Sunday, April 18, 2010

Long Beach Grand Prix Today

SoCals favorite Race is on today. The Long Beach Indy Car Grand Prix. A huge crowd on hand for what is always one big party. Most folks there know nothing about the Series but go knowing it is a happening event.It really is a good spectator track.On Saturdays you can roam around the whole track and have access to any of the grandstands. Sunday you are basically relegated to your chosen spot. Long ago I once worked Course Control. I had one of the few Bikes allowed and it was incredible. Having that big Placard on my handlebars was heaven. Gave me carte blanche to go anywhere anytime the whole weekend. It was F1 at that stage and I remember that weekend very well. I was gassing it up the ramp that exits the Pits only to be met by Nelson Piquet hot dogging his rental car into the Pits. If it wasn't for our lightning reflexes it could have gotten ugly. HA
My official duty was, during the races to ride 1/2 the track in no mans land between the track barriers and the spectator fence and make sure the crowd hadn't push the fence down.
Sweet!Talk about being close to the action. I rode my '69 Bonneville and took the opportunity to ride a couple of sneaky laps after the Fridays practice. That track is really narrow and tight and incredibly rough and is lined 100% with cement barriers. A tough place to tackle at the speeds they get going around there. Live on TV at 1.00 pm Pacific Time.