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"The path of Grand Prix racing in America wound through raceways at Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, and finally Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. At each stop, the influence of organized crime seemed no more than a handshake away. But at Caesars the vast crime syndicate appeared deeply involved in the operations of the luxury-branded resort. The Caesars Palace Grand Prix then culminated in an unholy alliance of the world capital of gambling, shadowy figures, and the international czar of Formula One. During its four-year run of successive Formula One and CART IndyCar events, the race hosted the biggest names in motorsport--Mario Andretti, Bernie Ecclestone, Roger Penske, Chris Pook, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal and Al Unser among them. The podium celebration of the inaugural Grand Prix put the convergence of alleged organized crime influences and auto racing on public display, while the years that followed provided their own curiosities. This book traces the intertwined threads through decades of accounts, extensive interviews, and the files of the FBI"--
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
I. Neighbors Upstate: Grand Prix Racing and La Cosa Nostra Are Awakened in Upstate New York
II. Parallel Paths: The Path of Formula One in America and the Path of Caesar to Las Vegas
III. Developments and Dictators: Caesar Constructs a Palace in Las Vegas, While Formula One Constructs a Czar
IV. Traditions and Transitions: Watkins Glen Faces New Challenges and the Empire Has a New Caesar
V. Crossed Paths: Long Beach Launches a Formula One Foray, While the Centurions of Caesar Launch a Foray to Long Beach
VI. Entanglement and Exaction: The Intertwined Formula One Fortunes of Watkins Glen, Long Beach and Las Vegas
Between pages 178 and 179 are 24 color plates containing 34 photographs
VII. Rumors and Rackets: The Emergence of the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, the Exposure of the Emperor
VIII. Trumpets and Tribunals: The Caesars Palace Grand Prix That Wasn't, the Final U.S. Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, the Many Stains Upon Caesar
IX. Course of Events: The Inaugural Caesars Palace Grand Prix, the End of the Emperor's Reign
X. Continuum and Controversy: The 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix, the Arrest of Caesars' Centurion, the Departure of Formula One from Las Vegas
XI. Running in Circles: The Caesars Palace Grand Prix III Goes IndyCar, the Departure of Meyer Lansky, the Reemergence of the Emperor
XII. Requiem and Reprise: The Final Caesars Palace Grand Prix and the Many Returns of Bernie Ecclestone
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Randall Cannon is a freelance writer and lifelong motorsports enthusiast.
Summary
The Caesars Palace Grand Prix was an unholy alliance of the world capital of gambling, the mob and the international czar of Formula One. This book traces these intertwined threads through decades of accounts, extensive interviews, and the files of the FBI.
