Indy Season Begins

Today the Indycar Series began in St. Petersburg, with Will Power taking the checkered flag in his third straight Indycar victory. Will Power also won the 2008 and 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Ryan Hunter-Reah took second, and Helio Castroneves was third. For all the Foyt Racing Team and Takuma Sato fans, last year's winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach finished seventh though he did take the pole position in qualifying.

This year is the 40th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and is only two weeks away. There are still some reserved seats and plenty of general admission tickets available through raceday, and they will go fast now that the season has started.

Set up for this year's race began in February, and is almost complete. There are numerous pre-race events on and off the circuit for all to enjoy. The official kick off event is only eleven days away. Thunder Thursday brings you a day of events on Pine Avenue from Broadway to 3rd Street, highlighted by the crowning of this years Miss Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. There are also autograph sessions, race car displays featuring cars from the Pirelli World Challenge, live music and gravity-defying stunts. New to this year's event will be a craft beer garden, sponsored by Kress Market.

This Tuesday, race fans are invited to take a walk along the race course from 11:30 am -1:00 pm. Of course this is a family and dog friendly event, so bring your strollers and fur-babies!

Many other events are coming, so stay tuned to Patch for the latest!