{"id":9237,"date":"2010-04-24T02:30:26","date_gmt":"2010-04-24T09:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/?p=9237"},"modified":"2010-04-24T14:24:19","modified_gmt":"2010-04-24T21:24:19","slug":"the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fthe-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach%2F&amp;media=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F04%2FSUC57484.JPG&amp;description=The+Rubber+Hits+the+Road+at+Grand+Prix+of+Long+Beach\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" data-text=\"The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach\" data-desc=\"Truth be told, I haven't been to an indycar race since I was a kid. At age 9 I was convinced I would be an indycar driver when I grew up. That profession was won over by being a doctor, then being a designer... and on and on the years passed. But when I got an offer for some tickets to the Grand\" data-image=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484.JPG\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9243\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Grease Girl at Long Beach Grand Prix\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484.JPG\" alt=\"Grease Girl at Long Beach Grand Prix\" width=\"575\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484-150x71.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57484-400x191.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nTruth be told, I haven&#8217;t been to an indycar race since I was a kid. At age 9 I was convinced I would be an indycar driver when I grew up. That profession was won over by being a doctor, then being a designer&#8230; and on and on the years passed.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9241\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"IZOD Indycar Series Race at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457.JPG\" alt=\"IZOD Indycar Series Race at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach\" width=\"575\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57457-400x265.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But when I got an offer for some tickets to the <strong>Grand Prix of Long Beach<\/strong> this weekend from <a title=\"The best car battery\" href=\"http:\/\/www.optimabatteries.com\/home.php\" target=\"_blank\">Optima Batteries<\/a>, I couldn&#8217;t think of anything else I&#8217;d rather do on this beautiful Sunday. Ever since I by chance ended up driving these streets while they were blockading them off for the race, I&#8217;d wanted to check this event out. It&#8217;s not some boring circle track &#8211; this 1.98 mile track has hairpin and ninety-degree turns and is on the <em>actual<\/em> streets of Long Beach!<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9244\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Indycar Passes Crowd at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502.JPG\" alt=\"Indycar Passes Crowd at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach\" width=\"575\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502-150x81.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57502-400x216.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This has been a whole 3-day event, but the culmination of it was with today&#8217;s IZOD Indycar Series race. All 170,000 spectators saw the 25 drivers speed away from the finish line (of these 25 drivers, I&#8217;m glad to say 3 were women!) I&#8217;d forgotten that there&#8217;s nothing quite like all those cars starting up their engines at once.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9245\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"36th Annual Long Beach Grand Prix IZOD Indycar Series Race\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504.JPG\" alt=\"36th Annual Long Beach Grand Prix IZOD Indycar Series Race\" width=\"575\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504-150x104.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504-300x209.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57504-400x278.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As they blurred around the track for 85 laps, I knew I should cover my ears but I just didn&#8217;t want to! Other than the surprise of how fast a 200 mph car looks rounding a curve in the road, there weren&#8217;t many mishaps. On a track like this, passing one another is hugely difficult and I didn&#8217;t see any of that. The only crash was, I believe, a single car incident involving # 67, Dollar General&#8217;s racecar.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9239\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Dollar General #67 in Cockpits at 36th Annual Grand Prix of Long Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398.JPG\" alt=\"Dollar General #67 in Cockpits at 36th Annual Grand Prix of Long Beach\" width=\"575\" height=\"275\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398-150x71.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398-300x143.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57398-400x191.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the end there were 17 cars left in the running with only 33.165 seconds seperating them. Leading it with first place was Ryan Hunter-Reay in the IZOD car. Trailing behind by 5.603 seconds was #22, Justin Wilson. A little further back (-8.5 seconds) in third place was #12 Will Power (really?&#8230;his parents named him that!)<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9242\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Winning IZOD Indy Car at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458.JPG\" alt=\"Winning IZOD Indy Car at 2010 Grand Prix of Long Beach #37 ryan hunter-reay\" width=\"575\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57458-400x226.