Las Vegas race in jeopardy too

The news release for the Phoenix Champ Car race said the cancellation will not affect the Las Vegas event, which is scheduled to open the 2008 Champ Car season on April 6-8. The races in Las Vegas and Phoenix are part of DDB Ventures, which is owned by Phoenix businessmen Bradley Yonover and Dale Jensen.

Jim Freudenberg, the Vegas Grand Prix president and chief executive, was in Las Vegas on Tuesday to meet with city and business leaders to discuss the prospects of the three-day event returning next year.

"This will not reflect anything at all on (the Las Vegas race)," Freudenberg told the Review-Journal in a voice mail. "I've had a great day (in Las Vegas today). Things are going very, very well for next year here."

But a person involved in recent meetings with Vegas Grand Prix officials said many downtown hotels and businesses do not want the event back because it inconvenienced their regular customers.

One alternative location proposed, according to the source, who requested anonymity, would be a circuit centered around the Thomas & Mack Center that would utilize part of Tropicana Avenue and Swenson Street.

The current agreement with the Grand Prix is with the City of Las Vegas, though, and the Thomas & Mack area is under Clark County jurisdiction. Las Vegas Review Journal