The Lost Grand Prix: Long Beach 2020
Missing my home race, plus a VERY special book club announcement.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m. Pictured above: The famous fountain turn during the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2012.
Happy Race Day, especially to the guy who decided the best protection against coronavirus was to dress in a cat costume on a homemade hoverboard.
In an alternate, more innocent, less mind-numbingly stupid timeline, I would have been at the track last weekend.
I would be exhausted, nursing a sunburn, and sore calves and probably a hangover right now.
Scott Dixon or Will Power or Josef Newgarden would have dominated the weekend. Maybe an unproven rookie would have made their name nationally known as they leapt from their cockpit onto Shoreline Drive. Maybe ticker tape swarmed their sweaty buzz cut and Long Beach roared in response.
More importantly we all would have celebrated together. We would have shared something. We would’ve laughed and learned and left with rich memories and experiences. We would’ve left having strengthened the culture.
I’m biased. Long Beach is my home, and I did everything I could to weave the race into the fabric that makes up our vibrant city. One of the chapters in my book opens with the time I snuck into the race because I was denied a press pass.
I once wrote about scoring two original 1975 Grand Prix programs out of sheer luck, and the bond that came with them. In the decade to come, in the booze-soaked post race hum of one race after another on Pine Avenue, I would trade back of napkin designs for future cars with Dallara engineers, buy rounds for a crew team that told me dirty secrets about their series, and score an impromptu podcast interview with a motorsports legend who promptly hit on my roommate.
Above: My daughter ahead of the 2016 race weekend.
The LBGP is magic. It infects people that come from all over, race fans or not. Veteran reporter Tony DiZinno does a great job explaining why a little later in this issue. This week, my good friend J.J. Fiddler wrote beautifully about my successful attempt to indoctrinate him, and how he can’t imagine his calendar without it now.
It’s a shame that we won’t be able to feel its rush in 2020. When we talk about the rise of sim racing and celebrate its growth, it comes with a tacit acknowledgement that virtual motorsports can never replace the community and joy that happens in person. Long Beach is a perfect example.
I know that tracks and cities and economies are facing this reality all over the world right now. Long Beach is not unique. But it is my story, and I can tell it. And maybe the fact that there are 100 or 1,000 Long Beaches happening everywhere can drive home the gravity of what race fans are feeling.
The earliest that the Grand Prix of Long Beach will return is April 16-18, 2021. I’ll be right there, thankful to have my old friend back. But most of all, thankful to have all of you celebrating with me.
Book Club
The Race Day Book Club is underway and speeding toward the finish of our first title, ‘Faster’ by best-selling Neal Bascomb. And this week we have a special announcement:
Saturday, May 9
Live discussion with ‘Faster’ author Neal Bascomb
Priority for subscribers signed up on our book club doc
Neal himself will join us in a live author Q&A on Saturday, May 9. Using the Substack discussion threads, you’ll be able to submit questions about the story, the history, the writing process or anything else related to his thrilling story.
We’ll release more details next week. In the meantime, follow along with our weekly process in the Book Club doc right here, and place any thoughts or ideas you may like to bring up when we have Neal to respond.
Culture
Radwood, the Millennial-era car show that swept pre-Corona car culture, would not be thwarted because of something as tiny as a pandemic. They took to Instagram and held #VRadwood, or Virtual Radwood, to keep the community going. There are all kinds of goodies to gawk at in there.
You can find all of the winners here. Raddest In Show was an insane Mercedes SEC straight out of a bad Schwarzenegger movie.
The video game F1 2020 cannot come soon enough. This year players will be able to create their own team and try to build a title-winner from scratch.
The video game Gran Turismo encouraged pro drivers and gamers to give tours of their home racing setups, with cameos from several big names. There are some great rigs to see here.
Randall Haywood, a decorated sim racer and one of our first Ask A Millennial! interviewees, joined in the fun with this walk around.
No, sim racing is not the same as real racing. But it’s getting closer. Don’t take it from me — here’s a blog from IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud on the progression and how he’s staying sharp during the hiatus.
Video Reel
The fifteen best yellow cars of all time. What else do you need to know?
