What Roger Wants, Roger Gets

When he's not helping Boulder Sam achieve maximum speed, Roger Penske successfully does things like help Detroit (Detroit!) land a Super Bowl. Now, Roger has decided he wants to resurrect the Detroit Grand Prix, IRL-style.

While the 2007 Indy Racing League schedule has not been completed and released, speculation is that successful testing this week in Iowa will result in the addition of that track to the schedule. The Detroit Free Press is reporting Penske has been lobbying very hard to have the street course of Belle Isle added next year as well, preferably on Labor Day Weekend.

Of course, there is also talk about adding a race around the parking lot at Dodger Stadium, but that seems to be going nowhere.

For those who do not recall, the Detroit Grand Prix was originally raced through the streets of Detroit in the 1980s with Formula One cars. A new course was built on the Belle Isle island in the Detroit river, but was not used for Formula One since they moved the U.S. operation to Phoenix in 1989. CART (Champ Car) did use the new circuit from 1992 to 2001.

Say, isn’t Gene Simmons from Detroit?