Baltimore Racing Development
Baltimore Racing Development, LLC (BRD) formed in 2007 to bring a "Grand Prix" street race to Baltimore in 2011. We expect the race to be sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, the premiere "open-wheel" racing circuit in the United States by May 31, 2010. The IRL's season includes races on traditional oval tracks, including the world famous Indianapolis 500, and on temporary "Grand Prix" street tracks (i.e. the Long Beach Grand Prix, the Toronto Grand Prix and the St. Petersburg Grand Prix). The IRL's stars are household names like Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves (who also won ABC television's "Dances with the Stars" in 2007), Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon (winners of the last two Indy 500s).
BRD projects that the event will attract more than 100,000 visitors to Baltimore and generate up to $70 million in direct and indirect economic impact over the three days, based on such visitors spending on hotel nights, meals, tickets and other purchases.
Street races are celebratory festivals as much as races and consist of concerts, go-kart races, automobile shows and a variety of corporate events. The track would run through the City of Baltimore along world-renowned Harborplace. All IRL races are nationally televised on either ABC or the Versus networks and the race would be a three hour "commercial" for the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.
BRD has retained a world-class team of professionals to bring the race to Baltimore, including two-time Indy 500 winner, Al Unser, Jr., MJ Promotions (which owned and operated both the Houston Grand Prix and the Cleveland Grand Prix) and world class track engineer Martyn Thake, who has designed Grand Prix race tracks on three continents.
