Grand Prix of Houston
Grand Prix of Houston Announces 2007 Sponsors
(HOUSTON, April 11, 2007) The Grand Prix of Houston will roar back to JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park on April 20-22, and along with the high-speed cars of Champ Car and American Le Mans the event will bring a strong roster of corporate sponsors. The Grand Prix announced today the complete lineup of official sponsors for the 2007 Grand Prix of Houston: AAA, AutoMart, Aztec Party & Tent Rentals, Budweiser, Bi-Rite Furniture, Choice Homes, Clear Channel, DeMontrond Automotive Group, DXDetroit, Fast Trac Transportation, Fiesta Marts, Gables Corporate Accommodations, Greater Houston Convention & Visitor's Bureau, Houston Chronicle, Hyatt Regency Houston, JAG Flocomponents, Lowe's, Mazda, Sun Coast Resources, Tejas Office Products, and the Uniform Connection.
This list of corporate sponsors represents a very strong sales effort by the Grand Prix team and a substantial increase over last year's inaugural race at Reliant Park. Sales for the various corporate hospitality offerings at the Grand Prix - Pit Lane Suites, Executive Chalets, hospitality tents and Stadium Balcony Club - are also up more than 35%. Organizers are very pleased with the strong growth of corporate involvement in the race.
"The support of the local business community is vital to the success of our event, so we are delighted that these great partners have stepped up in support the Grand Prix of Houston," said Chuck Kosich, General Manager of the Grand Prix. "We are committed to building the Grand Prix of Houston into one of the premier motorsports events in North America, and having this strong sponsor backing will enable us to do that."
JAG Flocomponents, a leading manufacturer of valves for the energy and petrochemical industries, was announced last month as the largest sponsor to date for the Grand Prix and the new naming-rights sponsor for the racetrack, which is now called JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park. JAG is joined by Mazda and Budweiser as the three Featured Sponsors for the Grand Prix.
"We are proud of all our corporate partnerships, and in particular we are thrilled to have the three great featured sponsors associated with our event," said Michael Heckman, Director of Corporate Sales for the Grand Prix of Houston. "JAG Flocomponents, Budweiser, and Mazda represent two of the best-known consumer brands in the world as well as a true innovator in the energy and petrochemical industry. We could not be more happy with their support of the Grand Prix."
Fast Trac Transportation, a fast growing Houston-based company, will also make its presence felt at the Grand Prix of Houston as the title sponsor of the event's Atlantic Series race, to be called the Fast Trac 100. Fast Trac, a leading industrial and airfreight transportation company, will proudly display the Fast Trac 100 and Grand Prix of Houston logos on each of the 100+ trucks that make up the company's transportation fleet.
The four pedestrian bridges that will enable the thousands of fans at the Grand Prix of Houston to cross over the track into the infield will bear the corporate trademarks of some of the key Grand Prix sponsors. The Mazda Bridge, Budweiser Bridge, JAGFlo Bridge, and GHCVB Bridge will all greet fans when the gates open on April 20.
Choice Homes is a new sponsor of the Grand Prix of Houston and will be the title sponsor of the Choice Homes Family Fun & Sports Zone at the Grand Prix. The Choice Homes Family Fun & Sports Zone will be an interactive entertainment zone for kids of all ages, and will include activities such as inflatables, Micro Reality racecars, a mechanical bull, and displays from Sony Playstation and NASA.
Fiesta Marts returns as the Official Grocer of the Grand Prix of Houston, and for 2007 the company will sponsor the Fiesta Grandstand at the Grand Prix. The Fiesta Grandstand will be located at Turn 4 and will give fans a great view of this exciting turn at a low price. Tickets for the Fiesta Grandstand are available at all Houston-area Fiesta stores for just $5.
The Hyatt Regency Houston returns as the Official Hotel of the Grand Prix of Houston and will host many race teams, series officials, and fans throughout race weekend. The Hyatt is also the host hotel for the Miss Grand Prix of Houston contest, and many of the Miss Grand Prix events will take place at the Hyatt, including the interview judging and "meet the media" press conference.
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WORLD CLASS MOTORSPORTS COMES TO HOUSTON
By Robert H. Kelly
(Houston, Texas, February 1, 2007) World class motorsports returns to Houston on April 20-22 when the 2007 Grand Prix of Houston takes to the circuit around Reliant Park. The event will once again feature a spectacular combination of racing with world-class events from the Champ Car World Series and the American Le Mans Series.
The event will be a Friday through Sunday format. This will be a change from the 2006 event, which was a Thursday to Sunday format. The American Le Mans Series event will take place on the evening of Saturday, April 21. The Champ Car race will be held on Sunday afternoon, April 22.
TexSport Publications will be here for up-to-date information on the race weekend and for complete coverage of all the action on race days.
For further information and updates, plase click on this link for our general sports blog at TexSport Publications Blog.
A BIT OF HISTORY
By Chris Price
(Houston, Texas, February 10, 2007) The Grand Prix of Houston is an annual auto race on the Champ Car World Series circuit. It is held in Houston, Texas on a temporary course laid out in the parking lot of the Reliant Park Complex.
From 1998-2001, CART, which was the Champ Car’s predecessor series, held a race on Houston’s downtown streets, adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center. This event was sponsored by the Texaco oil company and named the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston.
The 2006 event was held on the weekend of May 13 as the second round of the 2006 Champ Car schedule. The race was held on a 1.7 mile temporary street circuit on the parking lot of Reliant Park instead of the downtown streets. It was the first race held on a street course to run at night in the history of Champ Car.
In addition, the American Le Mans Series held an event; the Lone Star Grand Prix, on the previous night, marking only the second time Champ Car and American Le mans promoted their own events in the same city and on the same weekend.
All this will make for some exciting racing action in Houston in April.
Paul Rodgers to perform at the Grand Prix of Houston
When the Grand Prix of Houston roars back to town on April 20-22, it will kick off in grand fashion when rock legend Paul Rodgers performs a concert on opening night of the three-day festival of speed and entertainment. Rodgers and his band will take the stage on Friday, April 20 after the day's racing action for a performance that will be free for all Grand Prix ticket holders.
Rodgers is best known as the lead singer and front man for platinum-selling rock groups Bad Company, Free, and The Firm, and his Grammy Award winning career has included hits such as All Right Now, Feel like Makin' Love, Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love), Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy, Bad Company, and Shooting Star. Rodgers is also fresh off of a year-long tour with Queen where he performed songs made famous by the late Freddie Mercury along with original members of Queen. For more information on Paul Rodgers, please visit www.paulrodgers.com.
The concert will be free of charge to all Grand Prix ticket holders, meaning that fans can enjoy a full day of racing on the track and the Paul Rodgers concert for just $10. Fans that want an even closer view of the concert can purchase Gold Circle premium seating right in front of the stage for only $35, which also includes gate admission for all the day's racing action. Gold Circle seating for the concert goes on sale this Saturday, January 20 at 10:00 a.m., and all other seating for the Grand Prix is currently on sale.
The Paul Rodgers concert will kick off an exciting three-day weekend for the 2007 Grand Prix, which has moved to a traditional Friday-Saturday-Sunday format in its second year at Reliant Park. After the Friday night concert, Saturday will feature the first marquee racing event when the American Le Mans Series race is held under the lights of Reliant Park that evening. Sunday afternoon will feature a full schedule of racing action, culminating with the Champ Car World Series race on Sunday afternoon.
