Roger Penske has simply added one other notch in his auto racing belt. The billionaire bought the Lengthy Seaside Grand Prix. The acquisition additionally makes the Grand Prix an vital a part of one other racing collection Penske owns, Indycar.
The Los Angeles Occasions experiences that Penske bought the race from very long time proprietor Gerald R. Forsythe, who bought it for $15 million in 2005. The acquisition is vital to each Penske and Southern California for a number of causes.
Penske appears to wish to use the race as part of a push to have IndyCar compete with NASCAR and its racing mannequin, particularly given IndyCar’s enlargement beginning in 2025.
…Penske is extra taken with what the Grand Prix does for racing, significantly IndyCar. The collection will stage 17 occasions subsequent yr, six on oval speedways, seven on street programs and 4 on the streets, making it essentially the most eclectic racing collection within the U.S.
“I’m a enterprise man and I feel the variety makes an enormous distinction,” Penske mentioned. “We’ve been , from a administration perspective, to attempt to make our collection higher.”
The Lengthy Seaside Grand Prix is already the second longest IndyCar race on the collection schedule, and beginning in 2025, the race will attain extra viewers. IndyCar is shifting from NBC to regionally primarily based Fox, which the Occasions says the community can be paying $25 million a yr for the rights. Fox additionally plans to broadcast the racing collection by means of conventional means (no subscription required) and in Spanish.
Lengthy Seaside can also be vital for Southern California’s racing scene as an entire. For town of Lengthy Seaside itself, it’s a giant monetary draw; over 200,000 folks present up for the race bringing in “an estimated $63 million to the area’s economic system yearly.” It’s additionally the one main racing collection left in Southern California; the Auto Membership Speedway in Fontana has been destroyed in favor of warehouses, a destiny that’s additionally rumored for the Irwindale Speedway.
Penske says he plans to enhance the grand prix reiterating that this isn’t just a few impulse purchase; he loves the monitor and the best way folks and town of Lengthy Seaside have supported it.
“One of many good issues in regards to the race in Lengthy Seaside, it’s been there, and town and the folks have supported it,” Penske mentioned. “So look, we’re huge open and we’re in for enterprise. This isn’t a cling on or one thing. We wish to attempt to roll over and make it higher.
“What we wish to do is add to the visitor expertise and make it a spot so we are able to take our sponsors. Fairly truthfully, it’s an awesome spot to entertain in.”
