High Point group proposes Grand Prix-style race event
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, August 31, 2008
HIGH POINT — A city group is revved up to bring Grand Prix-style street racing and an accompanying “festival of speed” to High Point's downtown by 2010.
Furniture City MotorSports, a contingent of community leaders and racing enthusiasts, says it will seek approval from the High Point City Council to convert a swath of downtown streets into a race course.
The group hopes to win council approval this year and hold the first race in the spring or early summer of 2010, said Francel Goude, the former owner of As You Like It, a local lighting and furniture company, and a race organizer.
“We feel we have a lot of support coming from the city and government officials. They've been very helpful and put out the doormat,” said Goude.
Furniture City MotorSports also will seek financial support and sponsors over the next few months, he said.
Organizers hope the High Point event can be part of one of two big U.S. sports car series, the American LeMans Series or the Daytona Prototypes.
They hope the race will be a major event running 10 to 14 days over two weekends, modeled after the Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix, North America's longest-running street race. That event, started 35 years ago, has weekend attendance now reaching 200,000.
The High Point event would provide grandstand seating for more than 29,000.
“Racing in the United States is a big deal and we're treating it this way,” Goude said. “We want to put on a world class event for High Point, much like our furniture market.”
Based on Long Beach and related festival activities, a similar event here could bring in an estimated $11 million to $50 million in revenue for the area, Goude said.
The 1.658-mile, 12-turn course — stretching along streets including Main Street, English Road and Centennial Street — would be designed by former Chris Kneifel, a former racer and Indy 500 veteran who now designs Grand Prix tracks.
A typical road race, Goude said, involves 20 to 35 cars per race, with 4 to 5 races per weekend, including day and evening races. Speeds reach up to 175 miles per hour. Barriers would be constructed along the course for audience protection.
Race organizers hope to use Showplace for auto exhibitions, and to use the High Point Market's transportation center to operate shuttles. They also will aim to establish rental homes for visitors, add nightlife, create jobs, and offer a welcoming atmosphere.
“We are looking to involve the furniture industry to the degree it will allow us and to allow interested parties to get behind the movement,” Goude said.
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