Quicken Loans Grand Prix Fest Powered by Chevrolet Starts Race Week

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DETROIT – The Campus Martius Park and Cadillac Square area in downtown Detroit will come alive with the sights and sounds of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix on May 29 to start the region’s race week engines.

The “Quicken Loans Grand Prix Street Fest powered by Chevrolet” will build the excitement for race weekend as the festival will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 29, two days before on-track activity gets underway at Belle Isle.

The street fest will feature a sampling of the activities and excitement that will be present all weekend long at the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, May 31 to June 2. Drivers and cars from all three racing series competing at the Grand Prix – the IZOD IndyCar Series, GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and Pirelli World Challenge Series – will be represented at the festival, located near the headquarters of Quicken Loans and many other downtown Detroit businesses. Pit stop demonstrations, autograph sessions and question and answer sessions with some of the sport’s best drivers will be featured along with food trucks, Grand Prix and race team merchandise, as well as interactive and special vehicle displays.

“We want to bring the excitement of the Grand Prix to the lunchtime crowd at Campus Martius Park and Cadillac Square as we build the buzz for race weekend,” Bud Denker, Chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, said. “With the cars, the racing stars, the food and the flair, the Quicken Loans Grand Prix Street Fest powered by Chevrolet will be a great way to get everyone’s engine running for the race.”

The green flag will wave on the street fest at 11 a.m. as the crowd begins to gather in Campus Martius Park. A race team transporter parade featuring more than 30 of the high-tech trucks that carry the actual race cars from circuit to circuit, will travel down Woodward Avenue between 11:20 a.m. and 12 p.m. as they make their way by the park, down Jefferson Avenue and onto Belle Isle.

The GRAND-AM Rolex Series 8 Star team will put a charge into the Street Fest crowd when they perform a pit stop demonstration on their Corvette Daytona Prototype car. Roger Penske of Penske Corporation, and representatives from Quicken Loans and Chevrolet will officially welcome the crowd at noon.

There will be two separate groups of drivers in attendance at the street fest and fans will have the opportunity to meet and interact with some of the world’s top racers. IZOD IndyCar Series stars from Team Penske Helio Castroneves, Will Power, and AJ Allmendinger will be joined by GRAND-AM Rolex Series 8 Star driver Enzo Potolicchio, Pirelli World Challenge Series driver Andy Pilgrim of Cadillac Racing and local World Challenge driver Dane Moxlow of Grosse Ile in the first group of drivers. The drivers will take to the stage for a question and answer session at 12:30 p.m. before they sign autographs for fans.

Following another pit stop demo by the 8 Star team, the second group of drivers will arrive to get the crowd revved for the Grand Prix. IndyCar drivers Graham Rahal, Simona Di Silvestro and Tristan Vautier will address the crowd at 1:15 p.m. with GRAND-AM drivers Stéphane Sarrazin and brothers Brian and Burt Frisselle. After they answer questions from fans, the second group of racers will also sign autographs.

Admission to the Quicken Loans Grand Prix Street Fest powered by Chevrolet is free. To learn more visit www.DetroitGP.com.