Flying motorcycles, burning rubber and drunk dancing at Thunder Thursday

As members of the pit crew were on the Grand Prix track, preparing for the pit competition to start on Thunder Thursday, a fan in the crowd shouted a member’s name and followed with “I love you. You’re my hero.”

The acknowledgement managed to be heard clearly over the trembling, loud cars and was declared in front of hundreds of people. 

The message made the pit member blush, and as he tried to get back to business, a proud smile kept making its way back to his face. 

^{A pit member smiles after being acknowledged by a fan as their “hero.” (Paloma Maciel)}

During the competition, two teams at a time were tasked with performing a pit stop, where pit crew members would replace tires and refuel the car. After they completed the stop, the car zoomed forward and whoever made it to the end first, won their round. 

^{The IndyCars of Marcus Ericsson, left, and Rinus VeeKay, right, race during the pit stop competition at Thunder Thursday at The Pike on Thursday. (Paloma Maciel)}

IndyCar driver Christian Rasmussen and his pit crew won the competition, and went home with a $10,000 check. 

The pit stop competition was just one of the attractions of Thunder Thursday, which is a free event that got the community pumped before the races began on Friday.

The event also had a motorcycle contest that featured motorcycles flying through the sky, parked racing cars for people to enjoy, and even the chance to hold a snake and take pictures with.

After the pit stop competition, the crowd enjoyed the motorcycle contest, which featured four bikers doing flips and tricks, by driving off a large ramp. Not one of them fell out of their tricks during the whole event, and they landed perfectly. 

^{Dereck Beckering jumps through the air during Thunder Thursday on Thursday at The Pike. (Bella Schultz)}

^{Levi Renz attempts a full flip on his motorcycle during Thunder Thursday, an event before the Long Beach Grand Prix, on Thursday. (Bella Schultz)}

One audience member was grateful for the experience of being able to watch the motorcycles from such a close distance. Her heart was racing, though, as she was worried for the riders’ safety. 

“It was amazing, the tricks and stuff they did was kind of crazy. I was like ‘oh my God’, if those were one of my kids, oh no, I couldn’t take it,” Courtney Luhrs said. 

After the motorcycle show was over, people rushed to see the cars that were on display on Bay Street alongside stores like GAP and the Levi’s Outlet. 

After the cars that were on display were driven out of the event, people turned to the live music that had been playing behind them. 

^{Conor Ashe from the band The Ashe Brothers performs at Thunder Thursday on Thursday at The Pike. (Liam Hollon)}

Really, those drunk from the beer garden had been grooving all along. As the “Teach Me How to Dougie” song played and “Juju on that Beat”, one participant emoted the dances fully, and spontaneously dropped to the floor in one moment, while being right back up in another.

Another guest felt every song deep, in his soul, and swayed slowly back and forth and back and forth. 

This man who was clearly having another experience and perhaps was in some sort of peaceful dimension, planted himself right in front of the live band. 

Everything that happened at Thunder Thursday is just a taste of what was to come at the Grand Prix this weekend. 

“It was a badass experience, I just wish it was more of like an active show, kind of like cars driving…They did at the end but I mean it was still pretty nice. I enjoyed it overall, 10 out of 10. I’m going to come to the Grand Prix on Sunday, it’s going to be my first time. I know I’ll love it,” said Hector Franco, a car lover at Thunder Thursday. 

^{Javier Villegas, left, and Dereck Beckering, right, sit on top of the landing block at the end of Thunder Thursday to say goodbye to the crowd before going off to sign autographs. Villegas and Beckering were two of four riders who competed at the competition on Thursday at The Pike. (Bella Schultz)}

^{A couple hundred of people gather at The Pike for the free event Thunder Thursday, which takes place a day before the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach starts. Rinus VeeKay’s IndyCar #76 was shown, among others, and the event had a pit stop competition and a motorcycle competition. (Paloma Maciel)}

^{Alexandra Zavala, a teenager who attended Thunder Thursday at The Pike, holds an Albino Burmese python, which she paid $20 to experience. It was her first time holding a snake and she described the experience as being worth it. (Paloma Maciel)}

^{Javier Villegas flies through the air during Thunder Thursday on Thursday at The Pike. (Liam Hollon)}