AVONDALE, La. - IndyCar racing officials expressed confidence on Monday that the NOLA Motorsports Park will be able to complete more $4.5 million in improvements needed to host the proposed Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana in suburban New Orleans next year. "IndyCar is on the rise and we are determined to be in great markets in this country and eventually throughout the world," IndyCar chief Mark Miles said in an announcement at the track on Monday. "We have no doubt this will be one of the great venues for Indy Car racing in very little time." Gov. Bobby Jindal, joined by officials from the track and Andretti Sports Marketing, said the race is expected to be locked into the IndyCar schedule for "at least three years, though the goal is to make this a permanent event." Ongoing negotiations include scheduling a weekend for the event, which would also affect the timeline for track improvements that Miles said are needed for "safety, fan enjoyment and quality of racing." Jindal will need state Legislative approval for $4.5 million, which will be combined with private money to make improvements, including pit area, straight away and perimeter fencing enhancements. Organizers estimated as many as 80,000 spectators attending over the three-day event, which is slated to include a "racing festival" including live music and other entertainment. "This is great news for Jefferson Parish and our entire state," Jindal said. "This three-day event would allow us to show off the excitement of an IndyCar race right here in Louisiana, as well as our states culture, entertainment and food. This event will be a great economic driver." The NOLA Motorsports Park, a private, $60 million facility about 14 miles southwest of downtown New Orleans, features a 2.75-mile road course that has already hosted AMA motorcycle racing and developmental levels of open-wheel auto racing including the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 series. The track is owned by Dr. Laney Chouest, whose family founded and operates Edison Chouest Offshore, reputedly one of the worlds leading builders and operators of sea vessels specially designed to service the offshore oil and gas industries. "We wouldnt be here without the vision of Dr. Laney Chouest," Jindal said. "Hes built this beautiful facility as a labour of love and today were seeing one of the benefits to the state." Chouest thanked Jindal for supporting a "public-private partnership that will leverage the significant private investment we made into this facility." Organizers were confident enough in the events success that they launched an Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana website, indynola.com, which referred to the event as, "Inevitable." "Im really pleased to see IndyCar preparing to bring a race to NOLA," said former racer Michael Andretti, CEO of Andretti Sports Marketing. "New Orleans is a great market to grow the sport and Im excited to have Andretti Sports Marketing involved with the operations and promotion of the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana." IndyCar, which includes the Indianapolis 500 as its marquee event, is the premier American-based open-wheel racing series. Currently, the series drivers include Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon, who are former Indy 500 winners, as well as Marco Andretti, the grandson of former racing great Mario Andretti, and Graham Rahal, son of 1986 Indy winner Bobby Rahal. AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report Paul Kariya Jersey . None of them was better than playing with LeBron James again. Dennis Rasmussen Jersey . Nathan Beaulieu, Tomas Jurco, Danick Gauthier and Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist each as the Sea Dogs extended the longest streak in the Canadian Hockey League this season. http://www.officialduckshockeyauthentic ... ll-jersey/. Josh Mazzola drove in five runs to lead the Goldeyes (20-12) past the Capitales 11-5 Friday night at Le Stade Municipal in Quebec City. Jean-Sebastien Giguere Jersey ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. Max Jones Jersey . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. Stuck in a rut since coming off the disabled list, Chavez hit the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning for a run-scoring single, sending the Diamondbacks to another walk-off victory, 4-3 over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - As it turns out, Petra Kvitova isnt the only Czech stud on the womens tour. Enter big-serving Karolina Pliskova. Both the two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova (4th) and Lucie Safarova (16th) are two Czech women who are currently ranked higher than Pliskova, with Safarova as one who will need to watch out. The Louny, Czech Republic, native Pliskova is a 22-year-old riser who quietly reached five, count em five, WTA finals in 2014. She reached her first final of the year (and second of her career) in Pattaya City, Thailand. And en route to her second final of 14, in Nurnberg, Germany, Pliskova notched a career-best victory over world No. 9 German star Angelique Kerber. But her season really took off during the fall Asian swing, highlighted by a runner-up finish in Hong Kong (where she topped another rising star, Monica Puig, in the second round) and satisfying championships in Seoul, Korea, and in Linz, Austria (which, of course, is not in Asia). Pliskova was actually match point down before fighting back to beat Italys Camila Giorgi in the Linz final. And her big win in that marathon match marked her 16th victory in 19 tries. She was hot. Pliskova is also a 10-time champion at the ITF level (the next tour down) and was the 2010 girls champ at the Aussie Open. She can play. Pliskova also enjoyed some Grand Slam success thiss year, as her victory over another world No.dddddddddddd 9, and former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, at the U.S. Open not only matched her career-best victory, but moved her into the third round of a major for the first time in her blossoming career. She captured at least one match win at all four of the Slams this year and went 5-4 at those biggest of tourneys. After appearing as an alternate at the WTA Tournament of Champions in Sofia, Bulgaria, in October, Pliskova finished a year-end/career-best No. 23, or 44 places better than where she started 2014. There are always things to improve, she said. My movement isnt that great. And my serve can be up and down sometimes, so well have to practice that a little bit more. Ill have to do some strength conditioning and running, too. Im looking forward to it. You might say that the tattooed one is being hard on herself regarding work on her serve, considering she fired 435 aces, which trailed only Serena Williams (452) on tour this year. Pliskova has some tribal pattern tattoos on her left arm and thigh, not something you see very often on the womens tour. The Top 20 would appear to be a certain landing spot for the 6-foot-1 slugger, whose lefty twin sister Kristyna also plays on the WTA circuit. Karolina Pliskova will crank it back up, like everyone else, in a few weeks. Expect her to continue her climb then. Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 ' ' '