Old Meadowlands Grand Prix Programs

[Eric Paddon]

I was going through the closet and unearthed all the programs of the U.S. Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, held from 1984-91. I attended qualifying in 84-85 and every race from 86-91, and it was always sad in a way how I felt like one of the few locals who'd come to this Indy Car event with a real understanding of what was going on. The New York market has never been race savvy at any time, and it was really painful at times to see how ignorant the local media was of racing in general whenever the stars of Indy came this way.

I had one copy of each race program from 84-91 and a pleasant surprise was to find that an extra copy for the 87 race was where I had gotten some driver autographs (it was very easy to get hold of many of them). There was Roberto Guerrero, Johnny Rutherford, Dick Simon and Danny Sullivan and incredibly enough I had Tony George's signature since he was there that year competing in the Super Vee race.

Also found a large promotional postcard from the 89 race of Sneva's car signed by him, which was kind of ironic since I think Sneva was fired by Granatelli racing not long afterwards, or at the very least didn't do any more road races after that.

Too bad there's no way I can upload a lot of this Meadowlands memorabilia and pix I have to the messages, but hopefully someday I can find a way around that. It was an interesting time when Indy Car racing tried to fill the void in the tri-state area left by the demise of Trenton Speedway, but unfortunately just never really caught on.

[indyguy2]

I was going through the closet and unearthed all the programs of the U.S. Grand Prix at the Meadowlands, held from 1984-91. I attended qualifying in 84-85 and every race from 86-91, and it was always sad in a way how I felt like one of the few locals who'd come to this Indy Car event with a real understanding of what was going on. The New York market has never been race savvy at any time, and it was really painful at times to see how ignorant the local media was of racing in general whenever the stars of Indy came this way.

I had one copy of each race program from 84-91 and a pleasant surprise was to find that an extra copy for the 87 race was where I had gotten some driver autographs (it was very easy to get hold of many of them). There was Roberto Guerrero, Johnny Rutherford, Dick Simon and Danny Sullivan and incredibly enough I had Tony George's signature since he was there that year competing in the Super Vee race.

Also found a large promotional postcard from the 89 race of Sneva's car signed by him, which was kind of ironic since I think Sneva was fired by Granatelli racing not long afterwards, or at the very least didn't do any more road races after that.

Too bad there's no way I can upload a lot of this Meadowlands memorabilia and pix I have to the messages, but hopefully someday I can find a way around that. It was an interesting time when Indy Car racing tried to fill the void in the tri-state area left by the demise of Trenton Speedway, but unfortunately just never really caught on.

IMO, it was pretty easy to see why this race never caught on. The track was horrible. This was CART at it's worst.

[roach]

...The track was horrible...

It may have been, but name another venue where, if you made a wrong turn, you ended up on the "on-ramp" leading to an expressway?

roach

[Eric Paddon]

And that was actually the "improved" track that Luyendyk made that wrong turn on to, post-1987 I believe. The initial track was really impossible, and it also didn't help that the makeshift PA system was lousy. I generally had to keep my own scoring sheets to cue in the spectators on how things stood.

The most satisfying of the races I went to was 1990, and seeing Foyt score his last ever Top 5 finish in an Indy car.

[dwcremax]

I remember a funny story from when the Meadowlands Grand Prix began. I was writing for Area Auto Racing News at the time and was a member of the Eastern Motorsports Press Association (EMPA). At the annual January convention sanctioning bodies and tracks who participated made presentations about their series and/or events. The presentation for the Meadowlands race was well attended and rather lengthy. At its conclusion the next speaker was Chip Williams of NASCAR who began his presentation by saying "We're NASCAR and we're not interested in racing in anyone's parking lot."

[KevMcNJ]

I remember a funny story from when the Meadowlands Grand Prix began. I was writing for Area Auto Racing News at the time

I didnt know that...

which column was yours? I read it every week

[carl s]

1984...
Old? old? old you say?

I'd been a racefan 26 years by 1984...
1984 can't be called old

can it?

[Starter]

And that was actually the "improved" track that Luyendyk made that wrong turn on to, post-1987 I believe. The initial track was really impossible, and it also didn't help that the makeshift PA system was lousy. I generally had to keep my own scoring sheets to cue in the spectators on how things stood.

The most satisfying of the races I went to was 1990, and seeing Foyt score his last ever Top 5 finish in an Indy car.

I'd disagree with that. The original track was much more interesting than the 2nd, which was neither a road or an oval type of street event. Watching Eric Bachelart drift his SuperVee up the bridge over the highway was worth the whole weekend.

[dwcremax]

I didnt know that...

which column was yours? I read it every week

"Racing by the Clock". I covered primarily URC. I also did driver profiles and special articles for the special issues. Thanks for asking, Kev!

[Doctorindy]

Watching Eric Bachelart drift his SuperVee up the bridge over the highway was worth the whole weekend.

I think Luyendyk did the same thing. Had to find a place to turn around.

[Starter]

I think Luyendyk did the same thing. Had to find a place to turn around.

I'm talking about the bridge that was part of the course. There was another place where you could get off that you had to go way off course before you could turn around - that's probably the one you remember.

[KevMcNJ]

"Racing by the Clock". I covered primarily URC. I also did driver profiles and special articles for the special issues. Thanks for asking, Kev!

I remember that column. too bad I tossed all my old racing papers a few years back. Coulda scanned an old photo of ya for all our friends here at TF to see.