Vegas Grand Prix - Opening Salvo

The first Vegas Grand Prix was on Sunday 8 April 2007. I attended, and took photos from various points along Main Street, between Bonneville and Carson.

(The intersection of Main Street and Carson is one block south of The Fremont Street Experience, across from The Plaza, and near the Golden Gate valet parking.)

No admission was required, though there were bleecher seats if one wanted to pay for a ticket. many people took advantage of the free Plaza rooftop garage party.

It was somewhat difficult to walk around due to fences, security borders, obstructions, etc. There are alleys behind the old buildings which are along Main Street. These alleys go behind some vacant old buildings such as the Queen Of Hearts Hotel. Normally it would not be a tourist friendly area, but many people were walking these alleys during the Grand Prix.

I thought that it was unacceptable that some sections of fence on Main Street were covered with dark material, which prevented a viewing of the race opposite a grand stand. The streets are public, and it is enough that the public accepts an inconvenience and disruption to facilitate the race. Making private, the ability to see the street from a particular point on a sidewalk is nonsense and completely wrong.

The sound of the cars passing was interesting to hear. Particularly there was a fascinating sound of distant engines as the cars left Main Street and the sound filtered through the Golden Nugget garage.

Here is my opening salvo of photos from the Vegas Grand Prix. For the record, the green car with yellow highlights (car #5) was driven by Will Power, and won the race.

The closeup I present here of car #5 was on Bonneville as the car turned left to go north on Main Street. (Photo was from one of the final laps, several minutes before the end of the race.)