Although it had to be the coldest day of winter, an enthusiastic crowd showed up yesterday to get an up close look at what will be zooming through the streets in September.
The occasion was actually the announcement that Entergy Nuclear -- a clean, green nuclear energy source --has agreed to become Simona de Silvestro's primary sponsor for the next three seasons, keeping the Swiss Miss of the Indy circuit in her familiar No. 78 car for HVM Racing. They chose Baltimore for the announcement because of all the energy (not nuclear, but still clean and definitely high test) emanating from here about the race.
Ms. de Silverstro, the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, came to Baltimore to put her car through its paces and show what her team could do in the pit. She was assisted by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who got to rev the engine.
First was the announcement by BRD President Jay Davidson that tickets sales of 27,000 to date were well ahead of the most optimistic projections. With this pace, Davidson projects there will be over 100,000 fans joining us for the Labor Day festivities.
His optimism was echoed by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard, who predicted Baltimore would zoom to one of the top three events on the circuit.
As for the buzz emanating from the engine, it was surprisingly bearable (albeit to someone subjected to jackhammers over the past few months.) It has more of a highpitched hum instead of the scat-wheels roar heard at the drag strips.
Of course, there is nothing quite like the dulcet ringing of cash registers, and that is probably the sound that will linger with us the longest after IndyCar comes to town.
As we said, those tickets are going fast. If you don't want to get left at the gate, get yours now.
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