Grand Prix Simulator Builds Excitement For Labor Day Race

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- As excitement builds for the Baltimore Grand Prix just about a week away, people got to try out their own racing skills behind the wheel at the Inner Harbor.

Monqiue Griego was there as people hit the cyber track.

Indy car racing is here. Well, sort of, but on a much different scale.

"It was a little harder than I thought, so I need to take it easy," said Connor Marti.

The Baltimore Grand Prix gave people a taste of the big race Thursday in Harbor East with a real Indy car and simulation game.

"It was nice instead of sitting at home using a controller. Having an actual car," Brittnay Harvey said.

The simulator car is a replica of the one Danica Patrick will be driving in the Labor Day race.

"[They] won't actually let us have her actual car to bring out here today," Grant Richey, Indy Race Experience, said.

John Larocca took the car for a test drive, but didn't fare so well behind the wheel.

"It's the first time I've actually publicly humiliated myself in a car so yes, I will remember that forever," Larocca said.

He can't imagine racing through the streets of Baltimore at nearly 200 miles an hour.

"I have a lot of respect now for the guys that actually do it," Larocca said.

A race car in the harbor only accelerated the Indy buzz already brewing downtown.

"I get people coming in from all around the world asking, 'What are the bleachers for, what are the walls for?'" said Jim Hartnett, who manages UNO's Chicago Grill at the Inner Harbor.

He says local businesses are banking on the race driving in big bucks.

"We're bringing extra people in, we're having specials for everybody, staffing up the bar," Hartnett said.

But until the real drivers hit the track, this simulation seemed to give people something to look forward to.

Tickets are still available for the Baltimore Grand Prix Labor Day weekend.

Click here to go to the Baltimore Grand Prix website. A final schedule of all the activities and races that weekend is also up, plus all your traffic and parking information.