This is not a surprise, given everything that's going on these days. Roger Penske, who leads the Detroit Grand Prix event (scheduled for Sept. 4-6) as chairman of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, informed the Indy Racing League and American Le Mans Series that the event will not be held in 2009.
"Obviously, it's something we're disappointed in, but as good businessmen we've got to make a call," Penske told AutoWeek. "We have the assets to continue on, but there's no reason at this point to have an event that wouldn't be first-class.
"This is a real economic time of distress for everyone and we couldn't sit here and count on a lot of things happening that we know weren't going to happen, especially knowing we live in such a distressed area with unemployment and all the other things going on. We had to make the decision."
Here's Inside Line's take: Detroit Grand Prix Called Off
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