LONG BEACH-The 39th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is alive and smoking with speed. The annual race weekend, structured along the shoreline of Long Beach, officially got going with the 2013 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race that was short in time but long in the drama department with a 360-middle-of-the race spin and a race expert claiming the top spot.
Rutledge Wood, a commentator for the History Channel series “Top Gear USA and Fox Sports/SPEED racing, sped by the rest of the pro/celebrity 18-participant field with the fastest time to the checkered flag in a time of 17 minutes and 52 seconds in the 10-lap race.
Wood no doubt took advantage of the pole position he earned after Saturday’s qualifying heat, even though he surrendered his initial lead at the start of the race. Comedian Adam Corolla, who won the race last year, finished with the sixth-fastest time, good enough to capture first place in the Pro racing category.
Corolla clocked in at 18 minutes and 35 seconds, some 13 seconds behind Wood. Wood, visibly excited about his victory, said Corolla gave him a big boost.
“I decided this year that I should drive like I knew how instead of being nervous that I was going to wreck,” Wood said afterward at the post-race press conference. “I can’t believe it. I feel great. A huge thanks to Adam Corolla, too. Adam helped me so much last year, and he helped me a lot this year, too. Some of those people were so fast that I have no idea how I stayed in front of them. The Fr-S is awesome.”
The race was an interesting one. Comedian Wanda Sykes, holding up the rear, was cheered on by the crowd on each lap along the backstretch of the race as she looked to just finish the race. The need to win was second thought to Sykes, who completed just nine of the 10 laps, finished the race with a time of 18 minutes and 58 seconds. What mattered more to Sykes than winning was being part of the race in the first place.
Toyota donated is expected to donate $5,000 in the name of each Pro/Celebrity race driver to Racing for Kids. That would amount to a sum total of $90,000 Toyota is donating on behalf of the 18 drivers. Sykes still held her own in the race, but admitted some trepidation on her part.
Of course, Sykes would not be comedic personality that she is today without being very blunt on evaluating the situation.
“I said this is the craziest thing I did in my whole life,” Sykes said.
She elaborated a little further when she described what it was like when other cars were swooping up on her.
“It was like the gates of Hell had opened up,” said Sykes. “That’s what it felt like…just trying to get out of the way. I had a couple of helpings of ‘Sweet Jesus.’”
Olympian and Long Beach native Jessica Hardy finished all of her laps. But she also had some difficulty navigating the course, bumping into a wall and coming across the finish line with a time of 19 minutes and 13 seconds. Kate del Castillo, one of the most acclaimed actresses in Mexico, had a much better race than she did the last time she participated in the race.
In a practice tune-up, Del Castillo said she was not too happy crashing into a wall. This time around the results were much more favorable for her. Del Castillo claimed 10th place, the highest finish among female participants in the race.
Del Castillo credits the safety measures being in place for her successful race.
“It’s safer every time,” Del Castillo said. “They treat you great. Every time it’s just better.
Corolla was humble about his place in the standings and his success in the race.
“I started amongst the Pros-last overall,” Corolla said. “Those guys are great drivers and I’m sure if we did this 10 more times, someone else would win it at least nine-and-a-half of them.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com