| THE
STREETS OF LONG BEACH
Sunday,
April 19, 2015 on NBC Sports
PREVIEW:
Toyota Grand Prix weekend to feature Off-Road Trucks,
more autograph signings
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| Photo
credit: www.gplb.com |
The
stars of IndyCar will race on the Streets of
Long Beach this Sunday, April 19.
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LONG
BEACH, Calif. -- The excitement is heating up
on the Streets of Long Beach. We're just days away from
the 41st Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend. New
this year is Robby Gordon's off-road super trucks from
the desert. In addition, there will be more autograph
sessions for the fans. Robby Gordon and Bryan Herta will
be added to the Motorsports Walk of Fame this year.
The
BIG weekend features seven races--Verizon IndyCar series,
Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase Featuring the
TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, a Pro/Celebrity Race,
the KMC Wheels Super Drift Challenge, the Indy Lights
series, the Pirelli World Challenge and the new SPEED
Energy Formula Off-Road Series.
"It's
going to be another packed weekend," said Jim Michaelian,
president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long
Beach. "Three days of activities, racing, non-racing
activities, go karts, food experience, a huge lifestyle
expo--all of the things people have come to expect from
the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach over the years."
How
will this year be different from some of the past years?
"What
we've done is increased some of the activities that have
associated with the event, " he added. "We've
added Robby Gordon's Off-Road Trucks that will be racing
here on Saturday and on Sunday. That's an expansion of
what we did in the past. What we're trying to do is increase
the involvement of our fans and spectactors. We're adding
more autograph sessions, viewing of the cars that have
run here before. Some of the fans have been coming for
all of 41 years that we've been in existence."
Michaelian
says the weekend is a much-needed shot in the arm for
the Long Beach economy.
"It's
roughly about $35 million-$40 million total. Equally important,
there 's about 10 and a half hours of national and international
television coverage. It's hard to put a firm dollar value
on that. For the city to be displayed around the country
and the world in a positive light, adds to the whole economic
benefit for the city."
Can
you discuss who's going to be joining you for the pro/celebrity
race?
"We
have the typical grouping of both athletes, singers, actors/actresses,"
the president and CEO explained. "James Maslow is
going to be in the competition. We think the most important
thing is that it's an event not only attracted to our
fans, but it also contributes about $100,000 to the Racing
for Kids program. That is really a definite benefit the
both the children's hospital in Long Beach as well as
Orange County."
Mexican
rock band Molotov will perform at the Tecate Light Fiesta
Friday Concert while Vince Neil of Motley Crue will hit
the stage at the Rock-N-Roar concert on Saturday.
"If
we get weather like the Formula E weekend, we're going
to have a substantial crowd during our Grand Prix weekend,"
Michaelian said. "We're looking forward to the usual
elements of excitement, energy and hopefully, people walk
away satisfied just like at the Formula E event."
For
tickets and more information about the Toyota Grand Prix
of Long Beach, visit www.gplb.com.
Related
Story: First-Ever
FIA Formula E race coming to Long Beach on Saturday, April
4;
Nelson
Piquet Jr. wins Formula E in Long Beach; 35 years after
his father's first F1 victory
| |
|
Photo credit: Off-Road.com |
Robby Gordon's Off-Road Trucks will take on the
Streets of Long Beach
Mexican
rock band Molotov will perform at the Tecate Light Fiesta
Friday Concert
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|
Photo credit: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com |
Vince
Neil of Motley Crue will hit the stage at the Rock-N-Roar
concert on Saturday.
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