The rhythm of IndyCars racing 200 mph through the city streets reverberated off of every corner downtown, drawing in over 192,000 fans to the Long Beach Grand Prix for a closer glimpse on April 14th through the 16th.
Many fans came to continue the tradition of attending this stimulating three-day event with their families that started generations ago.
Kyle Stansbury has been coming to the Long Beach Grand Prix since he was five-years-old. He passed on his love for racing to his daughter Addison Stansbury, who clung to an autograph she had just received from her favorite driver Rinus Veekay.
Stansbury has a tattoo of the Long Beach track on his right arm, which he had done at this Grand Prix a previous year. Pointing to a spot on the tattoo, he expressed his father’s love for the event.
“My dad’s ashes are actually in a flower bed over here. That was his favorite turn, so he put his ashes there,” Stansbury said.
The event was capped off by the final IndyCar series race, which determined the winner of the Long Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. IndyCar races were the main attraction, but the fast paced weekend also featured races with IMSA sports cars, super drift cars, stadium super trucks and historic Formula 1 cars.
On Friday night, an autograph signing in the IndyCar paddock located next to the track took place. Race fans stood in long lines that looped around the driver’s trailers to get a signature or snapshot with their favorites.
The strong connection with racing and family bonding was evident in other fans as well. Kate Hart traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah draped in an IndyCar flag. Hart hoped to get as many signatures as she could from the drivers for her sister’s 16th birthday.
The autographs may have been a gift for her sister, but Hart has been a racing fan long before this past weekend.
“I remember sitting on my grandpa’s lap since I was two-years-old watching IndyCar,” Hart said.
Hart wasn’t the only fan that traveled miles to get to the race. Daniel Gaxiola has been a fan of the Long Beach Grand Prix since 1988. He and several family members traveled from Mexico to get a glimpse of driver Pato O’Ward before the final race.
Not all fans needed to get inside the gates for the experience. Due to the unique nature of the track winding through the downtown area, many people were able to watch from their balconies or tail-gate in the various parking structures surrounding the track.
On-lookers attempted to stick their cellphones through the chain link fence to capture the racing that could be heard miles away.
Now that the Long Beach Grand Prix is over the noise on downtown streets has returned to a normal decibel range, but the memories that were made will linger a little longer.
Kyle Stansbury posed with his wife Andrea Stansbury (right) daughter Addison Stansbury (center) and driver Rinus Veekay at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 14th 2023. (Lauren Benson) Fans watch the Grand Prix of Long Beach from their balconies located on Ocean Blvd. on April 15th, 2023. (Lauren Benson) 
Kate Hart wears the indy flag she planned to get signed by all the drivers at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 14th, 2023. (Lauren Benson) 
Aiden Nunez posed with his favorite driver and last year’s champion Josef Newgarden at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 14th, 2023. (Lauren Benson) 
Race fans cling to the chain-link fences that protected them from the track at the Grand Prix of Long Beach on the weekend of April 14th through the 16th. (Lauren Benson)