Later today, following the Board of Estimates’ approval of the latest Grand Prix contract, expect to hear plenty of high hopes expressed by the new event promoters, Race On and Andretti Sports Marketing.

The hoopla at a carefully choreographed press conference will try to mask what is apparent to anyone who has read the contract and checked into the new promoters: Baltimore is speeding toward a race – just 109 days away – with untested investors and an untried marketing plan.

The city probably won’t lose much money, at least in the short run. The contract calls for $350,000 upfront by the promoters, or about 45% of the projected $800,000 in direct municipal costs for the Labor Day weekend event.

That’s about the same terms as with Downforce Racing, whose deal to run the race for the city was terminated last week due to material breaches of its contract.

The issue is more about the quality and sustainability of the Grand Prix, which has experienced its third set of promoters in six months.

Given the risks and complexity of running the race, a yellow flag should be waved at the latest team.

Not Many Laps Around the Track

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and her advisors have combined two rookie investors with a group of slick marketers beholden more to interests in Indianapolis and Toronto than Baltimore.

Race On LLC, which will be signing a five-year contract with the city today, consists of James P. Grant and Gregory M. O’Neill.

Grant finances municipal lease contracts in Baltimore and elsewhere (he also happens to be mayor’s biggest campaign contributor), while Gregory K. O’Neill is a local demolition contractor whose youthful bid to be a race driver ended when he broke his back in a Sprint Car accident.

While the contract to run the Grand Prix through September 2016 is with Race On, the mayor’s office announced that all of the event’s preparations, operations, promotion and marketing will be handled by Andretti Sports Marketing.

Former racing star Michael Andretti lends his name to the company, which is described as a collaboration with IndyCar Team Andretti Autosports of Indianapolis and MDC Partners, a Toronto  company involved in sports marketing and advertising.

Andretti Marketing describes its particular skillset as “managing turn-key marketing solutions for its professional sports marketing clients,” while MDC serves “to provide a seamless North American activation footprint” (whatever that means) through such entities as TEAM Enterprises and BOOM! Marketing.

Bottom line: Andretti’s group hasn’t done many laps around the track.

Baltimore will be the company’s second attempt at promoting a race, the first being the Milwaukee IndyFest to be staged next month.

In an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal, group president John Lopes somewhat fudges the record by including a former company, Andretti Green Racing, to prop up the team’s credentials as a savior of floundering auto races.

Lopez says Andretti has “parachuted in” to take charge of races at St. Petersburg and Toronto. Maybe that’s why former AirTran Airways executive Kevin Healy has been appointed as Andretti’s managing director of the Baltimore Grand Prix.

But Healy won’t be descending into Baltimore for awhile. As the managing director of Milwaukee IndyFest, he’ll be occupied with that race until June 16. That leaves him 78 days to prepare for the Baltimore event.

Lopes also acknowledged that the chances that Andretti Sports will snag a title sponsor at Baltimore this year “are not high,” but insists that a big sponsor is not necessary for the event to be successful because the group “hopes” to attract a slew of lower-level sponsorships.

Tell that to the first racing promoter, Baltimore Racing Development. The group often cited the lack of a title sponsor last year as crucial to its financial collapse and failure to pay $12 million to vendors and creditors, including $1.7 million to the city.

Financial Resources Unknown

Which brings up the question of how much Grant and O’Neill are willing to invest in the Grand Prix between now and the end of their contract in 2016 – and how much Race On LLC has in cold cash and other assets.

Race On did not present a written proposal or marketing plan to Rawlings-Blake or her staff, or at least not one that’s been publicly disclosed.

Nor has the mayor insisted that the group disclose its financial resources – not even, apparently, to the other members of the Board of Estimates who will be asked to approve the contract at today’s meeting.

Instead of public disclosure, Race On has huddled with a city official – Finance Director Harry E. Black, who is not a member of the Board of Estimates – over its finances.

According to the contract, Race On has “provided documentation acceptable to the City’s Director of Finance (or his designee)” that they have “access to sufficient funds . . . to address the financing needs of the 2012 Race.”

That’s the guarantee – plus the vague assurance that “the Key Participants have substantial financial resources” and “unencumbered assets.”

We asked Black yesterday to provide the financial documentation that Race On had given his office. He has not yet responded.

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UPDATE, May 18: We received the following statement from Harry Black’s office:

“The Department of Finance has determined that Race On LLC has demonstrated compliance with Article II (2.1.1) of the Development Agreement. The Department interviewed the corporation members, reviewed the financial records of the corporation and other materials as required under Article II. Following the Department’s review, and due to the proprietary nature of the information provided, the documents were returned to the corporation.”