Baltimore moves past opening day hiccups
Though he couldn’t cite attendance or food and beverage numbers, Davidson said he’s heard more good comments than bad from IndyCar officials, and fans alike.
“Our sense from IndyCar, they said they’ve never seen a Friday like this," Davidson said in an interview Saturday morning. “People are coming up to me, saying how blown away they are from the event."
Logistically, the Grand Prix had its issues in day one. Practice rounds started hours late on Friday, as organizers scrambled to finish construction of the race track.
Additionally, some guests arrived to find there weren’t enough seats in a few of the event’s grandstands to accommodate them. Davidson said when the grandstands were put down, space issues caused there to be fewer seats in some than organizers originally expected there would be.
Late Friday, officials had to relocate around 30 guests with $425 Grand Prix Club tickets near turn nine, too. Those paying customers were moved to an empty grandstand nearby that was set up in case problems like such did occur, and they were given food vouchers to use there.
“The sightlines weren’t what they thought they were [for some in the Grand Prix Club]," Davidson said.
But as race cars flew down Pratt Street Saturday morning, Davidson said operations were running smoothly.
“Knock on wood," Davidson said. “A lot of that is we’ve got some good contractors working for us." Baltimore Business Journal