The day started early Sunday at the 41st Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, with the first race for the SPEED Energy Off-Road Series. This is the series which started at Long Beach two years ago and has continued to grow. This year the series was invited to run at the Clipsal V8 race in Adelaide, Australia and proved so popular the series has already been invited back for the 2016 Clipsal. One of the occasional drivers in the series is EJ Viso, who is enjoying the truck series but would really like to get back into the Verizon Indy Car Series.
The weather continues to be sunny, warm with clear blue skies and a breeze to temper the heat. Couldn’t have been better had the Chamber of Commerce ordered it.
Sunday is a good people-watching day – to see and be seen. Scene Seen.
The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire Series was the next race Sunday morning – this time starting at 8:30am PDT, earlier than ever before. The packed LBGP schedule has something going every single moment.
Jack Harvey/No.42 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports had the Indy Lights pole after a hard fight with several other contenders, swapping the lead lap after lap. Harvey’s time was 1:12.0405/98.345 mph. Others pushing him were Rookie Spencer Pigot/No.12 Juncos Racing; Rookie Ed Jones/No.11 Carlin, making its first foray into American motorsports; Kyle Kaiser/No.18 Juncos Racing; and Rookie Max Chilton/No.14 Carlin.
The top five on the grid were Harvey, Pigot, Kaiser, Jones and Rookie Felix Serrales/No.4 Belardi Auto Racing.
The race didn’t get off to the best start. Two cars hit in the first turn Kaiser and Harvey hit. Neither car finished. Then Juan Piedrahita/No.5 Belardi Auto Racing spun bringing out the first full course yellow. Not to be outdone, Jones spun a series of neat doughnuts before continuing – and then worked back up to first place. Scott Anderson/No.77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports w/Curb-Agajanian spun and continued while running fifth. Another full course yellow came out when Piedrahita and Harvey drove off into the Turn 11 tire walls. they had to be towed and were out.The race was scheduled for 45 laps or one hour.
Jones won the race which ended being timed, with 42 laps of the scheduled 45. Second through fifth were Pigot, Serralles, Rookie RC Enerson/No.7Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian; and Chilton. Nine of the 12 starters finished the race. Matthew Brabham/No.83 Andretti Autosport DNF with mechanical problems.
The Verizon Indy Car Series has its thirty-minute warm up mid-morning, which will be followed by the Mothers Exotic Car Parade, and another SPEED Truck race.
After the noon break all the pomp, circumstance and pre-race festivities begin for the IndyCars. That race is 80 laps or two hours. But the day won’t be over. There will then be a Drifting Demonstration and the Pirelli World Challenge Race. Something for everyone, and there seems like a lot of everyones are filling the grandstands and on the ground all around the circuit.