BUBBA BURGER® Named Entitlement Sponsor Of IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship At Long Beach

"I’d like to thank BUBBA burger for coming on as my primary partner this season," said Shea Holbrook, who returns to Pirelli World Challenge action, this time in the TC class and she brings Jason Fichter along for the ride.  Shea Racing is running two beautiful Honda Accords in 2016, see what Shea and Jason have to say about the upcoming season. Image Credit: Shea Racing (2016)

BUBBA BURGER® Named Entitlement Sponsor Of IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship At Long Beach

Bubba Burger increases it's commitment to increasing brand awareness through motorsports sponsorships. From team money (as noted above) for Pirelli World Challenge's Shea Racing, to now, this banner sponsorship awareness campaign through a different sportscar racing series held at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ... all power to the patty!

LONG BEACH, Calif. (March 17, 2016) – The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach announced today that BUBBA burger® has become the new entitlement sponsor of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday, April 16 as part of the 42nd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race will be called the “BUBBA burger® Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach.”

As an official partner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, BUBBA burger® will be featured prominently in signage around the Grand Prix circuit including a pedestrian bridge over Turn 2. BUBBA burgers will also be available for purchase throughout the race weekend at their vending location at the circuit.

“BUBBA® burger is looking forward to the partnership with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this year,” said BUBBA Foods CEO Billy Morris. “The new partnership will allow the BUBBA® burger brand to reach the sports car race fans that attend the event in Long Beach and to reach the national television audience viewing the event during the weekend. BUBBA is a growing brand nationally, and is now expanding rapidly in the Southern California market, so the sponsorship is a good fit. BUBBA® burger combined with great racing makes for a winning combination.”

“We are delighted to welcome BUBBA burger® to the Toyota Grand Prix sponsor family,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “They will be entitling one of our most exciting races and I’m sure our fans will find their product spectacular as well.”

BUBBA burger® products are sold throughout the United States. They are available in over 11 different burger varieties, including an expanded line of BUBBA Turkey and Veggie burgers.  In addition to its event sponsorship of Long Beach, BUBBA burger® also has been named “Official Burger of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.”

The 2016 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will run April 15-17. Ticket prices range from $30 for a Friday General Admission ticket, which grants access to all the day’s race events, to $142 for a three-day ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels.  Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, Verizon IndyCar Series Paddock access passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of Hospitality Club packages.

Fans can select and pay for their 2016 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  A printed ticket brochure that includes a circuit map, ticket prices, order form and other information can be obtained by calling the hotline.

For more information, visit gplb.com or follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @ToyotaGPLB, Instagram at ToyotaGPLB and Snapchat at ToyotaGPLB.
[ht: gplb.com]

Kinda' makes one's mouth water ... doesn't it?

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: BUBBA BURGER®, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, TGPLB, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, The EDJE

TruSpeed Motorsports And City Of Long Beach Launch Grand Prix Magic

The 38th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, set to take place April 13-15, took its first step toward the green flag when construction began Monday, February 13 on the outside of turn #10 before the hairpin turn #11 entering Shoreline Drive, the racing circuit’s 185 mph famed front straightaway. Pictured on this drizzly Monday morning from right to left are President and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, Jim Michaelian | City of Long Beach Vice Mayor, Suja Lowenthal | President and Driver for TruSpeed Motorsports, Rob Morgan. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

TruSpeed Motorsports And City Of Long Beach Launch Grand Prix Magic

This Monday morning saw the kick-off celebration of the conversion of the streets around Long Beach's Shoreline Drive and Long Beach Convention Center into the racing venue known every spring as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. A process that has taken place 37 time before, and the 38th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is set to take place April 13-15, 2012.

Street course motorsports racing strikes many casual event goers as something that is simple and oddly natural in its creation. "Hey, we drive on streets, so why don't we just close them off and race on them" ... they muse to themselves, while not knowing exactly what is involved with their simple and oddly natural thought processes.

The fact of the matter, it take a huge amount of concrete and effort to magically transform a street into a stable and safe motorsports racing facility. Grand Prix Association of Long Beach Director of Operations Dwight Tanaka and his staff will put in more than 30,000 working hours installing 14 million pounds of concrete blocks that line the track, three miles of fencing and 16,000 bolted-together tires, along with 16 huge spectator grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and giant-vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage.

The construction got underway with assists from Long Beach Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal and TruSpeed Motorsports Pirelli World Challenge team owner/driver Rob Morgan, who appeared at the track for a kickoff photo shoot with his #1 TruSpeed Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3, which was the championship-winning car in the series’ GT category last year.

