Grand Prix

Scenes from the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Saturday: View from the cheap seats The McBride family was out in force, trying to see what they could without actually buying a ticket. They weren't having a whole lot of luck. Eye-level banners attached to the fence along Russell Street pretty much blocked any view of the racers, and even when a brief gap in the banners gave a view of the track, the traffic barriers kept the cars hurtling down the street fairly invisible.

During the upcoming 2012 Baltimore Grand Prix, downtown Baltimore may not be as congested with traffic as people expect ("Downtown streets to close for Grand Prix of Baltimore," Aug. 30). The event's promoters say that attendance is expected to be lower than last year, and many residents of nearby neighborhoods are leaving town for the weekend. Baltimore Police will be keeping the traffic moving and everyone safe. Retail stores, eateries, pubs and bars in the area will be open. And when I was there last year, none of those businesses were crowded, even though you can see and hear some of the race from outside of the paid entrance areas.

A bumpy patch along Pratt Street that sent racecars airborne Friday meant a slow start for the first day of the Grand Prix of Baltimore, the much-anticipated reprise of an event that converts city streets into an adrenaline-inducing fast track. The 2-mile racecourse through the heart of the city's tourist district shut down intermittently while crews worked to resolve the springboard effect of the light rail tracks at Howard and Pratt streets. That interrupted practice and led to the cancellation of qualifying rounds for drivers, who will compete in races this weekend.

As of 9 a.m. Friday, traffic was slow on Eastern Avenue near President Street, due to an accident. Accidents were slowing traffic on Edgewood Road near Pulaski Highway in Harford County, and Campbell Boulevard near Campbell Corporate Drive in Baltimore County. A vehicle fire was slowing traffic on I-70 westbound near Route 27 in Mount Airy. Numerous streets in downtown Baltimore were closed or partially closed in preparation for the Grand Prix of Baltimore this weekend, including Conway Street and portions of Pratt, Howard, Calvert and Russell streets.

So racing returns to downtown streets today, as the Grand Prix of Baltimore takes over the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards through Sunday. The new organizers of the revived racing festival have managed to avoid the tempest over tree removal that dogged the runup to last year's inaugural event.  But they've also dropped any pretense of reducing or mitigating the noise, unfiltered racecar exhaust and other environmental impacts of the extravaganza....

Charlie Kimball was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2007, news that upended his personal and professional life. But the 27-year-old English-born, California-raised open-wheel racing veteran didn't just work to get his career back on track, he's worked to inspire others. For his efforts, Kimball recently earned a Jefferson Award, a national public service award co-founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard. In bestowing the honor, spokespeople for the award said, "Since his diagnosis, Kimball has been a hero to the diabetes community, regularly making appearances and spreading awareness of diabetes.

IndyCar officials listened to drivers' complaints about the chicane, man-made turns that slowed cars on Pratt Street before the light-rail tracks, in last year's race. So they left it out when setting up the track for this year's Grand Prix of Baltimore. Drivers didn't want to slow down. They wanted an uninhibited run into a widened first turn and the ability to pass anyone in their way. "We were unanimous in wanting the chicane out," KV Racing driver Tony Kanaan said. "We all agreed we could handle the railroad tracks without it. But after the morning practice, we all agreed we couldn't go over the railroad tracks.

Shortly after IndyCar practice opened Friday in advance of the Grand Prix of Baltimore, rookie of the year Simon Pagenaud's car went airborne as it crossed the railroad tracks on the Pratt Streetstraight. After last year's race, drivers had asked that a series of small, man-made turns called chicanes be removed. They were in place for the inaugural race to slow the cars as they approached the tracks. With the chicane gone, Pagenaud came out of Turn 12 and accelerated. He hit the tracks, and the front of his car lifted nearly three feet off the ground.

IndyCar is bringing back the chicane to keep the course at the Grand Prix of Baltimore safe for drivers. The issue of a rough track at the approach to the light rail tracks surfaced during Friday morning practice when rookie Simon Pagenaud's Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda took flight . Restoring the chicane -- a man-made series of tight turns that had been removed from the course at drivers' request following the inaugural Grand Prix...

Michael Andretti, wearing his promoter's hat, stopped for a chat in the Baltimore Convention Center on Thursday afternoon. The IndyCar owner, who has taken on the job of organizing the Grand Prix of Baltimore this weekend through his company Andretti Sports Marketing, looked relaxed. "We're as ready as we've ever been for any event that we've ever done," he said when asked about preparations for the weekend festivities that kick off Friday morning when the gates open at 7:30 a.m. "The track is on schedule.