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Long Beach Grand Prix
We all know that wild scene - male celebrity gets chased by screaming women. That happened to the Beatles and Elvis Presley all the time. It happened to actor Ricky Schroder, too, except that he was a mere lad of 12 when it started. “I remember a lot of screaming teenage girls, I didn’t know what to do with them at all, except kind of run away because, gosh, I was only a little boy myself,” Schroder said, recalling his days as a star on the TV sitcom “Silver...
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Long Beach Grand Prix
While it may not receive all the attention the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Pirelli World Challenge figure to attract next week at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the International Motor Sports Association will have a competitive field for its 100-minute race on April 16. A 25-car field has been announced for the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix on the 11-turn, 1.968 mile street course. It will serve as the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and...
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Long Beach Grand Prix
LONG BEACH >> It just won’t seem appropriate to see Al Unser Jr. lose a spot on the all-time Indy car win list at the next IndyCar Series event, a race that was almost personal property for the six-time winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Thanks to his victory April 2 at the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway, Scott Dixon tied Unser for fourth on the list with 39 checkered flags. The driver of the No.9 Target Chip...
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Long Beach Grand Prix
Random thoughts about the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, wondering whatever happened to Parker Johnstone, former race car driver, musician, actor and scuba diver who finished second in the 1996 event. There is a rich racing history in Southern California, enough to provide historian Harold Osmer with so much that he wrote a very informative book, “Where They Raced,” that traces the sport in the area. If reading doesn’t interest you, he’s also...
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Long Beach Grand Prix
Schedule for the 2015 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Friday, April 15 7 a.m. Gates Open 7:40 a.m. - 9:40 a.m. IMSA Practice 8:00 a.m. Lifestyle Expo Opens 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. IndyCar Practice P1 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pro/Celebrity Practice 12:20 p.m. - 12:40 p.m. Stadium Super Trucks Practice 2:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. IndyCar Practice P2 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Pro/Celebrity Qualifying 3:45 p.m. - 4:45...
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Motorsports
LONG BEACH >> At first glance, the race car Charlie Kimball will drive in this weekend’s IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach doesn’t look any different. Neither does the 31-year-old from Camarillo, who now resides in Indianapolis. But a closer examination reveals looks can be deceiving. Kimball, who has one IndyCar Series victory to his credit in 86 starts, is a diabetic. That wasn’t discovered until 2007 in Europe and he was forced out of...
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Long Beach Grand Prix
It’s April in Long Beach, which means the city’s biggest event has arrived. The 42nd annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach runs Friday to Sunday, featuring the third round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series. The featured race is Sunday afternoon’s Verizon IndyCar Series event, which includes an international field of world-class drivers expected to include defending series champion Scott Dixon; Long Beach winners Will Power, Takuma Sato, Ryan Hunter-Reay,...
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Motorsports
NHRA drag racing took a major hit Monday when Bob Vandergriff announced his retirement from the sport and the closure of Bob Vandergriff Racing, which had fielded Top Fuel dragster entries for Dave Connolly and Leah Pritchett. Pritchett, who hails from Redlands, scored her first victory in the class this year at Phoenix, driving the Quaker State-sponsored dragster. In addition to the drivers, the move also impacts crew chiefs Jason McCulloch, Ron Douglas, Mike Guger and Joe...
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Motorsports
There isn’t a better street course race in the country than the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. There’ always plenty of action on the 1.963-mile, 11-turn circuit near the water’s edge. But not all the action is on the track: Podium regular In the last nine Long Beach races, Will Power has been a regular presence on the podium. The Team Penske driver has won twice in that period (2008, 2012), been a runner-up on two occasions (2009, 2014)...
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Motorsports
During a weekend of uncertain road conditions, Chelsea Denofa was a constant force on his way to being crowned the Formula DRIFT 2016 Round 1: Long Beach Streets Champion. Denofa’s path wasn’t an easy one as he started as the No. 14 seed after the qualifying round had to knock off the top three seeds in the competition including Frederic Aasbo the defending champion. Before Saturday’s 32-racer event, the drivers agreed to enact pre-seeding after the...