Patrick Long, driving the then #45 PrivacyStar Porsche, sealed the 2011 GT Driver’s Championship in the Pirelli World Challenge on the season's last race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. In doing so, Patrick claimed the title in his first full season in the Series and delivered to TruSpeed Motorsports its first series championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Entering its 23rd consecutive season, the Pirelli World Challenge (which will join the IZOD IndyCar Series, the American Le Mans Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Team Drifting Challenge, and Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race weekend events) is one of North America's top production car-based racing championships. Divided into four separate categories (GT, GTS, Touring Car, and Touring Car B-Spec), races feature thrilling standing starts, adrenaline filled door-to-door action and world-class drivers. The Pirelli World Challenge features cars from the world's most popular manufacturers – race-prepped versions of the cars driven on the streets. Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, the series races at North America's premier road and temporary street courses.

Morgan’s Costa Mesa-based TruSpeed Motorsports team is preparing to contest the SCCA's GT car 2012 Pirelli World Challenge season which gets underway March 23-25 with a doubleheader at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The plan of TruSpeed Motorsports is to field three cars for the entire eight venue, twelve race GT/GTS Pirelli World Challenge 2012 season.

"We feel honored to help kick off the Grand Prix,” Morgan said. “When you look at the 38 year history and heritage of the event, it’s one of the best in the world. It’s also our home race, so we’re glad to be here today. We will be running three cars in the race ... possibly four. But to be involved in something like this is wonderful. The last two years we have participated in the media 'Press Day' with a couple of race cars, giving the [track] rides and so forth, and this is another way we can promote and enhance our relationship with Jim Michaelian, the race, and the City of Long Beach."

Dwight Tanaka, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach Director of Operations and his staff also install hospitality suites, tents, electrical equipment, phones, porta-johns, trash containers and a hundred other little things up until race weekend. Then on Sunday night, when the last race car has left the track, they start to take everything down, inspect the gear and get everything ready for next year when the grand prix magic begins all over again. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

It takes two months to prepare this part of the City of Long Beach for the 175,000 fans expected during race weekend. All businesses along the race circuit, which includes Shoreline Drive, Aquarium Way and Pine Ave., will remain open during construction of the racetrack.

"We want to make sure that our course is both safe and competitive, and Dwight and is staff as well as the Long Beach city departments deliver on all accounts,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “That phenomenal support is what helps us make the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach America’s number one street race.”

Fans can select and pay for their 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach seats, parking, and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 82-SPEED. Ticket prices range from $26 for a Friday General Admission ticket to $130 for a three-day ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels.

Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, IndyCar Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of Hospitality Club packages including the exciting Vista Club – featuring a nearly 360-degree view of the race circuit – located high atop the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.

Fans can also follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB and on Twitter @ToyotaGPLB.

So if you were one of those people who mused that Street Course racing was something that is simple and oddly natural in its creation ... you're right, close your eyes and "voila" ... the Grand Prix magic will appear in Long Beach April 13-15, 2012 at the 38th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

... notes from The EDJE



** Article first published as TruSpeed Motorsports And City Of Long Beach Launch Grand Prix Magic on Technorati **

37th Annual Toyota Grand Prix Festivities Begin With C-300 Mixer

C-300 Redcoat membership display at the C-300 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach kick off mixer. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

37th Annual Toyota Grand Prix Festivities Begin With C-300 Mixer

It's that time of year, again, where the city begins to think about welcoming over 100,000 visitors to watch several races and attend activities that officially start with the Long Beach Motorsports Walk Of Fame induction ceremony on the sidewalk in front of the Long Beach Convention Center and culminates with a two-hour IndyCar race on Sunday.

For 37 years (can you believe it?), open-wheel cars with very powerful engines have been competing and the sounds of high-revving engines have echoed off of the sides of the skyscrapers along the harbor shore in downtown Long Beach.

The kick-off event that signals the beginning of this grand motor culture activity to most of the community conscious folks in Long Beach and surrounding environments is the party put on by the Redcoats of the Committee of 300, or C-300.

The C-300 & Toyota Grand Prix Kick Off Party is scheduled to be held this Wednesday - February 16, 6-9pm, at the Hotel Maya, 700 Queensway, Long Beach.

The Redcoats of the Committee of 300 volunteer each year to manage the granstands and support the activities that make up the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Long Beach Mayor, Bob Foster welcomes and applauds the efforts of the Committe of 300 at last year's Toyota Grand Prix Kick Off Party. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

More specifically, this Mission Statement excerpted and edited from the Committee of 300 -

To Promote, Support, Enrich and Direct the grandstand operations during race weekend.

