Houston Gearing up for Auto-Filled Weekend

Houston is gearing up for a weekend of automotive fun on May 11-13, 2006. The weekend will mark the return of the Grand Prix of Houston and Art Cars, mobile works of art on parade.

Paint My Ride

The world’s oldest and largest art car parade will showcase over 250 mobile works of art for more than 200,000 spectators on Saturday, May 13, beginning at 1 p.m. Everyone’s Art Car Parade features wildly decorated, one-of-a-kind vehicles of all shapes and sizes from across the U.S., winds along Allen Parkway into downtown Houston.

The diverse collection of amazing Art Cars includes:

-A fire-breathing, 112-foot, moving marvel built from recycled oil drums and equipped with a full bar
-A two-story flower pot car
-A Texas-style hybrid combing the transportation wonders of a bicycle and a canoe
-Cars covered with condiment packages, dolls, Pez candy and even Yao Ming paraphernalia
-Exquisite lowriders

The Grand Prix of Houston

The Grand Prix of Houston returns after a five-year hiatus, featuring an unprecedented combination of racing and entertainment. Held for the first time at the 345-acre Reliant Park, the Grand Prix of Houston will hold the first night race on a street course in Champ Car history.

The weekend’s events include:

-Thursday, May 11 – Practice and qualifying events are open to the public, as well as a professional boxing event produced by Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions
-Friday, May 12 – An American Le Mans Series race, featuring multi-class racing in cars such as Audis, Ferraris and Porches
-Saturday, May 13 – The three-day event culminates with a marquee race, part of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.
Never before have two world-class series like Champ Car and American Le Mans raced together on the same weekend at the same location.

In addition to the marquee racing events each evening, visitors will enjoy a festival atmosphere with live music, exhibits and sporting events.