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TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
Long Beach, California
CART's Team Kool
Green refuels driver Paul Tracy in hot pit stop action.
•
Long
Beach 2002
•
Long
Beach 2003
• 2004 Grand Prix, April
16-18
• Roar in the Shore, April 10. Belmont Shore Street Festival featuring
v\intage cars, Buy tickets for food & drinks from area restaurants,
llive music. Free. 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Thursday night (April 15) Thunder on Pine Ave. Street Festival
• Fiesta Friday Featuring Latin Cross-Over Band
• Free concert Saturday featuing the Miss Grid Girl pagent
We're never ones to pass up a good party.
Each April, we are rewarded with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach,
the perfect combination of major sporting event and giant outdoor cocktail
party.
 The
Grand Prix is the unofficial beginning of Springtime in Southern California,
and more than 200,000 people rip through the turnstiles for three days
of speed and socializing.
There are stars in the crowd – celebrities from Hollywood, famous
sports figures and rock band members – and on the track. Alex Zanardi,
Michael Andretti, Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan,
Bobby Rahal, Adrian Fernandez and Helio Castroneves (who climbed a fence
to celebrate with sun-soaked fans after winning in 2000) are among the
past participants as part of the featured CART series. It is truly the
Grand Prix of Monaco of the United States.
 There
is also a Pro/Celebrity race which has Captain Kirk, Donny Osmond and
Cameron Diaz driving against other actors, actresses and athletes. Captain
Kirk found it an adventure that was more difficult than guiding the
Enterprise to bold new worlds.
The party starts each afternoon as hundreds of race fans get fueled
up on the type of "methanol" served at The Yard House, a harborside
indoor/outdoor bar.
At the track, fans congregate at the "Unofficial Gathering Spot,"
the King Taco at the entrance to the CART paddock. From there, they
can go to the convention center for the expo and bar, the souvenir stands
and around the Hyatt to peer into the Pro/Celebrity compound. Along
the way is a busy bar at the Hyatt. For the 30th anniversary in 2004,
expect the newly-opened restaurants at Pike at Rainbow Harbor right
along the course to be jammed (we're predicting the bar at Bubba Gump
shrimp followed by Jax's to be jockeying for the pole position).s
For those with seats (General Admission tickets are not reserved seats),
a favorite spot is in sections 27 and 28, from where they can holler
across the track to harass long-time PA announcer Bruce Flanders.
At the end of the day is a free concert at the Performing Arts Center
by bands such as Third Eye Blind. At night, people pour onto Pine Ave.,
for dinner and more drinks.
Talk about a party!
PubClubbers enjoyed
the racing and The Yard House (top, bottom).
Discussing the day
at the Oyster Bar, one of the many spots on Pine Ave.
Cars scream past
fans down Shoreline Drive at more than 190 mph.
The Bartender with
KTLA TV-5 sports anchor Claudia Trejos in Victory Circle...
...and much later
celebrating the end of the weekend with friends in the Cohiba Club.
 PubClub
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