Baltimore, MD – A heightened excitement awaits the inaugural running of the Baltimore Grand Prix.  It’s taken a few days and late nights to get the track ready that surrounds the streets of the Baltimore Inner Harbour, but the drivers still feel that the bumpiness of the street course might create a little chaos and a lot of yellow-flag cautions.

Most of the race car drivers worry that the double-file start of the race will cause the most trouble through Turn 1.  “I don’t see how we go green for two laps in a row with Turn 1 the way it is,” said Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay (who will start in the third row of the starting line-up in sixth position.  “No matter how well-behaved we go into it, you still have to get in there with all the bumps.  With these cars, the brake lock, it’s going to be tough.”

The yellow-flag concern was elevated in Sunday morning’s practice as it was cut short due to some major crashes.  GEICO-KV Racing’s Tony Kanaan dealt with some brake failure and made contact with the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske car of Helio Castroneves.  Thankfully, both drivers came out unscathed, but the crash looked scary and caused a long-stoppage to the practice session.  Immediately after the practice resumed, a multi-car accident involving three of the rookie car drivers occurred in Turn 1.

After the win at Sonoma last weekend by Verizon Team Penske’s Will Power, the Baltimore race has become crucial towards the driver’s championship.  Power, who captured the pole for today’s event trails Target Chip Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti (starting in fourth place) by 26 points.  This is a reversal from last year as it was Franchitti who trailed Power in points and caught up to Power in the final race to win the championship.  Power is a street-course specialist, so given that there are two ovals that still remain in the calendar – the pressure is on for Power to succeed.  Filling out the remaining top five on the starting line-up are Service Central’s Graham Rahal on the first row beside Power in second, Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe in third, and Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais with his best qualifying position this year will start in fifth.

Without much practice time and a lot of unfamiliarity, the Baltimore Grand Prix should result in an exciting crash-filled event for the viewers.  It remains to be seen what the driver’s thoughts are.  In a race that has the possibility of many cautions; it could be anyone’s guess who can take this ever-important inaugural event.