To staff of the press room, photo towers, and TV carts during race weekend.

To provide a first rate hospitality area -the C300 Paddock Club- for our guests during race weekend.

To serve the community by providing volunteer support to such activities as the LA Auto Show, Christmas parades in the Long Beach area, decorating the Long Beach float for the Tournament of Roses Parade, and the Long Beach Marathon to name a few.

To promote the Grand Prix of Long Beach and its beautiful host city.
Reference Here>>

So, in about two months, and around tax filing due date time, the 37th Annual Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach - the third stop of the 2011 IndyCar Championship Series will be held with a host of motor culture events to absorb just about any fan.

Schedule Of Events - 37th Annual Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach

THURSDAY, APRIL 14

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Ceremony (Pine Ave. in front of Long Beach Convention Center)

6:00 – 10:00 p.m. Tecate Thunder Thursday on Pine Ave. (incl. Tecate Miss Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Finals)


FRIDAY, APRIL 15

7:00 a.m. Gates Open

7:15 - 9:15 a.m. ALMS Practice

8:00 a.m. Lifestyle Expo Opens

9:35 - 9:55 a.m. Team Drifting Demonstration

10:00 - 11:15 a.m. IndyCar Practice

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Toyota Pro/Celebrity Practice

12:15 - 1:15 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights Practice

2:25 - 3:25 p.m. IndyCar Practice

3:40 - 4:10 p.m. Toyota Pro/Celebrity Qualifying

4:00 - 5:00 p.m. IndyCar All-Driver Autograph Session (IZOD IndyCar Series Paddock)

4:20 - 4:45 p.m. World Challenge Practice

5:00 - 6:30 p.m. ALMS Qualifying

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Tecate Light Fiesta Friday Concert (Artist TBD)

7:00 p.m. Toyota Grand Prix Charity Ball at the Westin Long Beach


SATURDAY, APRIL 16

7:00 a.m. Gates Open

7:15 - 7:45 a.m. World Challenge Practice

8:00 - 8:45 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights Practice

8:55 - 9:20 a.m. Team Drifting Demonstration

10:25 - 11:25 a.m. IndyCar Practice – Split Groups

11:40 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
12:55 - 1:55 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights Qualifying 2:30 - 3:50 p.m. IndyCar Qualifying & Firestone Fast 6

4:30 - 6:30 p.m. TEQUILA PATRÓN AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES RACE (120 minutes)

6:00 p.m. Lifestyle Expo Closes

6:30 p.m. Tecate Light Rock-N-Roar Concert (Artist TBD)


SUNDAY, APRIL 17
7:00 a.m. Gates Open

8:00 a.m. Lifestyle Expo Open

8:00 - 8:15 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights Practice

8:25 - 8:55 a.m. World Challenge Qualifying

9:15 - 9:45 a.m. IndyCar Practice

10:00 a.m. Grid Firestone Indy Lights Cars/Indy Lights Pre-Race

10:25 - 11:30 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights Race

12:30 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series Pre-Race Ceremonies

1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Race number 3 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series) 3:40 - 3:55 p.m. Team Drifting Challenge 4:15 - 5:15 p.m. SCCA Pro World Challenge Championships Race

5:30 p.m. Lifestyle Expo Closes

Tickets for the 37th Annual Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach found HERE>>
(SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE)

Come and enjoy an evening of camaraderie with the internationally renowned volunteer C-300 citizens of the greater Long Beach community and you too can become a Redcoat and be a part of a tradition of service wrapped in motor culture and good nature.

Again, The C-300 & Toyota Grand Prix Kick Off Party is scheduled to be held this Wednesday - February 16, 6-9pm, at the Hotel Maya, 700 Queensway, Long Beach.

Be there ... and become ... a C-300 Redcoat!

... notes from The EDJE

Long Beach Readies Itself For The 2010 Toyota Grand Prix

The Committee of 300 of Long Beach begins its 36th straight year of involvement with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a KICKOFF PARTY Thursday night, Feb. 18 from 6-9 p.m. at V2O Nightclub & Events Center, 81 Aquarium Way in downtown Long Beach. Image Credit: C-300

Long Beach Readies Itself For The 2010 Toyota Grand Prix

Construction began today on the famed 11-turn, 1.97-mile street circuit that, in just 60 days, will host the cars and stars of the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster poses on K-rail in what will be Turn 10 of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach race course [ctrl-click to launch YouTube video]. Image Credit: Andy Witherspoon - GPALB

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster ceremoniously kicked off the construction by helping workers install concrete blocks on Shoreline Drive and, over the next two months, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (GPALB) will build what is essentially a small town for one weekend.

