Carlos Mencia-Hindu driver

Carlos Mencia, comedian, celebrity race car driver, talks about racing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was asked what kind of driver he would be. Mencia said he might be Hindu.

Jonathan Bomarito

Jonathan Bomarito missed winning the pole by .0003 seconds for the Indy Lights race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Conrad Grunewald

Conrad Grunewald, a Formula Drift driver, crashed his team's Corvette last weekend in a race in Long Beach. He and his team had to repair the car for this weekend's team drifting exhibtion at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Drift drream come true for Kyle Mohan

Kyle Mohan, who lives in Long Beach and went to Lakewood High School, had to build race cars in secret when he was a teenager. He didn't want his parents to know about his desire to become a race car driver, even though his dad has never missed a Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Mohan, one of the Formula Drift drivers competing this weekend, will be driving a brand Mazda RX8 as part of three-car team with Conrad Grunewald and Samuel Hubinette.
Read more about Mohan and his teammates here.

All roads lead to Charlie Kimball

Charlie Kimball, who grew up in Camarillo and went to Rio Mesa High School, is racing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend. He is in the No. 35 car for the Palm Beach International Raceway team for the Firestone Indy Lights race on Sunday.
Qualifying is today. This is Kimball's rookie season in the Indy Lights series. He has been in Europe racing Formula Fords and in the Formula 3 series since graduating from high school five years ago.
He was diagnosed with type I diabetes about 18 months ago and had to adjust his lifestyle to continue his racing career.
Kimball made his debut with his new team two weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Fla., for the Indy Lights season opener. The Long Beach race is the second of the Indy Lights season.
For more on Kimball, click here.

Carlos Mencia 1

Carlos Mencia talks about being in the Toyota Pro-Celebrity race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach and racing against Al Unser Jr.

Awaiting Helio

Helio Castroneves is on his way to Long Beach.
The IndyCar Series driver was acquitted earlier in the day on tax evasion charges. Penske Racing was awaiting his arrival in Long Beach sometime in the afternoon. Castroneves will be back in his No. 3 car for the race.
“His best medicine will be to get back in a race car,” said Penske Racing president Tim Cindric. “His focus and his concentration are among the best. It will be like riding a bike for him.”
Penske Racing will have three cars in the Grand Prix of Long Beach with Ryan Briscoe and Will Power in the other two cars.
Power appears to be the odd-driver out. There are no plans at the moment to expand Penske Racing to a three-car team for the rest of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Power will race in Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500 for Penske. There is a race at Kansas Speedway between Long Beach and the Indy 500 in May, but there are no plans to have Power race at Kansas, said Cindric.

Paul Tracy heading back to Indy

Paul Tracy will be returning to the Indianapolis 500 to race a car for KV Racing Technology, owned by Jimmy Vasser and Kevin Kalkhoven.
Tracy and the team made the announcemt Friday at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Tracy, a four-time winner at Long Beach, is only going to race in the Indy 500 for KV Racing. When asked if he expected to get any extra time in his team's new car before the Indy 500, Tracy said they don't normally make past winners go through rookie orientation.
He was making reference to the last time he was in the Indy 500 in 2002. He finished second to Helio Castroneves on a debatable pass under caution.
Tracy has raced in the Indy 500 six times. Tracy has been in three IndyCar Series races, most recently last year in Edmonton where he finished fourth.

Toyota Speedway At Irwindale Weekend Preview

Week five gets under way tomorrow night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, and there is a full slate of competitive racing. The tracks featured series returns, as the ACDelco Super Late Models ditch the twin 25s from two weeks ago in favor of a 50 lap event. Defending series champion Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills looks to continue his dominance of the series. Joanides has two victories this season, with a second place sandwiched between them. He currently holds an 18 point lead over Irwindale legend Rip Michels of San Fernando. “The Ripper” is still searching for his first victory of the season. Dan Moore, Travis Thirkettle, and Matt Hicks round out the top five in points right now. Look out for up and comer Bear Rzesnowiecky of Las Vegas. After mechanical issues kept him from running a lap opening night, Bear secured two top fives in the twins on April 4. This may be the week for the youngster to break through.

