A NASCAR Fan at the San Jose Grand Prix

by Bruce Simmons

When the Champ Grand Prix came through San Jose, I took advantage of the track event being 5 miles away from me and I went on the qualifying day, Friday. I had received free passes, so the price was right for me.

The gates and ticket booths opened about 40 minutes later than scheduled and the on track practice was delayed from an internet connectivity issue. I also got stiffed for a $20 parking fee when their site indicated it would only cost $5.

Once I got in, and toured around the track and infield areas. I've never been to a Champ Car Event.. I got pretty close to the track as the cars zoomed by me about 20 ft from me. The garage was in the convention center.. all the rigs were inside an air conditioned building.. A BIG BUILDING along the front stretch..

I was able to get in and walk around .. I even got some shots of the classic NASCAR cars that were going to race also.. NOW that was neat. There will be pictures posted at my web site later..

But now, it seems that the San Jose Grand Prix will be no more.

According to http://www.sanjosegrandprix.com/, due to ongoing development in the downtown San Jose region, they will no longer be in San Jose, but will move the event to the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey. (I kind of don't buy that. The track went through an already heavily established section of town that I don't see being developed or redeveloped, being that most of everything there were the established commerce, museum and convention based buildings, but what do I know. I could be missing something. While I was writing this, I came across a post about a loop hole in the contract that San Jose had with the Grand Prix.. check out mercurynews for details, and WOW, what news!!!)

On top of experiencing the San Jose Grand Prix, I experienced the last San Jose Grand Prix - for now.

UPDATE: A trusted source explained to me that they say on a local news broadcast that San Jose is planning a sky rise along the track section where the main, most expensive seating stands are placed..which is touched upon in the mercury news link. Nice going San Jose!!