News for February 27th 2010

Birmingham expects to score as sports host

April is shaping up as a record month for Birmingham area tourism, thanks to three major sporting events. Convention officials expect them to generate a combined $62 million in tourism-related spending.

  About $33 million of that will come from the IndyCar Series inaugural IRL Grand Prix of Alabama, set for April 9-11 at the Barber Motorsports road track near Leeds, said David Galbaugh, sports marketing director for the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau.

  Two events beginning April 24 — the Talladega Superspeedway Aaron’s 499 and the Federation Cup women’s tennis match between the United States and Russia — are expected to have an economic impact of $25 million and $3.9 million, respectively. (more…)

Edited: February 27th, 2010

Talladega Superspeedway Sprint Cup testing will be open to the public

Talladega Superspeedway Sprint Cup testing will be open to the public on March 16.

According to track officials, that will give fans their first glimpse of Sprint Cup cars on the track using the new spoiler while confirming restrictor plate size and gear ratio for the Aaron’s 499 on April 25. Fans will also have the chance to check out the renovated frontstretch grandstands.

The test is scheduled for 9 a.m. that day.

Talladega’s race schedule for April includes qualifying for the Nationwide Series and ARCA Series on April 23; qualifying for Sprint Cup and the Aaron’s 312 Nationwide race on April 24; and the Aaron’s 499 Sprint Cup race on Sunday.

Edited: February 27th, 2010