According to officials at Barbers, this weekend’s event is expected to bring 100,000 spectators to the park bringing along with them a possible $35 million economic impact on the area.

The City of Leeds will see a lot of action this weekend as spectators from across the globe descend on Barber Motorsports Park for the first Indy Grand Prix of Alabama event.

As Indy car racers like Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves and Will Powers prepare for the big race, city officials in Leeds are preparing to present its best face to, not only spectators, but also to possible businesses who might want to get in on the action at Exit 140 next to Barbers Motorsports Park and Bass Pro Shops.

According to officials at Barbers, this weekend’s event is expected to bring 100,000 spectators to the park bringing along with them a possible $35 million economic impact on the area.

As early as last week, officials were already reporting that all camping and RV spaces were sold out, as well as on-site parking passes.

Among those scheduled to appear during the race weekend are American Idol contestant Taylor Hicks, Randy Owen of Country supergroup Alabama, Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey, and NBA Hall-of-Famer and Leeds native Charles Barkley.

The City of Leeds has been gearing up for the big race, including cleaning the main streets leading into the downtown area.

“We have been concentrating many of our resources on Exit 140, as well as Highways 78 and 411 leading into the city. We are hopeful we can get everything done so that we can present our city in the most positive way to visitors. Local residents may have to wait a week on limb pickup, but we really want the main entrances into our city to be as attractive as possible,” said Leeds Mayor Eric Patterson.

Things get underway at Barbers on Friday morning when the gates officially open and shuttles start running at 7:30 a.m. Throughout that morning there will be a series of practice runs and qualifying races.

On Saturday, gates once again open at 7:30 with qualifying races for the Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series being held from 8:15 to 10:50 a.m. There will be autograph sessions beginning at 10 a.m. The Grand-Am: Rolex Series Race–Porsche 250 will be held from 12:30 to 3:15 p.m., followed by the Grand-Am: Continental Tire Series Race from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

On Sunday gates open at 7:30 a.m. with warm-ups for the big races being held from 8 to 9:10 a.m. There will be on-track activities from 9:15 to 11 a.m.

The Firestone Indy Lights Race will be held from noon to 1:15 p.m. followed by the big race, the IZOD IndyCar Series Race: The Indy Grand Prix of Alabama running from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

Legacy Credit Union is presenting the Indy Grand Prix.

This year’s race marks the first year of a contract that runs through the 2012 Indy season.

The Bruno Event Team and Zoom Sports are organizing the race.

The Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will be televised live April 11, Sunday afternoon starting at 2 p.m.  on the VERSUS channel.  For DISH-TV satellite subscribers, it’s on channel 151, DirecTV subscribers will find it on channel 603. Cable subscribers should check their local listings.