The Grand Prix of Miami refers to an intermittent series of
American open wheel races held in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
dating back to 1926.
AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
held one
board track
Board track racing was a type of motorsport popular in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Competition was conducted on circular or oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. This type of track was first used for motor ...
race in 1926, and then the facility was destroyed by a hurricane. The popular
CART IndyCar World Series
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
CART was founded in ...
debuted in the Miami area in the mid-1980s with a
street circuit
A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...
at
Tamiami Park
Tamiami Park is a public urban park in metropolitan Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University.
Background
The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was r ...
, then returned to race at
Bicentennial Park in 1995.
From 1996 to 2010,
Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the Indy cars on the 1.5-mile oval. The
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
series participated from 1996 to 2000, then the event was switched to the
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
for 2001–2010. An additional Champ Car race was held for a brief time at
Bayfront Park
Bayfront Park is a public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The Chairman to the trust is Ary Shaeban. Located in the park is a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo of Verona, one ...
from 2002 to 2003.
Fulford–Miami Speedway
In 1925,
Carl Fisher Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
(who built the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...
in 1909) was developing
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...
and envisioned the
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
area as the winter auto racing capital of the world. Fisher built Fulford–Miami Speedway, the world's fastest -mile
board track
Board track racing was a type of motorsport popular in the United States during the 1910s and 1920s. Competition was conducted on circular or oval race courses with surfaces composed of wooden planks. This type of track was first used for motor ...
in nearby
Fulford. The outstanding features of the track were the 50 degree banked turns, which required a speed of at least to keep the cars from sliding down into the infield.
On February 22, 1926, the first
AAA
AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to:
Airports
* Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA)
* Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA)
Arts, entertainment, and me ...
Championship Car
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar.
Competitive events ...
race in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
took place at the facility. A crowd of 20,000 spectators saw
Peter DePaolo
Pete DePaolo (April 6, 1898 – November 26, 1980) was an American race car driver who won the 1925 Indianapolis 500.
Biography
Peter DePaolo was born on April 6, 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pete saw his first race in 1919, where he w ...
win the 300-mile (480-km) race, the first and only major race ever held at the facility.
Later in the year, the track was destroyed by the
Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. The site of the oval is now occupied by the Diplomat Presidential Country Club.
Race winners
Tamiami Park
Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami area dates back to 1985. In that year, the
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
series began racing on a temporary street circuit in
Tamiami Park
Tamiami Park is a public urban park in metropolitan Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University.
Background
The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was r ...
a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of
University Park. The race lasted through 1988, and on two occasions (1987 and 1988) included the CART
Marlboro Challenge The Marlboro Challenge was an all-star race in the CART series race held from 1987–1992, sponsored by cigarette brand Marlboro. After 1992, the race was discontinued, in part because Phillip Morris reorganized its race sponsorship after the Marl ...
all star race.
In each of the four years it was held, it served as the CART season finale. The inaugural event in 1985 featured a famous championship battle between the father-and-son duo of
Al Unser, Sr. and
Al Unser Jr.
Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
History
Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexic ...
With
Danny Sullivan
Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Champions ...
leading in the waning laps, Unser Jr. was running third, and for the moment, mathematically was going to clinch the championship points title. His father Al Sr. was charging in 5th place, and needed to move up to 4th in order to clinch the title for himself and
Penske Racing
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organiza ...
. Despite personal misgivings about potentially robbing his own son of a championship, Al Sr. passed 4th place
Roberto Moreno
Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former auto racing, racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 c ...
with only a handful of laps remaining, and held on to the checkered flag. By finishing 4th, Unser, Sr. beat his son in the championship standings by one point.
Rain plagued the race three out of four years, and after the 1988 running, CART officials announced they were not returning.
The primary reason was that CART wanted to change the date of the race to either September or to the spring. But promoter
Ralph Sanchez
Rafael Agustin Sánchez (1948 – April 1, 2013), better known as Ralph Sanchez, was a prominent Cuban-American autoracing figure, developer, and businessman.
Early life
Rafael Sanchez was born in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba in 1948. He spent his e ...
did not want to move the race to September due to
hurricane season, and did not want to move the race to the spring because it would create a conflict with the
IMSA race he also promoted.
A significant portion of the course layout was razed for the construction of
FIU Stadium
Riccardo Silva Stadium is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Westchester, Florida. It is home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the USL Cha ...
in 1994. Some subtle remains of the circuit were recognizable as of the early 2010s.
Race winners
Marlboro Challenge winners
American Racing Series (Indy Lights) history
Museum Park
In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. In the aftermath of
Hurricane Andrew
Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...
, he began redeveloping a devastated area of
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami sub ...
, into the
Homestead Motorsports Complex
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
. From 1983 to 1994, Sanchez had promoted very successful IMSA and Trans-Am
races at
Bayfront Park
Bayfront Park is a public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The Chairman to the trust is Ary Shaeban. Located in the park is a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo of Verona, one ...
and
Bicentennial Park along
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay () is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is la ...
.
Sanchez revived the Bicentennial Park circuit for one season as a
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
race, while Homestead was still under construction. The Bicentennial Park circuit was a semi-permanent circuit which featured purpose-built roads in the park area, along with a temporary segment taking it out on
Biscayne Boulevard
U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) in Florida runs along the state's east coast from Key West to its crossing of the St. Marys River (Florida/Georgia), St. Marys River into Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia north of Boulogne, Florida, Boulogne and south of ...
near the entrance to the
Port of Miami
The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...
