Edmonton vs St Pete

[Andrew Longman]

Thinking back to the late winter and all the fist pumping some did around the success of the first IRL road/street race, a few of us wondered how CCWS first new race, Edmonton, would compare.

St Pete was one of my more favorite layouts, but Edmonton is better.

Attendance at St Pete was OK, but how much came as Honda freebee? Edmonton attendance was staggering

Corporate sponsorship at St Pete was strong, but they had a race under their belt. Edmonton was not where it needs to be, but their second year will be great.

The race itself at Edmonton was great. Mishaps were largely self inflicted and a result of aggression. At St Pete there were mishaps too and a close finish, but they were largely a result of wankers running out of talent.

San Jose is already a commercial success. More will likely attend Edmonton and SJ than Laguna Seca and the Glen this summer, but we'll see when it happens.

[coolhand]

Thinking back to the late winter and all the fist pumping some did around the success of the first IRL road/street race, a few of us wondered how CCWS first new race, Edmonton, would compare.

Edmonton Blew St. Pete out of the water without the marketing force of Marboro and honda behind it.

CCWS was able to get very strong support from the local government and community.


Edmonton was not where it needs to be, but their second year will be great.

:saywhat: where does it need to be?????

CCWS expects to recoup all its initial investments this year alone. Next year it will be a big money maker.

[Andrew Longman]

:saywhat: where does it need to be?????

CCWS expects to recoup all its initial investments this year alone. Next year it will be a big money maker.

My bad, From http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/EdmontonGrandPrix/2005/07/19/1138028-sun.html

"I understand the reluctance of corporations to tie in going into this race. I think a lot of them wondered 'Can these guys pull this off?' Corporations don't want to put their name in front of an event until they can see it's something they can be proud of.

''All our sponsors are ecstatic and it's already been made quite clear to us that many sponsors who weren't interested before are interested now.''

In all, the event had about $1.8 million worth of sponsorship this year.

"Next year it will be closer to $5 million,'' he said.

[Gnam]

San Jose is already a commercial success. More will likely attend Edmonton and SJ than Laguna Seca and the Glen this summer, but we'll see when it happens.
...you mean Sears Point and the Glen, right?

Yeah, the only thing that draws at Sears Point is NASCAR and the NHRA.

[coolhand]

SJ and edmonton could beat Infineon, the glen and St. Pete.

[cameraman]

Edmonton was not where it needs to be

True. I would prefer it if Edmonton was in B.C. on the water somewhere but what can you do?

[Andrew Longman]

...you mean Sears Point and the Glen, right?

Yeah, the only thing that draws at Sears Point is NASCAR and the NHRA.

Duh

I've had a long day and I just wanted to squeeze in a wee bit of OC :gomer:

[skaven]

I have watched most of the Edmonton race on Race Director this week and thought it was a great race. :thumbup:

My Trackforum Daddy went to St. Pete (as we hail from Florida). He hated it. :gomer:

He said that each time there was a caution, people left the stands and didn't come back. He couldn't see the whole track (which doesn't seem to bother him at Findy) and just didn't like it...

I, however, liked the St. Pete race in 2003 (?) and would like to see it back on the schedule. Hopefully his apathy will spread and we can bring real racing to St. Pete soon... or race Sebring with ALMS. :cool:

[mueber]

The difference is that at St. Petersburg was a great event; Edmonton is a great event.