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Fast Eddie In Long Beach

Eddie LePine
IMSA victors. [Photo by Eddie LePine]

IMSA victors. [Photo by Eddie LePine]

IMSA victors. [Photo by Eddie LePine]

By Eddie LePine

The first thing I always notice when I land in California for the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend is the weather. It is perfect. It seems to always be perfect. After the cold and wet at Daytona and this year’s rains at Sebring, it was a nice change of pace.

And this event is without doubt, one of the best organized in the world and it is always a pleasure to cover races here. Jim Michaelian and his staff do an outstanding job and for this year’s 45th anniversary race, it couldn’t have been better.

Acura was on board as the title sponsor this year and Roger Penske’s boys certainly did their best to give Acura a victory in the IMSA WeatherTech race (just coming up short to Cadillac). In Sunday’s Grand Prix, Alexander Rossi dominated for Andretti Autosport, winning the race for the second year in a row.

At Long Beach, it has become quite a bit more than an IndyCar race weekend, with IndyCar sharing the stage with IMSA and everything else from trucks to drifting. Add to that Mario Andretti giving two seater IndyCar rides (still going strong as ever at age 79), Hall of Fame inductions, dinners, press conferences and the like and your weekend at Long Beach is quite full of action.

Without doubt, my annual trip to Long Beach is one of the highlights of my season. It truly is America’s Monaco Grand Prix.