The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix is a Verizon IndyCar Series race held at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The open wheel racing in the Phoenix area dates back to 1915 on an oval soil at Arizona State Fairgrounds. The race was revived in 1950 by AAA, and then forwarded to the US Auto Club in 1956. USAC moved the race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 1964. The race became a CART event in 1979, and joined the Indy League Race on in 1996. It was held continuously until 2005.
After a hiatus of eleven years, the race was revived by Verizon IndyCar Series in 2016. It is currently held on Saturday night under the lights. Long regarded as a popular Indy car track, Phoenix has a rich history of open wheel races, including a spectacular wreck involving Johnny Rutherford (1980), and a final career victory for Indy legend Mario Andretti (1993).
Video Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
History
During the time at the USAC Car Championship circuit, Phoenix International Raceway usually holds two races per year, one in spring, and one in the fall. During the years of RANGING, two races were scheduled from the mid-1980s, but the trajectory went down to one race per year starting in 1987. For years, Phoenix played the opening of the CART season. After a dispute between lane ownership and CART series officials, the track was dropped from the CART schedule after 1995, and immediately switched to Indy Racing League starting in 1996.
Quoting a low attendance, hiatus race after the 2005 season. In 2007, the Arizona Grand Prix for the Champ Car series was planned on the street circuit in downtown Phoenix close to the original course used for the US Grand Prix. This event was canceled four months before the event due to inadequate sponsor funding.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments