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GURSS: History of the Long Beach Grand Prix
Written by: Jade Gurss   
04/14/2009
Mooresville, NC
 
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo) ยป More Photos

This weekend is the 35th running of the best street race in America. The Long Beach Grand Prix began in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race designed to bring some much-needed publicity to what had been an economically challenged and non-descript city, and has set the standard for street races around the globe. The race event is marked by the arching, iconic straightaway that is Shoreline Drive, colorfully skirting the ocean with its view of many yachts and the Queen Mary.

I’m not ordinarily a fan of street races. City streets do not make great race tracks because they’re usually narrow with no elevation changes and mostly 90-degree turns which makes passing very difficult. In the previous 34 races, the Long Beach winner has started worse than seventh only four times.

But the atmosphere and the mood at Long Beach are second to none. The Toyota Celebrity race is usually fun and entertaining, while television and movie stars wander through the paddock. Its America’s version of the Monaco Grand Prix: it’s an event, a social happening and the place to be seen.

After the inaugural race, the Long Beach event became a part of the Formula One circuit in 1976, seeing legendary
names such as Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti and Gilles Villeneuve score victories. In 1984, when Formula One was deemed too expensive to return, the race became a part of the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) tour and Mario Andretti won the first Indy car race. Mario won a total of four races and four poles and is the only driver to win in both F1 and Indy cars at Long Beach.

This will be the first Long Beach event for the unified Indy Racing League, as scheduling conflicts last season meant the IRL saw Danica Patrick scored her world-shaking win in Japan while the following day, Aussie Will Power also made history with his victory in the final Champ Car race ever. Power returns as the defending champ with the powerful Team Penske, and will be the only former Long Beach winner in the starting field.

Now a team owner, Michael Andretti book-ended his Indy car driving career with his first career win in 1986, and then scored the last of his 42 victories with a win at Long Beach in 2002, while the most successful of all drivers is unquestionably Al Unser Jr., who had six victories (including four consecutive wins from 1988-91) and nine podium finishes in his 15 starts.


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