Streets of Miami

The Streets of Miami refers to several temporary street course race circuits set up in the Miami-area. Three distinct courses have been utilized over the years:

• Temporary street course in Tamiami Park (CART, 1985-1988)
• Temporary street course in Bicentennial Park, along Biscayne Boulevard (IMSA & CART, 1983-1993, 1995)
• Temporary street course in downtown. (ALMS and Champ Car, 2002-2003)

History

Modern American open wheel racing in the Miami-area dates back to 1985. In that year, the CART Champ Car series began racing on a temporary street circuit in Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of Tamiami. The served as the season finale. In 1987-1988, the short-lived CART all-star exhibition race, the Marlboro Challenge, was also held at the Tamiami circuit, in conjunction with the main event. The races did not enjoy the same interest or attendance that had been experienced by the annual IMSA races in March, which was held at a different street course in Miami. After 1988, the Tamiami Park race was discontinued. As of 2007, subtle remnants of the course are still visible.

In 1995, race promoter Ralph Sanchez brought open wheel racing back to Miami. He had already begun construction on the Homestead Motorsports Complex (now known as Homstead-Miami Speedway), where the race would be, but the track would not be completed until later in the year. For 1995 only, CART held a race on the Bicentennial Park circuirt, on Biscayne Bay, formerly used by IMSA from 1983-1993. It was, however, run in the opposite direction to prevent drivers familiar with the circuit from having an experience advantage. The course wound through roads surrounding the current site of AmericanAirlines Arena and traversed down Biscayne Boulevard. As of 2007, some of the course layout remains intact.

In 1996, CART debuted at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2001, the race switched to the Indy Racing League.

Further information: XM Satellite Radio Indy 300

For 2002-2003, CART returned to Miami for a short-lived race on a third street course downtown.

Past winners

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team
CART Champ Car history (Tamiami Park street course)
1985	November 10	Danny Sullivan	March	Cosworth	Penske Racing
1986	November 9	Danny Sullivan	Lola	Cosworth	Penske Racing
1987	October 31	Bobby Rahal	Lola	Cosworth	TrueSports
1987	November 1	Michael Andretti	March	Cosworth	Kraco Racing
1988	November 5	Michael Andretti	Lola	Cosworth	Kraco Racing
1988	November 6	Al Unser, Jr.	March	Chevrolet	Galles Racing
CART Champ Car history (Bicentennial Park street course)
1995	March 5	Jacques Villeneuve	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth	Team Green
CART Champ Car history (Downtown street course)
2002	October 6	Cristiano da Matta	Lola	Toyota	Newman/Haas Racing
2003	September 28	Mario Dominguez	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Herdez Competition

IMSA history (Bicentennial Park street course)

A current photo of Biscayne Boulevard shows subtle remnants of the Bicentennial Park circuit (left)

• 1983 Al Holbert
• 1984 Brian Redman/ Doc Bundy
• 1985 Al Holbert/ Derek Bell
• 1986 Bob Wollek/ Paolo Barilla
• 1987 Elliott Forbes-Robinson/ Geoff Brabham
• 1988 Price Cobb/ James Weaver
• 1989 Geoff Brabham/ Chip Robinson
• 1990 Geoff Brabham/ Chip Robinson/ Bob Earl
• 1991 Raul Boesel
• 1992 Geoff Brabham
• 1993 Juan Manuel Fangio II

See also

• XM Satellite Radio Indy 300