Cleveland Grand Prix Canceled for 2008

Bad news for Cleveland racing fans and for downtown hotels and restaurants: the Cleveland Grand Prix, scheduled for June 20-22, has been canceled for 2008.

The cancellation stems from the recent merger of Champ racing (the organizers of the Cleveland race) and the Indy Racing League (IRL). The IRL already has a race scheduled for the Cleveland weekend and both groups indicated it was too close to the event to be able to regroup for 2008. The IRL promises to bring the Cleveland Grand Prix back in 2009.

The Cleveland Grand Prix began in 1982 and has been run at Burke Lakefront Airport on the shores of Lake Erie each summer since then. Past winners include Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi, and Paul Tracy.

For pictures of previous races, see this Grand Prix photo gallery.

^{(photo © Jamie Squire/Getty Images)}