A developing story to watch this weekend will be the addition of 40 pounds back to the Chevrolets. The Chevys has been running with a weight break to make up for the horsepower advantage the Fords have, but this week Toyota Speedway officials have evened the cars weight, which could give an advantage to Michels and Moore, both Ford drivers. Also, watch for Luis Martinez Jr. “Hot Sauce” had a brilliant showing on opening night, vying for a win and taking home second, but he was disqualified from both races two weeks ago for an illegal restrictor plate. It will be interesting to see how his team will respond.

The series responsible for one of the best races of the year returns tomorrow as well. The King Taco Super Trucks will take to the track for a 40 lap event. Two time defending series champion Pat Mintey Jr. of Quartz Hill leads the points after two races, with a win and a third place finish to his credit. But it’s the youngsters who are making a move in this class. Mason Britton of Sacramento took home the victory in a thrilling finish on April 4. That race saw Britton and RJ Johnson of Canyon Country battle side-by-side for the final 14 laps, with Britton edging Johnson by two tenths of a second. Johnson, who won the final two events of 2008 as well as Rookie of the Year in the division, had ignition problems on opening night, but rebounded nicely and is primed for his first win of the season. The father-son combo of Ron and Jeff Peterson both currently sit in the top five in points, and could also provide a feel good story for the weekend. Ron, the 2006 Super Truck champion, is looking for his first win since his return to the cockpit, while his son Jeff, the runner-up in the rookie standings last year, is still looking for his first victory at Toyota Speedway.

The ever-popular Legends series returns to Toyota Speedway for a scheduled 35 laps. In the closest race of the year so far, Chad Schug used his bumper to get around Donny St. Ours in turn 4 on the final lap. Schug, from Oak Hills, beat the Greg Biffle Development Driver by nine-hundredths of a second. St. Ours, from Upland, used a similar move earlier in the race to get around Brandon Toy. Toy, a Bakersfield native, finished third in the season opener, followed by Josh Geer and Kenny Maler Jr. in the top five. Maler made his first appearance in the top five, and could be one to watch this weekend. Ryan Reed and Tom Landreth made contact in the closing laps, sending them to 17th and 16th place finishes respectively. Landreth has won six of the eight championships in the series, including last year's, while Reed finished second in points last year, and recently signed on as a development driver for High Point Racing, where he will compete in the new S2 division later this year.

The tracks resident kids’ series returns as well, with the D and D Construction Bandoleros taking to the third-mile for 15 laps. Ryan Cansalle was awarded a victory after Al Simpson’s carburetor was found illegal in post race tech after the first race of the season. Also returning for the first time since opening night is the Pick Your Part Outlaw Figure 8s. Rod Proctor cruised to a victory in the first race of the season, beating Steve Stewart and Bare Foot Billy Ziemann.

Toyota Speedway is offering Buy 1, Get 1 Free tickets on their website for tomorrow, with racing scheduled to begin around 7pm.

On a side note, Helio Castroneves and his sister were acquitted of tax evasion charges earlier today. The jury was hung on a charge of conspiracy, but the six tax evasion charges were all cleared. I personally hope to see him back in an Indy Car sooner than later. Also, a big congratulations to NASCAR Camping World West Series driver Jason Bowles. Bowles piloted his Sunrise Ford sponsored entry to a victory last night in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, passing former Sprint Cup driver Steve Park in the closing laps. Series point’s leader Eric Holmes came home second in that event.

Stanton Barrett: Stuntman to IRL

Stanton Barrett has made the transition from NASCAR to the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He will be racing in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend.
He is also a stuntman, most recently working on "Race to Witch Mountain" with Dwayne Johnson. Barrett was also on an episode of the TV show "Life on Mars." The series was canceled, but at least he got on one show. It helped that his brother directed that episode.
The late Paul Newman was also his godfather. Newman's name is still part of the IRL, the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing team. Newman and Barrett's father did a lot of work in movies together. Barrett was able to work as Newmna's stunt double in one movie.
Read more here.

