IndyCar Series heading to NOLA for new Grand Prix of Louisiana

Filed under: Motorsports



Most racing series compete on one kind of track or another, but not Indy. Its calendar is made up of NASCAR-style speedway races (generally, though not exclusively, identified by a three-digit number indicating the number of miles to be covered) and F1-style road-course and street-circuit races (typically billed as grands prix). And now, it's about to get another of the latter.

In preparing the 2015 season schedule, series organizers have announced the addition of the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana to be held next April 10-12. The race will be contested on the new NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, 14 miles southwest of downtown New Orleans. The 13-turn, 2.67-mile road course held an Indy Lights race earlier this year, but stepping up to the big leagues on the same weekend as the French Quarter Festival is sure to make the race a big draw.

Preparations for the event will include a $4.5-million investment on the part of the state government and a reconfiguration of the track with input from three-time Indy race winner and former rookie of the year James Hinchcliffe and open-wheel racing scion Graham Rahal. Andretti will be responsible for promoting the event.

The rest of the schedule has yet to be confirmed, but we already know that the Grand Prix of Houston, held for the past two years on a temporary street circuit at NRG Park, will not return next season, meaning that the NOLA race will effectively take its place. Once the full schedule is announced, we're expecting new races to be included in overseas locations such as Dubai and Brazil, expanding on this year's calendar that only included races in North America (seventeen in the US and one in Toronto).Continue reading IndyCar Series heading to NOLA for new Grand Prix of Louisiana

IndyCar Series heading to NOLA for new Grand Prix of Louisiana originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 01 Sep 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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