Fun Times Through the Years at The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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Every April, the streets of Long Beach, California, are turned into a race track for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, an IndyCar race, but there are other races throughout the weekend: the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race (this is the 40th and final year), IMSA, Pirelli World Challenge, Stadium Super Trucks and Super Drift races.

We are heading to the track today, and I found some old photos of previous weekends at the race. Fridays are less crowded, with open seating, and the ability to walk around some of the pits and take part in an autograph session with the drivers.

On Saturday there is World Challenge and Indy Car practice, the Pro/Celebrity race, Stadium Super Trucks race, IndyCar qualifying and the IMSA race. In addition to the IndyCar race on Sunday there is the Pirelli World Challenge race, Mothers Exotic Car Parade, and the Stadium Super Trucks race.

Throughout the weekend, the Long Beach Convention Center is open with pit areas for some of the support races, cars and automotive displays. There is a lot to see, and with bright sunny days in the forecast, it will be a beautiful weekend for racing!

Here are some of my photos from previous race weekends.

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K-PAX car in the Convention Center, 2014

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Nissan GTR in the Convention Center, 2014

 

Racing Ford GT and a Corvette, 2008 (If only that guy was sitting!)

Racing Ford GT and a Corvette, 2008 (If only that guy was sitting!)

Autograph session in 2012 with Corvette Racing's xxx, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen

Autograph session in 2012 with Corvette Racing’s Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen

Flying Lizard Motorsports Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, 2012

Flying Lizard Motorsports Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, 2012

The Wayne Taylor Racing car in 2014

The Wayne Taylor Racing car in 2014

Lots of skid marks on the streets of Long Beach, 2008

Lots of skid marks on the streets of Long Beach, 2008

Walking around, you can see the cars being worked on before the races - here Flying Lizard Motorsports in 2008

Walking around, you can see the cars being worked on before the races – here Flying Lizard Motorsports in 2008

There are screens throughout the course - here during the Indy Race in 2012

There are screens throughout the course – here during the Indy Race in 2012

Corvette Racing's Oliver Gavin and crew members by the car in 2008

Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin and crew members by the car in 2008

Racing in 2011

Racing in 2011

Indy Car race in 2011

Indy Car race in 2011

Indy Car race 2011

Indy Car race 2011

Indy Car race 2011

Indy Car race 2011

Have you ever been to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach or another IndyCar race? Let me know in the comments below.

South Bay Scenes – Week of November 1, 2015

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Sunday afternoon, while walking the dogs to the Redondo Beach dog park, it was very windy, and then it started raining and dark clouds loomed overhead. We kept walking and the strong winds seemed to push the storm to the east and suddenly as we reached a high point on the street I saw a rainbow and then a double rainbow! Everyone at the dog park was taking photos of the rainbows. SBS Nov 2 2015 2

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Nov. 3, 2015

More crazy storms in the late afternoon. You can see the dark clouds looming at sunset.

I saw this pretty butterfly sitting on our bougainvillea.

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We finally experienced some fall temperatures – or LA’s version of fall temperatures – and bright, clear skies.

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Saturday night, after I walked the dogs, I saw this bright blue-ish light in the sky. At first I thought it was the moon behind clouds but there weren’t any clouds in the sky. It was so odd, that I went inside to get my phone to take a picture. It doesn’t look like much, but apparently it caused a bit of panic and lots of social media postings.

Apparently the Navy test launched a trident missile from a submarine off the coast. News reports earlier in the week reported that the flight patterns in and out of LAX would be changed for “military operations,” but I didn’t put two and two together when I saw this light burst. There are better pictures of the sky on KTLA‘s site and more information on the launch via The Los Angeles Times.

SBS Nov 7 2015