Gentlemen (and ladies), start your engines!

 By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

On Thursday evening, downtown Lockhart will begin its annual transformation into a state-of-the-art racing track, in preparation for the third annual Texas Lone Star Grand Prix.

Growing in popularity, both locally and across the world, the LSGP will host more than 200 drivers, from elementary school child

ren to seasoned adult professionals, in a family-friendly, three-day racing event the likes of which only the Barbecue Capitol of Texas can provide.

Lockhart residents will start to see the changes on Friday afternoon, as fences and barricades are staged for construction of the track. However, traffic flow and parking will not be impeded until 6 p.m. on Friday evening, when all street parking on the Square and in the impacted areas will be closed.

City officials said the track will be broken down on Sunday evening, and all traffic and parking will return to normal by 6 a.m. on Monday.

Area businesses and residents should have already received information about the street and lot closures, including, but not limited to, parking permits for their vehicles for the weekend of the race.

Most of Friday’s activities related to the race will involve setup and move-in, as racers from across the world descend on Lockhart to register for the race and set up their pit areas.

The real action begins on Saturday morning, karts will begin zipping around the Square at 8 a.m. racing practice. Heats will continue throughout the day, with qualifying races continuing until 4:30 p.m.

Saturday evening, local favorites Old Grey Mule and Curtis Clay will host a street dance, beginning at 7 p.m.

Sunday morning’s main event begins with practice at 8 a.m. Clay will perform the National Anthem during Sunday’s opening ceremonies, and the championship racing event will go on from noon – 3 p.m.

San Antonio teen Harry Gottsacker, the featured driver on the cover of this year’s Texas Lone Star Grand Prix Race and Visitors’ Guide, is looking forward to bringing the Gold back to San Antonio this year, after a crash in last year’s main race.

“”I love this race; it’s close to home so a lot of my friends and family get to come out and watch me race,” he said. “It’s also one of the two street races I get to drive in all year, every other race is on a race track so the fact that this is a street race makes it that much more fun.”

The Texas Lone Star Grand Prix is also a race that’s close to Gottsacker’s heart – he made his large-scale racing debut in Lockhart last year.

The Texas Lone Star Grand Prix is a go kart race that is an 11-turn, 7 /10-mile course in the heart of the Lockhart downtown district around the historic Caldwell County Courthouse Square.

For the most comprehensive one-stop shop for information on this year’s Texas Lone Star Grand Prix, see the very special guide inside today’s Post-Register.