The
Grand Prix of Houston (GPoH) was an annual
auto raceAutomobile racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports.- The beginning of racing:...
on the Champ Car World Series circuit. It was held in a
street circuitA street circuit is a racing circuit composed by temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually placed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over...
located in downtown
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, United States of America for four years, then returned (after a four year hiatus) for two years on a course laid out in the parking lot of the
Reliant ParkReliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
Complex. The last race was held in April 22, 2007 (with the IRL merger canceling the 2008 GPoH just two months prior to the event).
From 1998 to 2001, CART (Champ Car's predecessor series) held a race on Houston's downtown streets, adjacent to the
George R. Brown Convention CenterThe George R. Brown Convention Center opened on September 26, 1987 on the east side of Downtown Houston, Texas, United States.The center was named for the prominent Houstonian George R. Brown, an entrepreneur, civic leader and philanthropist. Brown’s Texas Eastern Corporation donated six of the 11...
.
The
Grand Prix of Houston (GPoH) was an annual
auto raceAutomobile racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports.- The beginning of racing:...
on the Champ Car World Series circuit. It was held in a
street circuitA street circuit is a racing circuit composed by temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually placed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over...
located in downtown
Houston, TexasHouston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
, United States of America for four years, then returned (after a four year hiatus) for two years on a course laid out in the parking lot of the
Reliant ParkReliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
Complex. The last race was held in April 22, 2007 (with the IRL merger canceling the 2008 GPoH just two months prior to the event).
From 1998 to 2001, CART (Champ Car's predecessor series) held a race on Houston's downtown streets, adjacent to the
George R. Brown Convention CenterThe George R. Brown Convention Center opened on September 26, 1987 on the east side of Downtown Houston, Texas, United States.The center was named for the prominent Houstonian George R. Brown, an entrepreneur, civic leader and philanthropist. Brown’s Texas Eastern Corporation donated six of the 11...
. This event was sponsored by the oil company
TexacoTexaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel,"Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
, and named the
Texaco Grand Prix of Houston. However, construction in downtown Houston resulted in the race not being renewed for the 2002
Champ CarChamp Car was the name for a class and specification of cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
season.
In 2005, the Champ Car World Series announced that it would be making a return to Houston in 2006; for some time, series directors had wanted to make a return to the city. The 2006 event was held on May 13 as the second round of the 2006 Champ Car schedule. However, this time the race was held on a 1.7-mile temporary street circuit on the
Reliant ParkReliant Park is a complex in Houston, Texas, USA, named after the energy company Reliant Energy. It is located on Kirby Drive at the 610 Loop...
complex instead of the downtown streets and was the first race held on a street course to run at night in the history of Champ Car or its precursor series (in 2003 and 2004, Champ Car ran under the lights at Burke Lakefront Airport in
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
). Also, the American Le Mans Series held an event, the
Lone Star Grand PrixThe Lone Star Grand Prix is a sports car race that is part of the American Le Mans Series that took place at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The Lone Star Grand Prix was part of the Grand Prix of Houston race weekend....
, on the previous night, marking only the second time Champ Car and American Le Mans promoted their own events in the same city on the same weekend (they joined in 2003 for the Grand Prix Americas in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
). For 2007, JAG Flocomponents picked up the naming rights to the previously unnamed street course, naming it
JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park.
Features
A unique feature of the 2006 Grand Prix of Houston was the Champ Car paddock, which was located inside
Reliant ArenaThe Reliant Arena, formerly the "Astroarena", is a 350,000 square feet sports center in Reliant Park, in Houston, Texas, USA. It is one of the state's major arenas and convention centers. Reliant became the home of the Houston Comets for what proved to be their final season...
. The Newman/Haas, RuSPORT, Dale Coyne, and Team Australia haulers were on the northern side, while the Forsythe, Rocketsports, PKV, and CTE-HVM teams were on the southern side.
