The Grand Prix of Denver was a Champ Car race last held on a street circuit in Denver, Colorado, United States. A Champ Car race was first held in Denver in 1909 on a road circuit in nearby Brighton. Racing returned to the Centennial Park dirt oval in 1951 and 1952 under AAA sanctioning. In 1990, Champ Cars returned to Denver with a CART-sanctioned event downtown near the Civic Center. However, like the previous incarnation, that race also lasted only two years. CART returned to Denver in 2002 with a race on a temporary circuit around the then-named Pepsi Center. The final race was held in 2006. Champ Car initially put the race on its 2007 schedule but removed it after conflicts with other events could not be reconciled. Attempts to revive the event did not come to fruition.
Winners
AAA Championship Car results Season Date Winning driver Chassis Engine 1909Non-championship race. July 5 Eaton McMillan Colburn 1910–1950: not held 1951 September 23 Tony Bettenhausen Kurtis Kraft Offy 1952 September 28 Bill Vukovich Kuzma Offy Source:
CART/Champ Car World Series results Season Date Winning driver Chassis Engine Team Report 1990 August 26 Al Unser Jr. Lola Chevrolet-Ilmor Galles/Kraco Racing Report 1991 August 25 Al Unser Jr. Lola Chevrolet-Ilmor Galles/Kraco Racing Report 1992–2001: Not held 2002 September 1 Bruno Junqueira Lola Toyota Chip Ganassi Racing Report 2003 August 31 Bruno Junqueira Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing Report 2004 August 15 Sébastien Bourdais Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing Report 2005 August 14 Sébastien Bourdais Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing Report 2006 August 13 A. J. Allmendinger Lola Ford-Cosworth Forsythe Racing Report Source:
Lap records
The fastest outright all-time track record set during a race weekend on the original layout is 1:25.896, set by Michael Andretti in a Lola T91/00, during qualifying for the 1991 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver. The fastest outright all-time track record set during a race weekend on the second layout is 0:59.096 seconds, set by Sebastien Bourdais in a Lola B02/00, during qualifying for the 2006 Grand Prix of Denver. The fastest official race lap records at the Grand Prix of Denver are listed as:
CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEventTrack Map Second Grand Prix Circuit (Pepsi Center) (2002–2006): Champ Car 1:00.314 Sebastien Bourdais Lola B02/00 2006 Grand Prix of Denver Formula Atlantic 1:06.945 Graham Rahal Swift 016.a 2006 Denver Formula Atlantic round Formula BMW 1:14.854 Ryan Phinny Mygale FB02 2006 Denver Formula BMW USA round Super Touring 1:21.119 Adam Pecorari Audi A4 2006 Denver Speed World Challenge round Original Grand Prix Circuit (Denver Civic Center) (1990–1991): CART 1:25.896 Michael Andretti Lola T91/00 1991 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver Indy Lights 1:36.612 P. J. Jones Wildcat-Buick 1991 Denver Indy Lights round Trans-Am 1:42.050 Irv Hoerr Oldsmobile Cutlass 1991 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver
References