A YouTuber who makes genuinely interesting videos was harassed into closing the comments on her channel. You can find and support some of her awesome work, like this 1988 Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit video here.
Regular Car Reviews, one of the homegrown heroes of YouTube car culture, took their biggest swing yet with a beautiful video they hope to pitch as a series. If you like it, support and share!
Danica Patrick was apparently stuck in Peru when the outbreak hit?
Race Results
Highlights from the virtual F1 Chinese Grand Prix are right here. I love the in-race interviews.
Of all the series doing sim racing right now, IMSA and iRacing put together the most professional broadcast. It’s easily the closest feeling to watching real racing, and this battle at Laguna Seca was no exception.
Veloce Sports’ weekly #NotTheGP event had another star-studded lineup. More importantly, the race served as a fundraiser for UNICEF. Here are 10 really cool views from the cockpits.
Formula E hosted its first sim race of the year last weekend, also in support of UNICEF. It was a lot of fun!
Welcome to another edition of Gotta Love Those Aussies. Here’s the thrilling finish to a virtual Supercars race that includes a lot of bumping and gutsy driving to the end.
The end of the IndyCar race ended with guys slamming into each other and causing virtual flips and twists. Hey, a crash I can get behind!
The motorsports podcast Dinner With Racers held a marathon Long Beach sim race to tide me over a little. Not quite the same without buildings and fans, but still looked like a lot of fun.
Ask A Millennial! Tony DiZinno, 30
I’ve been following Tony for years. As a motorsports reporter his insight and depth of knowledge were among the best. Since he’s moved to PR his takes are no less insightful. From his many posts I already knew he held a special affinity for Long Beach, so I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to ask him about what makes it special. Here is an edited version of our conversation:
Long Beach has such a vibrant, colorful party atmosphere unlike any other venue on the circuit. It is the one race that because of the variety of series brings so much of the industry together when our schedules rarely overlap. The veterans tend to appreciate it a bit more than the younger drivers, in part because they generally haven't raced at Long Beach until they make it to IndyCar. But they gain an appreciation quickly. Some sports car drivers truly love this track, and the races here are a blast because they pack a lot of drama and strategy into much shorter time.
My first of now 14 trips to Long Beach came in 1998. I hadn't seen Alex Zanardi race in person. Watching his tour de force comeback after he got caught up in a mess at the hairpin was incredible, and when he snookered Bryan Herta it got the crowd roaring. It was sensational; our seats were at the old Turn 1, the last year before they transitioned to the current left-hander around the fountain. The noise and pulsation was incredible as he came by and then went to victory lane. Another time, my dad and I were flying back and we saw Greg Moore in the Long Beach airport. I had done some handwritten race reports for fun at the time and actually had one from when he won that year's opener on hand. Greg was thrilled to see someone my age care about the sport and said “That's so cool!" when he saw it. Sadly Greg had his accident at Fontana later that year but the memory has lasted forever.
This will be viewed as a paradoxical year. Sim racing and esports has existed for decades; but it's never entered the real world of racing zeitgeist, and I'm not sure we were ready for it. To me it's enjoyable when it's intentionally fun and not taken too seriously. We've already seen how it can have real world consequences with the rapid reaction to Kyle Larson's very poor decision. While sim racing could enjoy a greater role alongside real world racing in the future, particularly if more companies get involved from a financial standpoint, I don't think it can offset the potential losses and concerning elements affecting the real world of racing, and the people who rely on it for their livelihoods. So much depends on how the automotive industry progresses with its future technologies and how the sanctioning bodies organize and respond.
The simplest thing I know I can look forward to will be seeing so many friends and colleagues back in the paddock. It's often said we're a traveling circus or family, and many of us have developed lifelong friendships at the track. Without Long Beach on the schedule, meaning I miss my favorite breakfast item all year (the King Taco breakfast burrito), the other specific thing I'd look forward to is a trip to my "happy place" road course — Road America — and one of their trademark double brats. (Shout-outs to SJB and The Gearbox. If you know, you know.)
And Finally…
One filmmaker took a drone to the empty Long Beach course before all the barriers were taken down. It’s a little spooky and a lot sad. See you all there next year.
Drive hard and be safe.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
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