More than 14 million pounds of concrete blocks that line the race circuit will be set in place, turning Shoreline Drive and downtown Long Beach into a comfortable circuit for more than 175,000 people to enjoy six racing events April 16-18.

Safety First with helmets and vest. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

What stitches all of this event together from a human perspective after the bleachers are up, the circuit is laid out, and the entrance gates are put in place is a group of courageous volunteers known as the Committee Of 300, or just C-300. The members of this group are part of a nonprofit community service organization dedicated to promoting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the City of Long Beach. The Committee of 300 became known as "The Redcoats" because of the distinctive red jackets worn by its members. Created in 1975 to assist the inaugural race, the Committee of 300 is always visible during the race weekend, when members serve as grandstand ambassadors, assist in the press facility and manage the Paddock Club.

While the Mayor kicked off the construction of the track today, the Committee Of 300 kicks off its effort for the Grand Prix event on Thursday night, Feb. 18 from 6-9 p.m. with construct of its own, a KICKOFF PARTY held at V2O Nightclub & Events Center, 81 Aquarium Way in downtown Long Beach. This party signals the beginning of the race for the 2010 season of volunteering and camaraderie as it is pursued throughout the year by C-300.

K-rail and bleachers getting ready to form the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. This perspective is from what will become turn 10 looking slightly Northwest toward Pine Avenue. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

It is doubtful that there is another civic-minded organization like it in the whole world. It is the only known organization where anyone can join (social or political pull doesn't count). Only three things are required for membership:

1. Payment of yearly dues.

2. Active participation on race weekend.

3. Exhibiting a desire to become part of a civic-oriented effort to assure the successful growth of the City of Long Beach and its community.

C-300 KICKOFF PARTY 2008 - Just days before the announcement that the ChampCar World Series would merge with the IRL

In addition to its valuable service with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the C-300 can be seen assisting on staffing for the Los Angeles and Orange County Auto Shows, the Belmont Shore Auto Classics Show, the Belmont Shore, Seal Beach, and Daisy Lane holiday parades, and are supporters of the STEEL MAGNOLIAS, an organization for the Stramski Children's Development Center at Memorial Hospital.

Shoreline Drive as it gets lined into a near 190mph race track with the 10,000 pound blocks of concrete known as K-rails [ctrl-click to launch YouTube video] . Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

As far as the track preparations are concerned ... "Race attendees will need everything from luxury suites to rest rooms to trash containers to hundreds of other little, but no less important, things," said Grand Prix Association of Long Beach director of operations Dwight Tanaka.

"Our staff of 40 will put in more than 30,000 working hours installing concrete blocks, three miles of fencing and 16,000 bolted-together tires, along with 15 huge spectator grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and eight giant-vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage." continued Dwight, "And then, we're only half-done. Beginning Sunday night, we start taking everything down, inspecting it and getting ready again for 2011."

The 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will feature 2009 Long Beach winner Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick and the rest of the IZOD IndyCar Series stars, along with the always-popular Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series race, Firestone Indy Lights, Team Drifting Challenge and SCCA Pro World Challenge Championships.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster (left) and President/CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach Jim Michaelian are happy to get this party started. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2010)

"It's a team effort to construct a circuit which is challenging for the drivers and provides a variety of spectacular views for our fans," said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "Dwight and his staff, together with the City of Long Beach and our suppliers, deserve an enormous amount of credit for building a world-class circuit while, at the same time, minimizing the impact on downtown."

Tickets for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach can be purchased from the Grand Prix ticket office by calling toll-free at (888) 82-SPEED, Ticketmaster or by visiting www.gplb.com. A handy ticket brochure - which includes circuit map, grandstand and parking locations, ticket prices and order form - can be obtained by calling the ticket hotline.

Ticket prices, which remain unchanged for the second straight year, range from $25 for Friday general admission up to $125 for a three-day ticket that includes Saturday and Sunday reserved seats in upper levels of the grandstands. Pre-paid parking packages are also available when ordering through the Grand Prix Ticket Office. Handicapped seating, IndyCar Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a variety of hospitality club packages are also available.

Of course, if paying for tickets is not your thing, and you would rather be a part of the show as opposed to just watching the show, come to the Committee Of 300 KICKOFF PARTY Thursday night, Feb. 18 from 6-9 p.m. at V2O Nightclub & Events Center, 81 Aquarium Way in downtown Long Beach. Volunteer and meet the Mayor of Long Beach, Bob Foster, members of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach and the supporting cast of this 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach ... the C-300!

... notes from The EDJE