CarShowSafari is going to the Desert!
Our mission at CarShowSafari.com is “Every Car Event – Everywhere!” And whenever possible, we’re taking you along with us.
This week, we’re headed to Phoenix, Arizona, and Phoenix Raceway for a great motorhead doubleheader: The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix for the Verizon IndyCar Series, and the Classic Racing Times’ Vintage Desert Classic for the vintage IndyCars.
The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix for the Verizon IndyCar Series is a 250-lap race that gets the green flags at 6:30 PM on Saturday, April 29. The Classic Racing Times’ Vintage Desert Classic is a series of on-track exhibitions of beautifully-restored vintage IndyCars from as far back as the two-seaters from the 1930s to as recent as the 230-mph missiles from the 1980s.
Both the modern and the vintage cars have multiple on-track sessions on Friday as well as Saturday, and we’ll be at the track throughout it all. Phoenix Raceway offers great pit and paddock access packages, and CarShowSafari’s Motorsports Editor Bob Marlow will be conducting paddock tours for select ticket holders both days.
As an extra bonus, the schedule includes a 100-mile contest for the USAC Silver Crown Series, modern race cars that, with their front-engine configuration, harken back to the days of the one-mile dirt fairgrounds tracks that have largely disappeared from the racing landscape.
The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix for the Verizon IndyCar Series will be televised live on the NBC Sports Network but nothing matches the immersive experience of being at the track, and the only way to see the vintage cars is in-person.
Phoenix Raceway is a one-mile, low-banked and oddly-shaped oval in Avondale, Arizona, just southwest of the city of Phoenix. The track opened in 1964, and A.J. Foyt won the track’s first race that year. Foyt, now 82 years old, is expected to be at the track this weekend, shepherding his two-car ABC Supply Verizon IndyCar team, while a tribute to the car he drove in 1964, the Sheraton-Thompson Special, will be participating in the Vintage Desert Classic.