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The 38th annual St. Louis
Grand Prix Powerboat Race may not make it to the finish line.
St.
Louis, MO May 13, 2009
As they say, “
all good things must come to an end”, and unfortunately for the St.
Louis Grand Prix Powerboat races, the end may be near.
This historic
boat race, the oldest and longest running watercraft race in the
WORLD, has been organized by the Concord Village Lions Club for the
past 37 years. It was held at George Winter Park in Fenton from
1972 to 1999, and then moved to Creve Coeur Lake in 2000.
It took several
years to re-build the event at Creve Coeur Lake; however, the 2008
event had record crowds, and was the most profitable race in the
past 12 years. All of those proceeds make their way back to the St.
Louis community by way of donations to numerous charities including
The Assistance League, Camp Happy Day, Missouri School for the
Blind, American Diabetes Association, St. Anthony’s Medical Center,
and many more.
Missouri Sports
Hall of Fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America member, Bill
Seebold, brought the idea of the race to the Concord Village Lions
Club, which he is a member, in 1971. At that time, Bill was
travelling the world driving for Mercury Marine. In 1980, Bill
Seebold and subsequently the St. Louis Grand Prix, earned a
Sponsorship package from Anheuser-Busch. Mr. Seebold’s sponsorship,
as well as the race sponsorship from Anheuser-Busch – Bud Light,
ended in late November of 2008 after the AB-InBev merger.
Since December,
Bill Seebold, and race Co-Chairman, Bill Mueller, have been trying
to solidify sponsorship for the 38th annual St. Louis
Grand Prix. Bill Seebold said, “ It is a shame to see such a
wonderful event come to an end. It has been a fixture in St. Louis
County for 37 years, and one of only a few National events held in
the county. We bring in race teams from all over the world, and
race fans travel to the area from Texas, Nebraska, Indiana, and
several other states to watch this race. It has become known as ‘The
Indy 500’ of boat racing.”
Co-chairman, and
Concord Village Lions Club President, Bill Mueller, added, “The St.
Louis Grand Prix has had two of its best years in 2007 & 2008. We
were able to get additional support from The Professional Fire
Fighters of Eastern Missouri, IAFF Local 2665. They helped us with
concessions, and ticket and ad sales. We have had the support of
numerous local companies, and we sold a record 29 Corporate/VIP
tents last year. This is a great, affordable family event, $15 gets
adults in for both Saturday and Sunday, and kids under 12 get in for
free, and it is only $5 to park. We have had a petting zoo, games,
and a Fire Equipment display for the kids, a lively Beer Garden with
music for the adults, something for everyone. The past few years we
had a Million Dollar offshore racing boat run some laps around Creve
Coeur Lake, which the fans loved.”
The operating
budget for the event is close to $150,000, and if it wasn’t for
donated labor and equipment, it would easily be over $200,000 to run
the event. F1Champboat,
www.champboat.com is the sanctioning series, which is
celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Bill Seebold
remarked, “We need at least $35,000 more in sponsorship in order to
have the race. Ideally, we would like to get $50,000 more in
sponsorship, but we can have the race with another $35,000, we just
may have to cutback in some areas.”
The Concord
Village Lions Club has roughly two weeks left to make a final
decision. They have to commit to the F1Champboat Series by June 1st,
as the tentative race dates for St. Louis are August 1st
& 2nd.
“I have been
involved with boats and racing my entire life. My sons Michael and
Tim have been involved with it since they could crawl, and together
we have been through lots of ups and downs. But I am a competitor,
and I am doing whatever I can to save the St. Louis Race, and
hopefully with the support of the Concord Village Lions Club, and
the IAFF Local 2665, we can pull it off,” stated Bill Seebold.
For more
information:
www.stlgrandprix.net
Bill Seebold
Bill Mueller
Co-Chairman Co-Chairman
314-616-4589 314-542-6133
bseebold7@sbcglobal.net
tgg@sbcglobal.net
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