Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington

In the shadow of RFK Stadium an unlikely place for a race car paddock comes to life.

The image of this nation’s capitol doesn’t include a roar of a finely tuned race car but the first ever Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington went on in glorious fashion.

Bobby Goldwater, President and Executive Director of the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission made it clear it was not an easy task to bring such a signature international event to what once was a crumbling parking. But why choose this venue to run when DC has not seen a car race for decades? Simple: To benefit the community – both residents and businesses. There is great potential for economic development and the hotel and restaurants are reaping the benefits. An expected 70,000 people are set to walk through the gates to enjoy seeing cars race on this street circuit.

But local residents expressed concerns regarding the noise and congestion that would be a part of this event. Bobby Goldwater was adamant about this race being “positive for everyone. We are committed to being good neighbors” Which he in point proved by the 500 or so free tickets that were given to local residents. Those few that requested lodging away from the track were given hotel rooms for the weekend and one disabled resident asked to be taken to the Martin Luther King Library.

A Saturday press conference disputed the comment that the community was misled as to the cost of hosting such event. The many hearings with local councilors concluded there was no long term major risk. The costs involved were almost $3.5 million for just the engineering, consulting and paving. The DCRA (Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs) noted some noise levels higher than anticipated and it was reported the track was fined $500 for this on Friday. The Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington is the first temporary street circuit to use such high tech sound barriers that work as “reverse speakers”. The set up allowed for noise to be muffled while providing a visible track for spectators. As for any other complaints, officials were quick to assess any situations and changes were made quickly.

For residents that were race fans this event was described as “High tech to High touch”. Promoters were sure to keep the price of paddock passes inexpensive for two major reasons – to allow for many to see the race cars and teams close and therefore building up the fan base for future races. Holding up a stack of hero cards, eight year old Todd summed up his first paddock experience as "awesome". His parents made this event a family affair because of the assurance of safety and easy access.  No public parking was available but the efficient transit made it getting there smooth sailing. 

A temporary street circuit is just that – temporary and all 30,000 grandstand seats, and 2500 luxury suite seats will be torn down after the fact but what remains is what is important – a world class facility that in turn will be used to train local police departments. The 12,000 tires used in the barricades and the 15,000 feet of fencing that was used to ensure this was a safe event will also be gone within days of the completion of the race. A few hiccups during the course of the event such as a street sweeper destroying some phone lines and one of the thirty Cadillac Escalades reportedly stolen the major issues were minor by the end of the weekend.

Washington DC and the surrounding area has a very affluent demographic – the cars that run in the American Le Mans Series are high end desired automobiles – it was a good fit in the eyes of Chris Lencheski, founder and Chairman of the Cadillac Grand Prix. “This is a cosmopolitan audience that enjoy seeing such cars as Cadillac, Audi, Porsche, Viper and Ferrari race each other. The old adage of “Race on Sunday and sell on Monday” works well here when dealing with such high end vehicles.”

Because it is a new track the level of competition is greater since not one driver has any experience on this 1.7 mile 7 turn stretch of asphalt. The circuit was paved with a special polymer mix asphalt – a total of 17,500 tons of it to ensure a quality surface resistant to temperature changes, and crumbling that many newly paved roads suffer from. The general consensus of the drivers were favorable. “It’s rippling a bit in the braking zones” said John Mefford, a Formula Mazda driver. But all in all he found the structural integrity to be better than average.

As the last of the semi-trucks pulled out of their respective paddocks all that was left was some full garbage pails, sunburned faces and the smell of tires fuel and brakes still wafting in the air. Was the Cadillac Grand Prix a success – certainly. It achieved what the people involved assumed it would, an excellent race and is slated to be an annual event for years to come. For the fans that watched this event on two live broadcasts through 14 cameras and the Goodyear blimp it was in Bobby Goldwater’s own words “ a two hour video postcard that Washington DC is open for business”. But most of all the Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington showed how a race should be run and I look forward to more cities following in the footsteps of this great event.