Tamiami Park is a public urban park

Urban park

An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...

 in metropolitan

Miami-Dade County, Florida

Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...

 Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus

University Park, Florida

According to the census of 2000, there were 26,538 people, 8,646 households, and 6,501 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 6,535.1 people per square mile . There were 9,047 housing units at an average density of 2,227.9/sq mi...

 of Florida International University

Florida International University

Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...

.

Background

The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former Tamiami Airport, which was rebuilt as a larger airport south in Kendall

Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport

Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport is a public airport located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, 13 miles southwest of Downtown Miami....

. Growth of the surrounding area and the nearby flight path for Miami International Airport

Miami International Airport

Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...

 forced the relocation of the municipal airport.

A 1.784 miles (2.9 km) road racing circuit was set up on the park roads from 1985 until 1988. The circuit hosted four CART IndyCar World Series

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 events, named the Miami Indy Challenge

Miami Indy Challenge

The Miami Indy Challenge was a CART Champ Car race held at Tamiami Park, a small outdoor sports facility in the nearby suburb of University Park. Modern American open wheel racing in Miami, Florida, initially lasted only from 1985 until 1988...

, and two editions of the Marlboro Challenge

Marlboro Challenge

The Marlboro Challenge was an all-star CART series race held from 1987-1992, sponsored by cigarrette brand Marlboro. After 1992, the race was discontinued, in part because the Phillip Morris reorganized its race sponsorship after the Marlboro Grand Prix of New York fell through...

 all-star race. The Fair Expo Center, site of the Miami-Dade County Fair, is located on the eastern side of the park. Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 held an open-air mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

 for 150,000 people in November 1987. Tamiami Field stadium was located in the park until 1995, when FIU Stadium

FIU Stadium

FIU Stadium, popularly known as "The Cage", is the on-campus American football stadium of Florida International University in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the home field of the FIU Golden Panthers football team. The stadium opened in 1995, replacing nearby Tamiami Field, which was used for...

 was built on the south end of the campus. The Miami Toros

Miami Toros

The Miami Gatos were a soccer team based out of Miami that played in the North American Soccer League. The club was previously known as the Washington Darts. After the 1972 season, the team was renamed the Miami Toros...

 of the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 played there during the 1976 season.

Race results

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team
1985	November 10	Danny Sullivan Danny Sullivan Daniel John "Danny" Sullivan III is a former racing driver from the United States. He is best known for winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500.-Before racing:...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
1986	November 9	Al Unser, Jr. Al Unser, Jr. Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...	Lola	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Shierson Racing
1987	October 31	Bobby Rahal Bobby Rahal Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...	Lola	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	TrueSports Truesports Truesports was an automobile racing team founded by Jim Trueman based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team is best known for winning the 1986 Indianapolis 500 and back-to-back CART championships in 1986 and 1987....
1987	November 1	Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti is a retired American CART and Formula One driver and owner of the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Series. Andretti is the son of Mario Andretti. His son is Marco Andretti.-Early career:...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Kraco Racing
1988	November 5	Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti is a retired American CART and Formula One driver and owner of the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Series. Andretti is the son of Mario Andretti. His son is Marco Andretti.-Early career:...	Lola	Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Kraco Racing
1988	November 6	Al Unser, Jr. Al Unser, Jr. Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...	March March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...	Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...	Galles Racing Galles Racing Galles Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Rick Galles that competed in the CART series, Can-Am and Indy Racing League, winning the 1990 CART Championship and 1992 Indianapolis 500 with driver Al Unser, Jr..-Early years:...

Marlboro Challenge non-points all-star event

External links

• Tamiami Park