Despite City Council's 'No' on Grand Prix, Some Still Hope for Green Light

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Council has voted not to bring the Grand Prix race to downtown, but those working to bring the Grand Prix to Oklahoma City have not yet given up hope.

Council members rejected the race by a 6-2 vote Tuesday morning.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett had hoped to bring the Grand Prix to downtown by 2012, but he realized convincing the city council to support the idea would be difficult.

"Not everyone is going to be convinced on day one that this is a good idea," said Cornett. "I've had a lot of time to think it through and it's going to take some time for some people to become comfortable with it."

The lead men of the Oklahoma City Grand Prix, Trent Ward and Brad Lund, said they were surprised by the council's vote Tuesday.

"What occurred this morning at city hall is without question a low point in my professional career. A stunner. A shocker. We did not see this coming," Lund said.

Council members told Ward and Lund they supported the idea, but they can't fork over the $7 million needed to bring the event to the city, at least not now.

"We felt like the reward on this far, far outweighed what the risk was," Ward said.

The idea of thousands of race fans descending on downtown next July 4 wasn't enough to sway the financially cautious council.

"I will never throw in the towel," Lund said.

Ward and Lund said they have other options but wouldn't say what those options were.

"We're optimistic, yet realistic at the same time in that this was a major blow to us. We're doing everything possible and we'll exhaust all our energy through all our options before we say we're done," Ward said.

Read more about this story on OKBlitz.com.