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After the indycars finished, a short demonstration of the drift cars took to the track and <em>OH-my-goodness<\/em>! Watching drifting on TV is amazing and the little bits I&#8217;d seen live were also. But I&#8217;d never seen this many cars drift on a track at once! Having three cars drift around a ninety-degree turn with what seems like mere inches seperating them is simply amazing! (<a title=\"The Spirit of Formula D in Long Beach\" href=\"http:\/\/www.motormavens.com\/2010\/04\/video-the-spirit-of-fd-long-beach\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">For a small experience of the feeling check out this great video featuring drifting by Justin Shreeve on MotorMavens.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9238\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"Drifting at 36th Grand Prix of Long Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510.JPG\" alt=\"Drifting at 36th Grand Prix of Long Beach\" width=\"575\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510-150x75.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510-300x151.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57510-400x202.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So now that the day&#8217;s over, I just can&#8217;t decide. Do I want to be a indycar driver, a drifter, or stick to my guns and hope I&#8217;ll one day get to drive at Bonneville to set a new land speed record?!? Last November I got the <a title=\"On The Racetrack at SEMA 2009\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/on-the-racetrack-at-sema-2009\/\">opportunity to suit up on a road course<\/a> and I never thought that would happen. So who knows what the future holds &#8211; but I bet its fast! Until then, you can be sure that next week I&#8217;ll be driving down to Long Beach so Stude&#8217;s tires can at least pass over the road where all that rubber was burned this weekend!<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"highslide\" onclick=\"return vz.expand(this)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428.JPG\" rel=\"lightbox[9237]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9240\" style=\"border: 2px solid black; margin: 4px;\" title=\"IZOD Indycar Series Race at Long Beach Grand Prix\" src=\"http:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428.JPG\" alt=\"IZOD Indycar Series Race at Long Beach Grand Prix\" width=\"575\" height=\"299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428.JPG 575w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428-150x78.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/SUC57428-400x208.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mr_social_sharing_wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 --><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/button\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrideisme.com%2FBlog%2Fthe-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach%2F&amp;media=&amp;description=The+Rubber+Hits+the+Road+at+Grand+Prix+of+Long+Beach\" class=\"pin-it-button\" count-layout=\"none\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"\/\/assets.pinterest.com\/images\/PinExt.png\" title=\"Pin It\" \/><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><fb:share-button type=\"button_count\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\"><\/fb:share-button><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" data-via=\"myrideisme\" data-text=\"The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach\"><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><div class=\"g-plusone\" data-size=\"medium\" data-annotation=\"none\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\"><\/div><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a class=\"mr_social_share_email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach&amp;body=https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-sharing-toolkit\/images\/icons_small\/email.png\" class=\"nopin\" alt=\"Email\" title=\"Email\"\/><span class=\"mr_small_icon\">Email<\/span><\/a><\/a><\/span><span class=\"mr_social_sharing\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"linksalpha_button linksalpha_link\" href=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/social\/mobile\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/the-rubber-hits-the-road-at-grand-prix-of-long-beach\/\" data-text=\"The Rubber Hits the Road at Grand Prix of Long Beach\" data-desc=\"Truth be told, I haven't been to an indycar race since I was a kid. At age 9 I was convinced I would be an indycar driver when I grew up. That profession was won over by being a doctor, then being a designer... and on and on the years passed. But when I got an offer for some tickets to the Grand\" data-image=\"\" data-button=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/images\/social_share_button.png\" alt=\"Share\" class=\"linksalpha_image\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/www.linksalpha.com\/scripts\/loader_iconbox.js?v=2.4\"><\/script><\/span><\/div><p>Email Truth be told, I haven&#8217;t been to an indycar race since I was a kid. At age 9 I was convinced I would be an indycar driver when I grew up. That profession was won over by being a doctor, then being a designer&#8230; and on and on the years passed. But when I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[384,19,378],"tags":[1283,669,544],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9237"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9237"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9249,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9237\/revisions\/9249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myrideisme.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}