Preview of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. (April 6, 1994) -- Long Beach is IndyCar street racing at its best. This year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is the 20th running of the race (including its days as a stop on the Formula One circuit and a year of Formula 5000 racing) through the city streets of the Southern California port city.
The race has been a cornerstone of the redevelopment program which has transformed Long Beach into one of the Pacific Rim's leading convention center cities.
In its 20 years, the Long Beach street race has built a strong American tradition with the Andretti and Unser families at its heart. Mario Andretti won at Long Beach for the first time in 1977 when the race was for Formula One cars, a prelude to Andretti winning the F1 world championship in 1978. Mario added three more PPG Indy Car World Series victories at Long Beach in 1984, 1985 and 1987, with son Michael winning his first and only Long Beach Grand Prix in 1986. In 1988, Al Unser Jr. started a four-year win streak in Long Beach, almost winning a record five straight in 1992 until a late-race incident between he and teammate Danny Sullivan, who went on to victory.
Last year, Michael was in Formula One with the McLaren team while Al Unser Jr. hit the wall while trying hard to pass Nigel Mansell. That left Paul Tracy to score the first PPG Cup Series race win of his career. The 25-year old Tracy is in his fourth year with Penske. He made his PPG Cup debut at Long Beach in 1991 with Dale Coyne's team, joining Penske in July, 1991. Tracy would like to stake his claim to this year's PPG Cup title by scoring his second win in a row at Long Beach.
"We had a great race at Long Beach last year," said Tracy. "I'll always remember winning my first IndyCar race there in California. Long Beach was my best race from the first part of last year. It was a few months before I was able to put it all together to win my second race. So this year, I'd like nothing more than to win at Long Beach and keep the ball rolling through the rest of the season."
There will be plenty of competition for Tracy however, starting with new teammate Unser Jr., who'll be looking for a record fifth win on the California streets. "I love Long Beach," said Unser. "I've been fortunate to have a lot of success there and I really enjoy the race and the fans. This year we've got great equipment. We had some problems in Australia, but we're ready for Long Beach -- but there's plenty of competition out there. It will be tough."
Among those who'll be tough to beat is Penske teammate Emerson Fittipaldi who has a series of second and third-place finishes in Long Beach, but has never won in California. PPG Cup champion Nigel Mansell was on the pole in Long Beach last year but faded to third at the finish, nursing a painful back after crashing at Phoenix the week before. Mansell's record in IndyCar street races hasn't been as impressive many expected, so he too will be trying hard to win this year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Then of course, there are the Andrettis, Mario and Michael. Promoter Chris Pook says Mario has meant more to the success of the Long Beach G.P. than any other driver, and the senior Andretti would be delighted to win one more time in his final appearance racing through the city streets. Meanwhile, son Michael is one of this year's favorites, particularly after winning the PPG Cup street racing season-opener in Surfers Paradise.
"I feel good about the road circuits and street circuits," said Michael after winning in Australia. "The areas on the racetrack in Australia where I felt like I was really quick were the Long Beach-style corners. That's where I felt I was making a lot of time. I felt I was really fast through the last section where it goes up that little hill and around the back through that left, right. Through there, the car felt really good and that's a lot like Long Beach. So hopefully, our car will be like that at Long Beach."
Also capable of running at the front in Long Beach is Robby Gordon in the Walker Racing Valvoline-Cummins Lola Ford. Gordon has won before in IMSA sedans in Long Beach. Other drivers who might qualify in the top ten include Adrian Fernandez in Galles Racing's Tecate-Quaker State Reynard Ilmor and rookie Jacques Villeneuve in Forsythe-Green's Player's Reynard Ford. Interest will continue as well in the progress made by Honda in its first season of PPG Cup competition with Rahal/Hogan Racing and drivers Bobby Rahal, the 1992 PPG Indy Car World Series champion and Mike Groff.
The provisional entry list for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach includes 32 drivers who will attempt to qualify for the 28 places in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach starting field. Qualifying takes place on Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, with the 105-lap, 166.95-mile race starting at 1 p.m. PDT time on Sunday, April 17.

THE TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH is event No. 3 of the 16-race 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series. This race covers 105 laps (166.96 miles) of this 1.59-mile, eight-turn downtown street circuit.
THE TRACK is laid out on city streets along the seaside and marina portions of Long Beach, California.
TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying (one lap/1.59 miles) -- Nigel Mansell; April 17, 1993; 52.908 sec.; 108.198 mph. Race (105 laps/166.95 miles) -- Paul Tracy; April 18, 1993; 1 hr., 47 min., 36.418 sec., 93.089 mph.
DEFENDING CHAMPION is Paul Tracy, who captured his first career IndyCar win on the streets of Long Beach in 1993.
RACE TIME is 1 p.m. PDT (4 p.m. EDT), Sunday, April 17. Broadcast airs live on ABC Sports (4-6 p.m. EDT) and the Kmart IndyCar Radio Network.