.
For the 1995 event, the circuit was run in the opposite direction (clockwise) as it had previously been contested (counter-clockwise). This was done mainly for safety reasons, as the faster Indy cars would find IMSA turn one too tight and prone to accidents. A small kink/chicane was added at the end of the long backstretch (now running northbound) to control speeds. Two of the turns were also widened and slightly re-worked, but that did not significantly alter the layout. The race was won by
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...
, and was the
1995 CART season opener.
Less than three years after the lone CART race in 1995, the layout of the Bicentennial Park racing circuit was partially razed for construction of
American Airlines Arena
FTX Arena (known as American Airlines Arena from 1999 to 2021) is a multi-purpose arena located in Miami, Florida, along Biscayne Bay. It was constructed beginning in 1998 as a replacement for the Miami Arena and designed by the architecture f ...
. In the early 2010s, most of the remaining vestiges of the circuit were completely demolished due to the construction of the new
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...
and
Art Museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
on the site.
This area was later used for a new circuit, known as the
Biscayne Bay Street Circuit
Biscayne Bay Street Circuit was a street circuit which was only used on 14 March 2015 for the 2015 Miami ePrix of Formula E. The track is located in the heart of Downtown Miami, running along the coast of Biscayne Bay, in addition to making its ...
. Promoted by
Michael Andretti
Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART P ...
, a 1.3 mile, eight-turn circuit in the area debuted for the
2014–15 Formula E season. In Formula E, the pit lane is used to store cars for the car change that takes place during each race, and the pit lane is away from the start-finish line, close to the pit lane. From Turn 4 to Turn 5 on this circuit the cars will take it out to Biscayne Boulevard, and Turns 5 to 8 (and pit lane) are located very close to the original Bicentennial Park circuit layout. The pit lane is in the same vicinity as the original circuit.
Race winners
Indy Lights
Atlantic Championship
Homestead–Miami Speedway
The Homestead–Miami Indy 300 was an
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
race held at
Homestead-Miami Speedway in
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city within Miami-Dade County in the U.S. state of Florida, between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. The population was 80,737 as of the 2020 census. Homestead is primarily a Miami sub ...
from 1996 to 2010.
In 1996, after construction was complete at
Homestead Motorsports Complex
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
*Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...
, CART debuted at 1.5-mile oval with a event. At the time the layout was a flat, rectangular "mini-
Indy
Indy may refer to:
Computing and technology
*Indy (software), used for Internet access to music
*Internet Direct, or "Indy", a software library
*SGI Indy, a computer workstation
Periodicals
*''The Indy'', shorthand for newspapers that include " ...
" configuration. In 1997, the race was lengthened to , and the configuration was reconstructed to be a traditional oval shape. For each of its years through 2000, the race served as the CART series season opener. CART also used the facility as their venue for "spring training" (off-season testing).
In 2001, the event switched to an IRL
Indycar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
event. It was also lengthened to . From 2002 to 2008, the race served as the IndyCar Series season opener. In 2007–2008, the race was held as a night race. After a schedule reorganization, the race was moved to become the season finale for
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
and
2010 IndyCar Series season
The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 15th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 99th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It was the series' first of six planned seasons under Izod title sponsorship, a multimillion-dollar de ...
. The 2009 race went without a caution, and set a race record average speed of 201.420 mph. The 2010 race was the last IndyCar event at the track in the foreseeable future.
On March 26, 2006 driver
Paul Dana
Paul Dana (; April 15, 1975 – March 26, 2006) was an American racing driver in the IndyCar Series.
Early life
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Dana graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Before becoming a race ...
suffered fatal injuries in the warmup session before the race when he was involved in a high-speed collision with
Ed Carpenter at over . The race went on as scheduled, but Dana's teammates withdrew from the race.
In 2007–2010, the IndyCar Series race was part of the Speed Jam, a twin-race combo weekend with the
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
.
Race winners
Indy Lights
Atlantic Championship
Bayfront Park
The
CART series returned to the Miami area once again in 2002. The Grand Prix Americas was a joint
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
/
ALMS
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...
weekend, which revived a part of the original 1983
Bayfront Park
Bayfront Park is a public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The Chairman to the trust is Ary Shaeban. Located in the park is a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo of Verona, one ...
course. A circuit utilized park roads and extended onto Biscayne Boulevard and 3rd and 4th Streets. In 2003, the layout was changed to drop the 3rd/4th Street loop and added a section on Biscayne Boulevard along the north end of the park.
The race briefly provided two annual open wheel races in the Miami area. The IRL's race at Homestead was in the spring, while this race was held in the fall.
Race winners
Atlantic Championship
See also
*
Grand Prix of Miami (sports car racing)
The Trans-Am Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, and American Le Mans Series have all held races in the Miami area.
IMSA
Promoter Ralph Sanchez brought auto racing to the Miami area in 1983. A course at Bicentennial Park featured the IMSA GT Champi ...
Notes
Works cited
ChampCarStats.com
References
{{IndyCar Series races
Former IndyCar Series races
1926 establishments in Florida
Recurring sporting events established in 1926
Sports in Miami