CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES GETTING STRONG SUPPORT FROM FANS AND VENUES AS
2005 SEASON ENTERS SUMMER STRETCH
INDIANAPOLIS (July 11, 2005) -- This weekend's Molson Indy Toronto
proved to be another in a long line of outstanding events on the
Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford schedule,
with a strong race-day crowd of 73,155 boosting three-day attendance
numbers to over 160,000 for the 12th consecutive year.
The successful Toronto event launches the
Champ Car World Series toward a strong summer schedule where its
three-day Festivals of Speed head to new events and growing venues that
will attract some of the strongest support of the season. This weekend's
Molson Indy Toronto will be directly followed by two inaugural events,
with the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton next week and the
Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose to be run two weeks later, July
29-31. The two new races combined are expected to host nearly 300,000
fans.
Next week's West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton will bring Champ
Car racing to the Province of Alberta, Canada for the first time in
series history and is poised to be an immediate success. The event is
projected to sell out by race day based on the strong pace of ticket
sales and over 80 corporate hospitality suites have been sold.
"We are anticipating that our Champ Car race in Edmonton will be the
most successful entertainment event ever held in the Province of
Alberta," said West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix of Edmonton General Manager
Greg MacDonald. "The track layout provides great views of the entire
circuit for all spectators and the atmosphere at the event and within the
Edmonton market will be electric."
The Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose which follows next week's
Edmonton event is also a new event that has already sold nearly all of
its grandstand tickets and hospitality suites.
"We are extremely happy with the way grandstand ticket sales are
progressing," said Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose Vice President
and General Manager Bob Singleton. "We have already sold out four
grandstands and are very close to filling several more. Ticket sales are
on a pace to meet our expectations and when combined with the number and
quality of sponsors that are already on board plus the fact that we have
sold most of our hospitality suites, we are looking forward to a very
successful inaugural event."
San Jose will be followed by the fourth running of the Centrix Financial
Grand Prix of Denver, an event that saw a 40 percent rise in attendance
last year, setting a new event standard with 112,000 fans coming to see
the 2004 race. Denver event organizers are again expecting another jump
in attendance, with ticket sales being three times ahead of where they
were at this time last season, thanks in part to added in-market
promotional help from over 400 Bridgestone and McDonald's store
locations in Colorado. In addition, the Denver event has attracted more
than 35 new sponsors that will be involved with the 2005 race weekend.
"The growth of last year's Champ Car race in Denver has given us great
momentum for 2005 and beyond," said event General Manager Jim
Freudenberg. "The support of the area business community has begun to
match the enthusiasm that our fans have, and we anticipate another great
event in 2005."
The summer sweep will conclude in picturesque Montreal where the fourth
running of the Molson Indy Montreal will take place August 26-28. The
Montreal event has seen an average of 150,000 attending the three-day
Festivals of Speed that take place at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, and will
also be televised nationally by NBC.
"We're delighted to have the opportunity for a large global audience to
see why Montreal and Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve are one of the greatest
venues for professional motorsports, mainly because of our loyal fans,"
said Molson Indy Montreal General Manager Martin Spaulding. "Our loyal
fans are the primary reason for our Champ Car event's success."
"We are very excited to see the support growing for our summer stretch
of events," said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. "The advance
projections for each of the races on the summer part of our schedule
serve as an indication to all of us in Champ Car that we are providing an
exciting and entertaining product, not only for our fans, but for our
valued business and commercial partners as well. It is also an indicator
of continued steady growth for the company."
Champ Car World Series enthusiasts can purchase tickets or obtain
information for any of these upcoming events by visiting
www.champcarworldseries.com.
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