Grand Prix of Long Beach media lunch

The big names -- Penske, Ganassi, Andretti -- are back at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Unfortunately, very few of them or their drivers showed up to the media lunch at The Laugh Factory on Wednesday.
Gil de Ferran was there, proudly displaying his American Le Mans Series team's colors. Will Power from Team Penske made an appearance, as did Robert Doornbos, a driver from Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing.
Power won the Champ Car World Series race at Long Beach last year. It was the last race for the Champ Car World Series. The Indy Racing League IndyCar Series teams and drivers will take the streets this year.
But no drivers from Andretti Green Racing or Target Chip Ganassi Racing were there. That meant no Danica Patrick, no Scott Dixon, no Marco Andretti, no Dario Franchitti.
Among the drivers who were there: Davey Hamilton and Scott Sharp. Sharp apparently is going to announce that he is returning to race in the Indianapolis 500. Details are pending. For the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Sharp, like de Ferran, is racing in the American Le Mans Series.

Formula Drift drivers

After spending the day in Long Beach, and learning that I will be covering the Formula Drift event for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, I had lunch with Samuel Hubinette and Tanner Foust. Both are top Formula Drifters. Hubinette, from Newport Beach, is second in the Formula Drift Professional Championship standings after the event in Long Beach last weekend. He trails Ryan Tuerck by 12 points. Foust,a driver from Dana Point, is third in the standings.
Hubinete and Foust explained how the drifting competition will work this weekend in Long Beach. It's more of an exhibtion than an competition. The drivers will compete in three-car teams and won't go head-to-head, as was done during the Streets of Long Beach event.

NHRA, West Series notes

Jack Beckman finds himself among a long list of NHRA Funny Car drivers without a win so far this season.
Brothers Cruz and Tony Pedregon, the past two Funny Car champions, have yet to win a race in 2009. John Force, Robert Hight and Tim Wilkerson, all considered challengers for the NHRA championship when the season started, are winless to date.
Beckman, a driver from North Hills, with six career NHRA Funny Car victories, wants to add his name to the winner list after this weekend’s races at Atlanta Dragway.

“You know, it’s been an interesting year,” Beckman said. “I thought that we would have had a win by this time, but I think that most fans would have also expected that Robert Hight, John Force, Tim Wilkerson and the Pedregon Brothers all would have had wins by this time in the year.”

One bright spot for Beckman is that his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps has dominated at times in the Funny Car class. Capps has won three of the first five races this year and has emerged as the top driver in Funny Cars.
“The NAPA car, with Ron Capps and (crew chief) Ed McCulloch, has definitely risen to the occasion and set the bar pretty high for the rest of us,” Beckman said. “But, I still think this is going to be another Funny Car year where you see 10 different winners.”
The Funny Car class has been extremely competitive in recent years. Qualifying for races has been challenging, but it hasn’t been a problem for Beckman.
“To me it’s a testament to how competitive this category is,” Beckman said. “It’s so tough to win in Funny Car anymore, so the fact that the NAPA team has won three is actually amazing. And I’m happy for our teammates, but I want to be happy for our crew chief Johnny West and everyone else on the Valvoline/MTS team too.”
Beckman comes into the races at Altanta seventh in the Funny Car standings. He has one final appearance – at Las Vegas where he lost to Ashley Force Hood.
“We’re definitely going to win some races, but it would be nice if we did it this weekend in Atlanta,” Beckman said. “We’ve gone rounds everywhere but one race, so it would be nice to get the Valvoline/MTS car in the winner’s circle as soon as possible.
“We just have to keep focused on the fact that we are championship contenders, and tell ourselves that every single week. I tell you, everybody on our team has a good attitude, but there's nothing like a Sunday with the trophy in your hands to solidify that good attitude.”

