Acura Long Beach Grand Prix Media Day

Photo by Brandon Bashir / fi360 News

Long Beach, CA – The Acura Long Beach Grand Prix hosted a media day on Tuesday as press members enjoyed pace car rides, drifting rides, and IndyCar rides from professional drivers around the track to preview the three-day race weekend event that is scheduled on April 8-10 in downtown Long Beach.

“The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is now in its 47th edition and it’s a weekend of entertainment and fun,” said President of the Grand Prix of Long Beach Jim Michaelian. “There’s always something we hope they’ll find attractive and that’s the reason why we’ve been so successful for all of these years.”

Photo by Brandon Bashir / fi360 News

Professional drivers such as NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Colton Herta and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driver Ryan Eversley were in attendance giving rides around the speedway.

Eversley has been racing for 22 years and this is his eight time on the Grand Prix.

“For me racing in front of a crowd this big is absolutely awesome,” said Eversley. “We don’t normally see this many people at a race. It’s a historic event that has been here for about 47 years. To be a part of the title sponsor is also pretty neat. Racing for Acura in their backyard here in California in front of 180,000 people that’s really awesome.”

President Michaelian described the activities that guests can expect during the three-day weekend event.

“It happens to feature six races. There’s IndyCars, there’s sports cars, there’s trucks, there’s drifting, there’s historic cars, and there’s a variety of things. In addition to that, we have a fun zone for young people to come out and drive little electric go-karts. We have a huge lifestyle expo. We have a concert on Saturday night with the Royal Machines. All of that is included in the price of the ticket. So, when you come out here, you’d be prepared to be entertained for the whole weekend long.”

Radio personality Big Boy made an appearance and experienced some professional rides down the lanes.

“I didn’t know what to expect to tell you the truth,” said Big Boy. “It was more of just the speed and not knowing what I was about to get into. I really enjoyed it. It was great.”

Photo by Brandon Bashir / fi360 News

Long Beach native MMA Bellator Featherweight Undefeated Champion A.J. McKee expressed how exciting it was for him partaking in the behind-the-scenes action.

“The most exciting part for me is the whole experience all together. Being able to hop in a car and go on a run. I’m a Long Beach native so, I grew up in the city always watching the F1 guys and the drifters. I used to live in that building right there [gesture]. So, just being able to be here on hand and get to experience the backstage and the preparation that goes into the event. It’s just like a fight. People don’t get to see what goes into making all of the magic happen so being able to experience this firsthand is just phenomenal. Obviously, I got a need for speed myself. I’m like a kid in a candy shop right now. I’ve been smiling all day. My cheeks hurt and I’m just embracing it and enjoying it all.”

There will be no COVID restrictions for this event as a result of the lifting of mask protocols and the State of California lifting the vaccination requirement for indoor “mega-events” on April 1.

“What better place to come to in the springtime to Long Beach on the waterfront,” said President Michaelian. “There’s lots of history here. It’s a fun place to go to. We always associate this date with spring break, and vacations and people coming out and having fun. That’s what we’re looking forward to doing here on April 8-10.”

For more information on the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix click here https://gplb.com/.