A round of the popular
Face of Champ Car beauty contest was also held during the Grand Prix weekend. Current Face of Champ Car Brandi Latimer had a visible presence at the circuit, and Brooke Adams won the Houston round of the contest. Adams was unable to complete her duties as Miss Grand Prix therefor 1st Runner Up Angela Rutledge was crowned the new queen. Rutledge, along with the winners of from Long Beach, Cleveland, Toronto, Edmonton, San Jose, Denver, and Surfers Paradise will travel to Mexico City to compete to become the 2006
Face of Champ Car. Lauren Gardner from Denver won the grand final and became the 2007 Face of Champ Car.
Race winners
| Season |
Date |
Winning Driver |
Team |
Chassis |
Engine |
Report |
| 1998 The 1998 CART season, the twentieth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi. Rookie of the Year was Tony...
|
October 4 |
GBR Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti is a Scottish racing driver of Italian descent. He formerly competed in the CART series before switching to the IndyCar Series where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500...
|
Team KOOL Green Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, American LeMans Series, and A1 Grand Prix.-CART:Founded in 1993 by Barry Green and Gerry Forsythe as Forsythe Green Racing, they fielded two Atlantic cars for Claude Bourbonnais and Jacques Villeneuve...
|
ReynardReynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...
|
Honda is a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
|
Report |
| 1999 The 1999 CART season, the twenty-first in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 21 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1...
|
September 26 |
CAN Paul TracyPaul Tracy is a professional automobile racer who competed in the Champ Car World Series from 1991 to 2007. He is nicknamed "PT" and also goes by the nickname "The Thrill from West Hill"....
|
Team KOOL Green Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, American LeMans Series, and A1 Grand Prix.-CART:Founded in 1993 by Barry Green and Gerry Forsythe as Forsythe Green Racing, they fielded two Atlantic cars for Claude Bourbonnais and Jacques Villeneuve...
|
ReynardReynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...
|
Honda is a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
|
Report |
| 2000 |
October 1 |
USA Jimmy Vasser Jimmy Vasser is a retired American racing driver and current race team owner. Vasser won the 1996 Champ Car champion with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series...
|
Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates...
|
Lola |
Toyota |
Report |
| 2001 |
October 7 |
BRA Gil de FerranGil de Ferran , is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500....
|
Penske Racing Penske Championship Racing is a racing team that competes in the Indy Racing League, ALMS, and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, Formula One and CART. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
|
ReynardReynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...
|
Honda is a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
|
Report |
2006The 2006 Champ Car season was the twenty-eighth Champ Car World Series, however only its third season under the Champ Car title. It began on April 9, 2006 and ended on November 12 after 14 races.- Drivers and Teams :...
|
May 13 |
FRA Sébastien BourdaisSébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007....
|
Newman/Haas Racing |
Lola |
Ford Cosworth |
Report The 2006 Grand Prix of Houston was the second round of the 2006 Champ Car World Series season, held on May 13, 2006 on the streets around Reliant Park in Houston, Texas.-Qualifying results:- Race :- Caution Flags :- Notes :...
|
2007The 2007 Champ Car season was the twenty-ninth Champ Car World Series, however only its fourth season under the Champ Car title. It began on April 8, 2007 and ended on November 11 after 14 races. Unbeknownst at the time, this would end up being the final contested season of Champ Car, as the...
|
April 22 |
FRA Sébastien BourdaisSébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French race car driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Champ Car World Series, having won four successive championships from 2004 to 2007....
|
Newman/Haas/Lanigan RacingNewman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is a motor racing team competing in the IndyCar Series. The team operations are based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed when actor Paul Newman and long-time racer Carl Haas, competitors in the Can-Am championship, each began looking to Champ Car...
|
PanozPanoz Auto Development is an American manufacturer of high-performance automobiles founded in 1989 by Dan Panoz, son of pharmaceutical and motorsport mogul Don Panoz. The company is located in Hoschton, GA. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, and the Panoz Esperante...
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Cosworth Cosworth is an automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines for automobile racing . It supplies a wide range of motorsport series, including the World Rally Championship, World Superbikes and, as of 2010, Formula One...
|
ReportThe 2007 Grand Prix of Houston was the third round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season, held on April 22 at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park.- Qualifying results :Sébastien Bourdais originally took pole but was penalised for blocking Will Power...
|
External links