BALTIMORE, Md. – The tires hugged each curve. The engines roared down the racetrack. And thousands of fans cheered from the stands as race cars ripped around the Inner Harbor for the Grand Prix of Baltimore.
Nick Staffieri, 15, says he’s a huge racing fan and watched the cars from Turn 1.
“When you hear them going around the turns, it sounds like NASCAR. But when you see them, it’s not all left turns. You’ve got left turns, right turns, uphill, downhill. It’s just mind-blowing to see racing like this,” he says.
Nancy Profe traveled from Seymour, Conn.
“While the husband and son are in Annapolis, Md., we said ‘Let’s go to Baltimore! Let’s go have some fun’,” she says. “We’re from Connecticut, nothing like this happens in Connecticut.”
On Saturday, a television celebrity was among the drivers. “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey drove the No. 27 Porsche in the American Le Mans Series race. The 75-lap IZOD IndyCar Series race starts at 2:40 p.m. Sunday.
“I used to live in Baltimore 25 years ago and I don’t remember them trying anything like this in the middle of the city,” says Tom Goehring. He’s in town for a family wedding and says he could hear the cars first thing in the morning. “We’re staying at the hotel just a few blocks down. You can hear them, you can see them from the room.”
Dominique Ortiz and her boyfriend drove down from Pennsylvania for the Grand Prix.
“He’s more into it than I am, I just came along for the ride,” she says. “There’s live events and food, so we’re going to enjoy it.”
Everett Brown, 12, lives in Baltimore and this is his second time at the Grand Prix.
“I like the cars and how fast they go. They’re loud when they turn.”
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