LAS VEGAS (AP) -City officials approved a five-year deal to host a Champ Car World Series race on streets around some of the city's oldest casinos.
The City Council unanimously approved a commitment Wednesday to stage the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the inaugural race set for April 8, 2007.
The Easter weekend event will represent the season opener for the open-wheel cars. The 2.44-mile course will start and finish on Grand Central Parkway, a sweeping curve through a vacant former railroad yard the city has been marketing for development.
The city has agreed to spend up to $500,000 and event promoters will spend another $1.3 million to improve streets along the course.
It will mark the first time a major auto race takes place on Las Vegas city streets and the first time in 23 years one was held close to the Las Vegas Strip. Champ Car, formerly known as CART, held races in 1983 and 1984 on a temporary course set up in a Caesars Palace parking lot.
