By MURRAY EVANS

Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Parts of downtown Oklahoma City could turn into a Grand Prix race course as soon as next summer.

The Oklahoma City council unanimously approved a proposal on Tuesday that could bring an annual American Le Mans Series Grand Prix race to the city. The council has asked City Manager Jim Couch to start negotiations with a group called Oklahoma City Grand Prix LLC, which wants to stage the event.

If an agreement is reached — and Mayor Mick Cornett and leaders of the local group are optimistic that will happen — ALMS cars could race on a planned 1.9-mile course around the city’s Bricktown district. Any potential agreement that comes from the negotiations would also have to be approved by the council.

Cornett said hosting a Grand Prix race in Oklahoma City “is a priority of mine.”

“If we can pull this off, it will be a tremendous leap forward for sports in Oklahoma City and take us a step closer to the high-profile city we seek to become,” the mayor said.

Cornett said he stumbled onto the idea by chance in 2004, when he began talking to racing enthusiasts across the U.S. about the possibility of building a multi-surface track in Oklahoma City.

That never materialized but someone suggested the Grand Prix. In 2007, Cornett attended the annual Long Beach Grand Prix in California and had a racing engineer look at Oklahoma City to determine if a similar race could be held on the city’s streets.

The idea went on the back burner for a couple of years as the city worked to lure the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder to town. But in recent months, the local organizing group approached city officials about the idea.

The group includes civic leader Mike McAuliffe, local businessman Trent Ward and Brad Lund, a longtime local sports executive best known for his work with the now-defunct Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League. Lund said Oklahoma City is ready to host a Grand Prix race, citing the city’s success in hosting events including the Women’s College World Series, Big 12 Conference and NCAA basketball tournaments and a Davis Cup tennis event.

“I said this before the Thunder came: I believe Oklahoma City is the premier special-event market in the country,” Lund said. “Our track record backs that up. ... There’s something about this market that is different than most, in that people here want you to succeed. The consumer confidence level out there is so high right now.”

Lund’s group said the event could have a direct economic impact of about $25 million.

Some council members seemed skeptical of the idea during Tuesday’s meeting. Councilman Brian Walters noted that “those kind of cars cannot run on our streets the way they are now,” while councilman Larry McAfee said his constituents “want potholes fixed, not a racetrack downtown.” Still, both voted to advance the proposal.

Cornett said part of the negotiation process will be to determine how much the event would cost the city in capital expenses, such as street repaving, bleachers, barriers and fencing. He said those costs could be recouped from money generated by the event.

“It’s fundamentally going to be a dollars-and-cents issue for the city,” Cornett said. “There will be direct revenue to offset expenses, but we’ve got to feel good that the money the city puts into it, we’ll get back.”

Lund said an agreement with the city could be reached in four to eight weeks and that the group hopes to stage an event in the summer of 2011. Cornett said a 2012 event might be more practical.

According to the ALMS Web site, the series will hold races this year in cities including Long Beach; Sebring, Fla.; Monterey, Calif.; Tooele, Utah; Lakeville, Conn.; Lexington, Ohio; Elkhart Lake, Wis.; and Braselton, Ga.

The series is in its 12th year this year and includes top drivers including Adrian Fernandez and Scott Sharp, both of whom have won on the Indy Racing League circuit.