIS ticket office at 800-354-1010. Tickets to MIS' other events -- IRL IndyCar Series, NASCAR Busch Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA/REMAX Series, IRL Menard's Infiniti Pro Series, and the Inaugural WSA Snocross are already on sale. Find all NASCAR Tickets

> * 020504: Organizers of the Long Beach Grand Prix, set to run on April 16=18, 2004 in sunny Long Beach, CA yesterday released information about their Historic Grand Prix, which will run along side the Champ Car feature event. With classic automotive race cars like Long Beach race-winning Boraxo Lola T332 driven by Brian Redman that won the inaugural Formula 5000 Long Beach Grand Prix in 1975; the 1980 Long Beach-winning Saudia Air Williams FW07B driven by Alan Jones, and 1988 race winner Al Unser Jr.'s Valvoline March 88C in action, I know I'll certainly make that California Trip to check them out. Other classic cars expected to be in the field include Mario Andretti's World Championship winning 1978 #5 John Player Lotus 79 entry, Gilles Villeneuve's #2 Ferrari 312T5 from 1980, Niki Lauda's #11 Ferrari 312T2 from 1977 and Danny Sullivan's 1990 #7 Penske PC19. Find a Long Beach California Hotel

> * 020204: Woops been lazy with the news. Had too much fun in Switzerland taking a break. Here's the important stuff

* Tickets for both NASCARNextel Cup Events at Brooklyn, Michigan go on sale on February 7, 2004, 9am EST. Get your tickets quick. The last 25 NASCAR races at MIS were sold out and there's no thinking this next pair won't! Michiganders love their motor racing. If tickets are sold out you can always try here for NASCAR event tickets at Michigan Speedway.

* Track packs went on sale for the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois last week. Track Packs will range from $195 to $260. They can be purchased at the Chicagoland Speedway ticket office, by phone at (815) 727-7223 or at the official track website. The packs will include admission for the Tropicana 400 (Nextel Cup series) and Tropicana Twister 300 (Busch series) on July 10-11 and the Delphi Indy 300 (IRL IndyCar series), the Chicagoland 100 (IRL Menards Infiiti Pro Series) and the ReadyHosting.com 200 (ARCA RE/MAX series) on Sept. 11-12. I visited Chicagoland last time I was state-side. Creating my list of Joliet hotels near Chicagoland Speedway

* A NASCAR track for Portland or Seattle? I hope so. Bizjournals Article

* Lincoln, Illinois' Logan County Fairgrounds gets a green light on a motorsport oval. Source:Lincoln Courier. Find hotels near Illinois Fairgrounds.

* Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, nephew of the Crown Prince of Dubai says he's got the cash to start an international open wheel single make race series called A1 Grand Prix. Good luck to him. More places to visit, more racing during the northern winter. Races are to be held in Asia, Arabia, Australia and South Africa... hence "A1". a launch is planned for Dubai in late March before the region's first Formula One Grand Prix in nearby Bahrain. Wonder if the man needs an event consultant with plenty of experience?

* More good news from the Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society. Seems the county will go ahead with building a library in the area of the pitstall. The library will feature a historic room filled with memorabilia donated by legendary U.S. race historian Joe Cawley. The Preservation Society will also errect a monument to the former road track. The Master Plan for the track which is actually in the Diamond Lakes Regional Park indicates that in addition to the Community Center/Library on which construction will start in April 2004, there will be a nine hole golf course, camping area, soccer fields, tennis courts, additional baseball complexes added (there are already two state of the art baseball fields in the park), the infield lakes will be used for swimming and boating and the 3-mile circuit will be used for walking and biking. An ariel composite is impressive with 90% of the track remaining intact. This place will be unique and it is going to draw people from outside of the Augusta area. Where else in the world could you walk a former 3 mile circuit, play baseball, tennis, soccer, golf and go swimming or boating?

* This year's F1 date at Imola, Italy will probably be the last as the race series looks to find more places to sell it's product without government intervention. This year's final race marks the 10 year anniversary of the tragic death of Ayrton Senna at the Historic Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in 1994. A sad day. The day the music died.

* Silverstone Circuit today launched it's online ticket sales website. Save ticket reseller markups by buying directly from the source, note too that tickets for this years British GP will be considerably lower than past years. Note too that Fans buying in February will benefit from enjoying all three days of Formula One action for the price of one. The offer, available until 1st March, provides spectators purchasing race day tickets with a free upgrade to a three day Weekend Ticket. Triple bonus. In other news from the rainy place plans have been stepped up on the building of a Motorsport Innovation Hub there, to celebrate the proximity of almost half the remaining F1 team shops.

* Adding Donington Park Travel guide<. Should be ready by saturday.

* Still absolutely NO NEWS about temporary Accommodation (camping or open homes) for the Bahraini F1GP in April. I'm starting to wonder if they're holding a race there, or a made-for-television travel brochure. It is not racing without camping.

* In 2006 the Australian Grand Prix will not be held first as the Formula One season opener. This makes room for the Commonwealth Games that Melbourne will host that year. Source: ABC AUSTRALIA. Find a Hotel near Albert Park Circuit or a Melbourne Australia Hotel

* Tickets are now available for the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, China. Apparently they're very cheap. Read the Eastday.com story. Shanghai International Circuit Nears completion in readiness for it's September 26, 2004 date.

Also
> Current Motor Sport Travel News
> world sports dates calendar - Sports Travel made easy with events schedule, tickets and hotels near venues !
> World International Auto Show Listings Dates and locations
> Current Cycle World International Motorcycle Show Dates (US)

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