The West Michigan Grand Prix was a weekend of professional auto racing held at the
Scott Brayton Memorial Street Circuit in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first edition was held in 1998 and the final edition in 1999. The Grand Prix was sanctioned by
SCCA Pro Racing.
History
The West Michigan Grand Prix was first announced in 1997 by SCCA Pro Racing.[1] As part of the promotion of the event three
Trans-Am Series cars raced down
Fulton Street. A
Ford Mustang Cobra,
Oldsmobile Cutlass and
Chevrolet Camaro passed Grand Rapids mayor
John H. Logie waving the green flag.
Alan Wilson designed the 13-turn track named after late
IndyCar Series driver
Scott Brayton. Brayton suffered a deadly crash during
Indy 500 practice in
1996.[2] Before the inaugural Grand Prix weekend official pre parties were held at the
Grand Rapids Art Museum and
Van Andel Museum Center. The Trans-Am Series was the headline event of both West Michigan Grand Prix editions. The first edition saw 31 Trans-Am cars take the green flag.
Bill Saunders won the race with a margin of victory of over 44 seconds. The largest field was that of the
SCCA Spec Racer Ford Pro Series in 1999. 40 cars participated in the race. The fastest overall racelap was set by
Todd Snyder in the 1999
Barber Dodge Pro Series. Snyder passed polesitter
Sepp Koster for the lead on lap 17. Koster left a gap coming out of turn one and Snyder could pass him for the lead.
Without backing from a major corporate sponsor the Grand Prix folded after 1999. Despite attracting more than 100,000 racefans both years, there were also complaints about the noise and the large number of streets that were closed.[3] The track is now home to the
Grand Cycling Classic, an event part of the
United States National Criterium Championships.