1989 United States Grand Prix

The 1989 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held in Phoenix, Arizona on June 4, 1989. It was the fifth race of the 1989 Formula One World Championship and the first United States Grand Prix to be held in Phoenix.

In October 1988, city officials of Detroit Michigan refused to invest more money to bring the Detroit circuit up to new Formula 1 regulations, and an attempt to move the circuit to a new circuit on Belle Isle, an island in the middle of the Detroit River failed . This resulted in the cancellation of the Detroit race for the 1989 season. City officials in Phoenix, Arizona, were interested in hosting major sporting event to promote the dry desert city of Phoenix worldwide. A Formula 1 race came into play after a desperate attempt by Bernie Ecclestone not to lose the United States Grand Prix. On January 13, 1989 the Phoenix City Council approved a five-year contract with F1 to promote and run the race, with event date June 4. It was well known that Phoenix weather is very warm- around the 100's F in June but no other slot was available because Phoenix got the race on a short notice. On the Thursday before qualifying, Formula Atlantic, the support category for the weekend, had the first practice session on the new track before the Formula One cars hit the circuit for pre-qualifying at 8 o'clock on Friday morning. The Atlantic session saw a couple of problems. A manhole cover was lifted and the track surface at turn 9 at the end of the back straight had begun to break up in the same way Detroit and Dallas had done in the past. Overnight, quick-dry cement was used to patch up the broken surface and while dusty and bumpy, the cement held for the remainder of the weekend.

Wikipedia