DETROIT, MI (WXYZ) — For the first time in more than three decades, the Detroit Grand Prix will be taking place on a street track in downtown Detroit. And on Friday, Comerica Bank is giving fans a chance to check it out for free!
The annual tradition of "Free Prix Day" goes all the way back to the very first Detroit Grand Prix.
Fans will be able to watch the on-track action on grandstands one and nine. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis, but access to the paddock is not included.
Aside from all of the fun and excitement, the economic impact of this three-day motorsports event is expected to be just as significant. The University of Michigan's Sports Management Program and the Center for Sports Venues and Real Estate Development will be conducting a formal analysis. But, many local businesses are hoping for a financial boost from this event and one restaurant is already feeling it.
Mare Martini, the owner of Nathan's Deli, a family-owned restaurant that's been on East Jefferson Avenue for 26 years has a viewing stand right outside of her restaurant.
"It's very exciting to see people, you know, they're going to be watching the race and hopefully coming in to get something to eat," Mare said. "It's the biggest event of the year."
Mare says she's planning for 'take-out only' during the race weekend. She says she already received an order for 1,5000 bag lunches for race volunteers!
"How much more food did you have to order than normal weekends in the summer," Alicia Smith asked.
"Well, we have 100 cases of Better Made chips, and we'll be getting more in. We're going to have our Faygo products coming in," Mare said.
Mare has also had to stock up on staff. On a normal day, she typically has about 5 staff members working. For race weekend she says she will have at least 15.
One of those workers is going to be 18-year-old Eliza Baker whose sister Athena was already working at the deli.
"I don't want to go too deep into it, but in my family there are not a lot of working people. So, I guess I kind of wanted to break that generation curse and kind of start working and provide for my life better," she said.
Visit Detroit expects more than 100,000 racing fans to turn out for the event.
"And when you look at the economic impact, how much money are we talking about," Alicia Smith asks Chris Moyer, the senior director of communications with Visit Detroit.
"Well, I want to be very clear that this is a projected number right now. And the Grand Prix is going to do a full study afterward. But based on what we've seen, and what their projection is, it's going to be more than 77 million dollars of direct spend for the city of Detroit and the Detroit region."
