Petit Le Mans economic impact growing

BRASELTON - Road Atlanta's annual sports car endurance race is expected to draw at least 150,000 people over the course of the four-day event.<br /> <br /> That's according to Stacey Dickson, President of the Lake Lanier Convention & Visitors Bureau. She said the Petit Le Mans dollar impact has grown tremendously since its 1998 inception.<br /> <br /> "Conservatively, the direct spending of visitors, this is folks coming to the race, the race teams themselves, the cash that they spend at hotels, restaurants and retailers is a minimum of 15 to 20 million dollars," Dickson said.<br /> <br /> As far as where that money is spent, Dickson said hotels inside a concentric circle from the race track to Buckhead reap the rewards. She said hotels begin booking rooms for the next Petit as soon as two weeks after the current race.<br /> <br /> Dickson said most of the direct economic impact in restaurant visitors, gasoline purchases and retail sales centers in Hall, Jackson and north Gwinnett counties.<br /> <br /> Based on 2005 research, Dickson estimates the event's total economic impact at over $60 million.<br /> <br /> Dickson said this year's event marks the first Petit Le Mans reflecting the merger of Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series. She said that translates into a bigger race.<br /> <br /> "We have the largest field of racing teams ever for Petit, over 50 different teams competing in four classes of racing."<br /> <br /> She said it includes teams from over 25 countries and 18 U.S. states. About a dozen of those teams are from Georgia, according to Dickson.<br /> <br /> While the weekend may mean a longer restaurant wait for local residents, Dickson said it's much bigger than that.<br /> <br /> "If we back up and look at the global impact of an international racing event of this caliber, it really puts Hall County on the map globally," Dickson said.<br /> <br /> As far as the size and scope of the Petit, Dickson said it's second only to the draw of Lake Lanier over the summer months.<br /> <br /> "Of course, as far as spectators concentrated in one place for a short amount of time, definitely Petit Le Mans is the largest event we have all year."<br /> <br /> The weekend caps off with the main race for the Tudor Championship Saturday.

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