Long Beach Grand Prix celebrity race: Stars practice for the final lap

ROSAMOND >> There’s usually a leaing curve for some of the celebrities who race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race.

In past practices at the Willow Springs Inteational Raceway, there have been some who have never driven a manual transmission car before and lea to shift gears on the track.

There are always others who are intimidated by the unexpected kick of the 210-horsepower Scion FR-S race cars and gingerly cruise around as they slowly gain confidence.

Not this year.

In this year’s final Pro/Celebrity race, it’s all about experience. The 40th aual event – being canceled after this year due to Toyota moving its headquarters from Torrance to Plano, Texas – brings back a group of past race wiers who already know how to dominate the 1.97-mile street course.

• Photos: See photos of the celebrities practice in Rosamond

“There’s usually a couple of models, maybe a heavyweight from the UFC and you think, all right, I can get this guy on the track, but not today,” said comedian Adam Carolla, one of the more than 20 retuing wiers competing on April 16 on the streets of Long Beach. “Everyone’s fast, everyone knows what they’re doing,”

“I was feeling pretty good until about five minutes ago,” he added just after taking a couple of practice spins around the track with the other past wiers.

Carolla was the Celebrity/Overall wier in 2012. While his mind was on the intense and highly competitive field, like many of the pros and celebrity drivers at the practice track a few weeks before the race, he was lamenting the end of the Pro/Celebrity event while hoping somehow it could still retu.

Grand Prix officials aounced in early March that this year would mark the final Pro/Celebrity race, which benefits the fundraising program “Racing for Kids.”

Toyota will continue to be the name sponsor of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which takes place April 15-17 and features the IndyCar Series main event on April 17, where turbocharged cars will race at speeds of up to 185 mph through city streets.

• Video: Practice session for 2016 Pro/Celebrity Race

While many hope a comeback of the crowd-pleasing event is on the horizon, race officials said keeping the race going wouldn’t be as easy as just finding another sponsor.

“It’s like anything else in life. We conducted this event for 40 years, that’s a long time and there’s a lot of good memories,” said Grand Prix of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Michaelian.

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“You couldn’t have another sponsor because Toyota supplies the cars. Nobody else can supply the cars,” he added, noting that with Toyota continuing as the name sponsor, no other car company could come in and run the Pro/Celebrity race.

Chris Esslinger, director of communications for the Grand Prix said that there are plans to replace the Pro/Celebrity race with another competitive event next year.

“There will be a race to take the spot. We’re going to take a look at some different possibilities as far as a Saturday midday race but at this point we haven’t begun those discussions. There’s a lot of possibilities out there and we’ll have to see which one offers the best shows for our fans,” he said.

The celebrity and pro racers meanwhile are promising the fans an unforgettable show for the final year.

“I think this will be the craziest race and possibly the greatest caage we’ve ever seen,” said Rutledge Wood, the host of “Top Gear USA,” and Celebrity/Overall wier in 2013.

“It is amazing to watch,” he added, referring to the skills of the retuing drivers.

Like Carolla, he also hoped the race would somehow retu next year.

“I think it’s such a big part of the Grand Prix weekend and people have just come to know and love it. I mean 40 years strong, it’s an amazing thing,” Wood said.

Other racers will include Alfonso Ribeiro, last year’s Pro/Overall wier and the Celebrity/Overall wier in 1994 and 1995; and Indy champ Al Unser Jr., who was the Pro wier in 2014 and the Pro/Overall wier in 1985 and 2009.

Also competing is Golden Globe-wiing actor Ricky Schroder, the celebrity wier in 1989; Actor Stephen Baldwin, celebrity wier in 1990; 12-time Olympic medalist and the only woman on the track, Dara Torres, who won the race in 2002; and Frankie Muniz, the celebrity wier in 2005.

“This year with incredible, incredible drivers, from day one it’s been really competitive out there,” said Muniz, who called it an “all-star” race as he stepped outside his Scion after taking a couple of laps. “We’re ruing in packs and it feels good. In past years there have been people who are scary because they go so slow. I think this year is going to be a pretty intense race.”

As he sat near a camper taking a rest during practice, Schroder agreed that the higher level of experience means a more intense but safer race.

“It feels a little safer. Everybody is super competitive and everybody is ruing really fast and hard. But everyone knows what they’re doing so you don’t feel like there’s going to be anybody doing silly stupid things,” he said.

The “Silver Spoons” star who most recently directed a docu-series set in Afghanistan called “The Fighting Season,” reflected on the legacy of the race.

“It’s a sad thing, but let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus on 40 great years that this event was run and all the great memories and great times,” he said.