Monaco-inspired Long Beach is now a jewel in IndyCar’s crown
It was the kind of place popularized in old-timey cop shows where the police went down to the docks to rouse and arrest the bad guys. Once known as a seedy harbor town, the city’s reputation was transformed in enormous ways following the first runnings of the Long Beach Grand Prix, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend.
Before it became a crown jewel among Southern California’s sporting events, the grand prix’s most prolific performer remembers the seaside venue for all it wasn’t.
“I can tell you this, it was not a destination by any means,” the legendary Mario Andretti told ESPN. “I just remember going through Ocean [Boulevard] there, which was the start-finish line, and they had some boarded-up shops and stuff like that. A Burger King was probably your best meal of the day there. And hotels? We stayed about 10 to 15 miles away.”
Thanks to the ambitions of England‘s Chris Pook, a travel agent with dreams of recreating the Monaco Grand Prix in his adopted city of Long Beach, and a local hero by the name of Dan Gurney, whose stature in the world of racing and support of Pook’s wild idea helped seal the city council’s approval, the inaugural grand prix was given the green light to take place in 1975. But not as Pook’s desired replica of Formula 1’s marquee street race.
The first race was a test of sorts. The popular Formula 5000 series, which used blindingly fast open-wheel cars similar to F1 machinery but with large and bellowing American V8 engines in the back, would be the centerpiece of the first Long Beach GP. If Pook and Gurney could turn this improbable concept into a clear success, F1 would consider adding a western stop — it had New York‘s Watkins Glen road course on the calendar — to its U.S. tour.
Andretti, among the most famous drivers on the planet, was on pole position. Other drivers with significant followings in F1, IndyCar and sports cars joined for the first race, which was won by Brian Redman.
“In 1974, when they started talking about it, everybody wondered, ‘What are they drinking?'” Andretti said with a laugh. “Guys like Chris Pook and Dan Gurney, obviously, were totally behind it. I think Parnelli Jones put some help in there and I was endorsing it. And I was so happy when I was realizing that it’s about to happen because I was always wanting to expand the road racing in America, and especially street racing, which was going out of favor almost everywhere in Europe.
“And the FIA would endorse it, but they said they had to have one event before Formula 1 so it could qualify for Formula 1. The FIA didn’t want Formula 1 to be the first race there. And of course the Formula 5000 series was right up my rodeo. I was leading and dropped out with half shaft problems and Brian won.”
The crowd was strong. The event was well-organized. Something big was brewing in Long Beach: F1 was on its way to lead the show in 1976.
Ferrari and Clay Regazzoni were the first to win the grand prix as an F1 race, and in 1977, piloting a Lotus, Andretti drove into victory lane. The achievement, on home soil, is spoken of today by the 85-year-old icon as one of his career’s great moments.
“In ’77, we were able to win that, and to me, it still remains a big highlight,” said the winner of the 1967 Daytona 500 and 1969 Indianapolis 500. “Why? Because it was a U.S. Grand Prix, and you know how important that is for any Formula 1 driver to win their home grand prix, and that still remains there for me.”
Andretti would have to settle for second place at Long Beach in 1978, but he would add yet another incomparable achievement when he became Formula 1 world champion that year. The grand prix was becoming an enormous success, which led to increased financial demands from F1.
Unwilling to meet the series’ sizable asking price, F1 was dropped after the 1983 race. A shift to host the IndyCar Series at a more affordable sanctioning fee was brokered for 1984, and with it, the Long Beach Grand Prix as it’s known today was established. Andretti’s special relationship with the track continued as he won on IndyCar’s debut in 1984, again in 1985 and once more in 1987.
Pole in 1975, an F1 win for the ages in 1977 and three IndyCar triumphs. Nobody excelled across all three grand prix eras in Long Beach, and Andretti also watched his oldest son bookend his career there.
“You look back and not only was there the good fortune I had myself, but also as a family with Michael,” Mario said. “You know, Michael won his very first IndyCar race in Long Beach [in 1986] and also his very last IndyCar race [in 2002].”
What followed with IndyCar has become an annual gathering simply known in the region as “the race,” which lives on the same dependable mid-April date so the masses can come to party and drink and eat and take in concerts while Indy cars rage around the 1.9-mile circuit.
It’s a festival of speed and sound mixed with a bit of Mardi Gras. Long Beach has gone from a major question mark in its formative days to stand as the second-biggest event on IndyCar’s schedule, trailing only the Indy 500 and its audience of 300,000-plus fans. What a remarkable accomplishment for a temporary event that pops up for one week each year and disappears until the next installment.
Andretti never fathomed the little experiment put on by Pook, Gurney and Pook’s lieutenant, Jim Michaelian, who continues to run the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, would have such a lasting impact and generate so much prosperity in the area.
“What the event, the racing, did for the town is unbelievable,” Andretti said. “Now you have a convention center, you have first-class, high-rise hotels, restaurants. It was the rebirth of a city there, and now it is a destination. Racing did that for the city. No question about it. And kudos to Chris and Dan and Jim Michaelian for making it what it is.”
Source: espn.com