Businesses rally against 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix

A group of Las Vegas business owners is pushing back against plans for the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, citing significant financial losses and traffic disruptions from the previous year's event. A petition launched by the group, headed by six business owners, aims to halt the upcoming race until concerns stemming from the 2023 race are adequately addressed.

The petition, titled "Stop the Las Vegas Grand Prix," was initiated earlier this month and calls on Clark County Commissioners to deny the special use permit required for this year's race. The business owners, who claim losses totaling $30 million due to road closures and race-related activities, are demanding reimbursement and seeking remedies for traffic congestion issues.

Gino Ferraro, owner of Ferraro’s Ristorante, emphasized the lack of engagement from Formula One (F1) organizers regarding the impacts of the race on local businesses. Despite ongoing preparations for the 2024 event, Ferraro insists that the concerns of affected businesses cannot be ignored.

“To date, F1 has not held a public meeting or even sat in a room with all of us together who lost millions in 2023. F1 is selling tickets and moving ahead as if these issues do not exist, as if we do not exist. My family restaurant has been here for 39 years, we matter,” Ferraro said.

The petition has garnered over 700 signatures, with supporters primarily hailing from the 89121, 89122, and 89148 ZIP codes in the Las Vegas area. Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, the organizer of the petition, expressed the hope that the growing momentum would prompt county officials to hold a public meeting to address the grievances of business owners and residents.

Multiple business owners who said they were affected financially by the 2023 race have spoken during public comment portions of previous county commission meetings. While legal action against F1 and grand prix officials remains a possibility, Mayo-DeRiso emphasized the desire to explore all administrative avenues before pursuing litigation in conversation with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Randy Markin, owner of Battista’s restaurant and Stage Door Casino, voiced his opposition to the race during a March county commission meeting. “We know many more people were negatively impacted by the F1 race in 2023. Uber drivers, casino employees and other business owners up and down the Las Vegas Strip were negatively impacted,” Markin said in a statement.

Grand Prix officials this year said they plan to cut the traffic impacts tied to race setup and tear down this year to three months, compared with nine months last year. A full repaving operation, the cause of most traffic-related issues along the 3.8-mile course in 2023, is not needed again for at least six years, Terry Miller, whose Miller Project Management oversaw the infrastructure work, previously said.