F1 Is Coming to My Back Yard!

Photo by Matthew Lowell Thompson 

You can save your comments about the smell and the jokes about the mafia and Snooki. I was born, raised, and still live in New Jersey, and I've heard them all. And it doesn't matter. New Jersey is going to have a Formula 1 race. For 10 years.

If you don't live in the New York metropolitan area, you don't understand how huge today's announcement is. I can't even say that racing takes a back seat to other sports around here.  It's not even in the same car. Racing doesn't make the news unless something terrible happens. You can't find a race on the radio.

There have been attempts to bring racing to the area. CART held the Meadowlands Grand Prix in the parking lots and access roads of the Meadowlands Sports Complex for eight years. The only view was the swamps surrounding it.

A few years ago, there was talk about building a NASCAR track on Staten Island, but that idea didn't get much support. The attitude was NIMBY (not in my back yard).

Some New Jerseyans are not happy about the race because the focus will be on New York, not New Jersey.  But I've lived in northern New Jersey my entire life, and that's the way it's always been. The New York Giants and New York Jets play in NEW JERSEY. I have no doubt that the 2014 Super Bowl at the Meadowlands will be touted as the Super Bowl in New York. Although I must admit that was pleased to see all New Jersey officials at the press conference today and no one from New York (but New York definitely will reap economic benefit too).

I have mixed emotions about this. I'm really excited that a Formula 1 race is going to be 25 MILES from my house (I can use Google Maps too). But I'm scared because I don't want it to fail. And people will be sitting by waiting for that possibility. People see it as an all or nothing proposition, and they want instant success. The race will require road closures and inconveniences. If it's not a complete success, then it's a complete failure.

Baltimore had its first street course race this past September. Even before the race, everyone was poised to call it a failure. They had amazing attendance numbers for the weekend. But what many people remember are some traffic problems early in the weekend and the numbers indicating that the economic impact wasn't quite what the organizers were expecting. I hope the people in Baltimore give the race a second chance. It was a great race weekend, and there is always room for improvement.

So for now, I sit back and watch the development for the race. And I'll mark my calendar for that Sunday in June 2013. Because if you think I'm going to miss that race, fugetaboutit!