Thunder Thursday, the Long Beach Grand Prix kick off event, brought in fans across the country to the Pike Outlets Thursday night. People lined up hours before the 6:00 start time just to see the set-up.
There were a plethora of things to see and do from motorcycle stunts, to meet and greets with the drivers.
One of the attractions consisted of a NTT INDYCAR Series pit stop competition. There were four teams represented in the competition by car number, name, pit team, and driver.
Josef Newgarden and his pit team Penske representing #6 Hitachi won the competition and grand prize of $2,500.
Other participants included Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, and Agustin Canapino as well as their teams and pit crews.
The Firestone mascot, Firebird pumped up the audience, and tossed out free merchandise to the crowd.
A motocross stunt team, The Freestyle Kings, performed wild stunts and tricks leaving the crowd in a frenzy.
The promenade was filled with a specialty of exotic cars and a lineup of some of the IMSA race cars. Everybody had a chance to check out the cars and take a picture with them.
Marcus Benavides from L.A. Prep, a specialized niche company that offer vehicle support services said, “This is one of the biggest events we have here in southern California and we help with everything that has to do with the cars, we transport them all here, display them and make them all shiny and nice.”
One of the most popular events of the night was the meet and greet. Fans lined up waiting to get autographs signed by the Porsche and ISMA race car drivers.
“I love all things racing but my favorite is the IMSA races and I came out here today to see and get Gordan Taylor’s autograph and to see him drive his Corvette this weekend, ” said Justin Weston, a super fan of racing.
There were also interactive photo booths, live music, a beer garden, food and free merchandise.
Thunder Thursday is just the start of the four day Grand Prix experience.