Air show may slam IRL race

UPDATE A reader writes, I think we could speculate that since Air Force is a NASCAR sponsor, that perhaps there may have been some "encouragement" to sabotage the IRL race in a further effort to kill open wheel racing. Hmmmm…gotta wonder. These kinds of coincidences seem to be far too common. Name Withheld by Request

12/07/06 MacDill Air Force Base's immensely popular air show, which draws as many as 750,000 people to South Tampa over two days, will return this spring after a one-year hiatus, Air Force officials said Wednesday.

The free AirFest event, scheduled for March 31 and April 1, will feature the Navy's Blue Angels and dozens of other ground and aerial displays, officials at the air base said.

Tampa hotels and businesses will welcome it back. But not everyone is cheering.

The AirFest is scheduled on the same weekend as St. Petersburg's fledgling Grand Prix race event, causing consternation among civic leaders there.

"I'm very disappointed," said St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, who lobbied unsuccessfully for the Air Force to pick a different weekend.

"Their event is actually paid for by the government and given away for free, and now it's competing with a private event – the largest downtown weekend event in our year."

But Tampa developer Al Austin, who once headed a MacDill support committee for the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, suggests the worry is unfounded.

"I tell you this, the Tampa Bay area has, what, about 4-million people," he said. "So when you have two events simultaneously, I think there's a possibility no one will suffer."

Still, the collision of the two events, which became clear to Grand Prix race officials only Wednesday afternoon, is a deflating and potentially stinging blow to the car race in its third year. More at St. Pete Times