The Meadowlands Grand Prix was a CART IndyCar race held at the

Meadowlands Sports Complex The Meadowlands Sports Complex is a sports complex located in East Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The facility is owned and operated by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA). The complex currently con ...

in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1984 until 1991. The event was the first major auto race in the New York City metropolitan area since the 1937 Vanderbilt Cup, and came with high expectations, including the potential of rivaling the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

in stature, and crowds of up to 60,000. After only eight years, and two separate course layouts, the event proved to be unpopular and a money-loser. Both course layouts were criticized, and the event is generally regarded as one of the worst CART races in the series' history. Despite its negative legacy, the event holds some distinctions, including a notable late-race duel between

Al Unser Jr. Alfred Unser Jr. (born April 19, 1962), nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior", or simply "Junior", is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. History Unser was born into a racing family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ...

and

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

in 1988, and in 1989 the milestone final victory for the Cosworth DFX/DFS.

History

In 1982,

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

announced a race in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

area for the 1983 season. However, the race, which was to take place in

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushi ...

, was first postponed, then canceled. At the same time, CART and the

in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with the help of

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

promoter

Chris Pook Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

, announced a race for the 1984 season. The race would take place on a 15-turn, , temporary road course set up in the parking lots around Giants Stadium. The inaugural event's purse of $536,000 made it the richest race in CART history apart from Indianapolis. The race carried high expectations, was televised nationally, and came on the heels of high-profile successes at former Formula One events in

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. A crowd of 50,000 was expected. During practice and qualifying, drivers criticized the tight nature of the course. The race began on a damp track, and

Mario Andretti Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian-born American former racing driver. One of the most successful drivers in the history of motorsports, Andretti is one of only two drivers to have won races in Formula One, IndyCar, t ...

led all 100 laps to win. Despite the rainy weather, 34,388 spectators watched the race. The 1985 event saw better weather and better attendance, but still fell short of expectations. The organizers signed a 3-year contract to continue the race, but the circuit's parking lot nature, giving neither the park-like setting of a natural terrain road course nor the atmosphere of a downtown street race, began to draw criticism from drivers and journalists. In 1988, officials changed the layout to a semi-oval layout surrounding

Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on N ...

in an attempt to improve competition and sight lines for spectators, and the race attracted a record 45,025. In addition, new race sponsor

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...

offered a $1 million bonus for any driver who could win at the Meadowlands,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, and the Marlboro Challenge in

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in the same season; no driver would ever win the bonus. Despite the new layout and increasing purses, attendance dipped and the race failed to turn a profit. The promoters considered moving the event to Washington, D. C.,

, or

Englishtown, New Jersey Englishtown is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The community is nestled within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 1,847,Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on the roads surrounding the

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and West Street. The race was postponed until 1993 then cancelled due to cost and conflicts between sponsor Marlboro and Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enteri ...

' anti-tobacco advertising policies.

Race winners

ARS/Indy Lights winners

Trans-Am winners

IMSA GT winners

Race notes

*1988:

and

battled at the end. The two cars touched and Fittipaldi veered into a bank of tire barriers. Unser Jr. went on to win. The following year at Indy, the two would be involved in another late-race duel. *1989: Bobby Rahal scores his only victory of the 1989 season. It was the lone victory for the "short stroke" Cosworth DFS, and the 153rd and final race win for the Cosworth DFX/DFS in Indy car racing. The race was halted 5 laps early due to heavy rains and standing water on the course. Rahal held off points leader

for the victory. *1990:

Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART PP ...

led 105 of the 150 laps en route to victory, in a crash-filled race. Bobby Rahal and

tangled and crashed on lap 41, while contender

Arie Luyendyk Arie Luijendijk (anglicised as Arie Luyendyk; born 21 September 1953), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman," is a Dutch former auto racing driver, and winner of the 1990 and 1997 Indianapolis 500 races. He was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Sp ...

later stuffed his car into a tire barrier trying to lap Dominic Dobson. Later Luyendyk missed the turn into turn one, and veered off onto an escape road. He infamously had to drive up an exit ramp and into the Giants Stadium parking lot to turn around and return to the race course. *1991: Bobby Rahal snaps a 34-race losing streak and wins his first CART race in nearly two years to the day of his last win (1989 Meadowlands Grand Prix). It would be the final Meadowlands Grand Prix.

Notes

References

{{IMSA GT circuits Champ Car races Meadowlands Sports Complex East Rutherford, New Jersey Motorsport in New Jersey Recurring sporting events established in 1984 Recurring events disestablished in 1991 1984 establishments in New Jersey 1991 disestablishments in New Jersey