US GP event happenings

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 - The inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix will follow the tradition of the Indianapolis 500 with a number of special events taking place during the days and hours leading up to the first Formula One ...

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2000 - The inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix will follow the tradition of the Indianapolis 500 with a number of special events taking place during the days and hours leading up to the first Formula One event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Williams-BMW driver Ralf Schumacher will sign autographs beginning at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Williams-BMW tent, located on the east side of the Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum. A host of activities are scheduled for Saturday at and near the Speedway's Hall of Fame museum, which will provide ample fan-driver interaction. Drivers participating in the Porsche Pirelli Supercup events at IMS, including two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr., will participate in an autograph session Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. at the Speedway's Hall of Fame Museum. Porsche Pirelli Supercup drivers scheduled to participate include American Randy Pobst, Bernd Maylander, Sascha Maassen, points leader Patrick Huisman and others. Indianapolis radio stations WFMS-FM 95.5 and WGLD-FM 104.5 are conducting a contest where selected winners will get to meet BMW WilliamsF1 teammates Schumacher and Jenson Button at 2:20 p.m. Saturday at the Hall of Fame Museum. Each winner also will be presented a Compaq Aero handheld personal computer. Contact the stations for details. Button will sign autographs at the BMW WilliamsF1 tent on the east side of the Hall of Fame museum at 2:45 p.m., following the private meet-and-greet with the radio contest winners. Indy Racing Northern Light Series drivers are taking part in the historic SAP United States Grand Prix weekend at the Speedway, too, by conducting an autograph session in the east lot of the Hall of Fame Museum beginning at 2 p.m.

Robby McGehee, Jimmy Kite, Jeret Schroeder, Stephan Gregoire and Buddy Lazier, the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner and current Northern Light Series points leader, are scheduled to attend. Pre-race special events are scheduled to get underway at 10:15 a.m. Sunday with a Formula One driver's parade around the 2.606-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit. Former Indianapolis 500 winners also will be driven around the course. At approximately 11:45 a.m., the Purdue University All-American Marching Band will take to the main straightaway, presenting music with an American flavor. The Indianapolis Children's Choir will follow with more Americana. Legendary recording artist Aaron Neville will sing the National Anthem, followed by a flyover with military F-14 jet fighters and the invocation by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. The inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (EST).