The NASCAR Camping World Series West drivers will be at Phoenix International Raceway for a race on Thursday. The race is expected to draw some top prospects from across the nation, including the grandson of Richard Childress.
Austin Dillon, Childress’ grandson, won the rookie of the year in the Camping World Series East last year.
David Gilliland, a driver from Riverside, is entered in the West Series race. He is also expected to drive in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the track on Sunday.
Steve Park, a former Cup Series driver, is entered in the West Series race at Phoenix, as is Andrew Myers of Carlsbad, who has been racing in the NASCAR Late Model division at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.
Mike David of Modesto won the West Series race at Phoenix last year.
Greg Pursley, a Canyon High graduate, is second in the West Series standings after winning the season opener in Kyle, Texas, and finishing sixth in Roseville.
Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, is fourth in the West Series standings.
Eric Holmes of Escalon leads the West Series standings after two races. He won the West Series race at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., two weeks ago.

ARCA Series leader finishes 8th at Irwindale

Justin Lofton, the leader in the ARCA Series standings, finished eighth in the NASCAR Late Model race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He was racing a car for Paul Copenhaver Racing. Paul Copenhaver was Lofton's crew chief at Irwindale.
Now Copenhaver has his own race team. His 18-year-old son Miles drives the team's No. 8 car. Lofton was in the No. 88 car for PCM.
Lofton also drives for Eddie Sharp Racing, a team out of Denver, in the ARCA Series. He has two top-fives in two ARCA races and leads the series standings. Lofton, a 23-year-old who calls Westmoreland, Calif., home, said he will return to race at Irwindale when his ARCA schedule allows. He might even race in the NASCAR Super Late Model division at the track.
For a video interview of his return to Irwindale, click here.

Myers wins NASCAR Late Model race at Irwindale

Andrew Myers of Carlsbad thought the last NASCAR Late Model race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale was 10 laps too long. The number of laps in Saturday night’s race was just right.
Track officials added 10 laps before the start of the season opener in the Late Models two weeks ago. Myers ended up second, losing the lead in the race to Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills in the last 1o laps.
Myers won his first race of the season, holding off Tim Huddleston of Agoura Hills, the reigning Late Model champion at the track. Travis Irving of Long Beach was third. Myers was only planning on racing in the first five races of the Late Model season, but if he is leading the points standings after the fifth race, he might continue racing at the track.
For a video interview of Myers after the race, click here.
He will also be racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at Phoenix International Raceway on Thursday.
Joanides, who had a three-race winning streak at the track, finished ninth. He won the first two NASCAR Super Late Model races and the season opener in the Late Models.
Justin Lofton, a driver from Westmoreland, Calif., and the leader in the ARCA Series, was in the Late Model race. He has two top-five finishes in two ARCA Series races this year. He won the pole for the most recent ARCA Series race at The Salem Speedway in Indiana.
He rallied in the waning laps of the Late Model race at Irwindale to finish eighth. He used to race regularly at Irwindale before moving up to the ARCA Series. He teamed up with Miles Copenhaver, a driver from Lancaster, to form a two-car team for the Late Model race.
Tyler Rogers of Riverside was the third repeat winner of the night at Irwindale. He won the Mini Stocks race. Daryl Scoggins of Sunland was second, followed by Richie Altman of Wildomar.
Ken Michaelian of Lawndale extended his winning streak to three races at Irwindale. He won the Classic Stocks race after taking the figure 8 and Classic Stocks season openers two weeks ago.
Larry Cerquettini of Redlands won his second NASCAR Super Stocks race in a row. Only eight cars started the Super Stocks race, down two cars from opening night two weeks ago. It was one of the smallest fields to start a race at Irwindale. The biggest field to start a Super Stocks race at Irwindale was 45 cars, twice in 2001.

Only eight Super Stocks start race at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale

Rich DeLong III of Santa Clarita was one of only eight cars to start the NASCAR Super Stocks race. A combination of factors, poor economy and the impending debut of the S2 stock car among them, have led to the diminished car count.
The Super Stocks once started 45 cars in a race. It happened twice in 2001. DeLong and his dad maintain three of the cars in the Super Stocks division. DeLong said he is doing what he can to keep the series alive, but it looks like the days are numbered for the Super Stocks division.
For his comments, click here.
Logan Henson, a driver from Valencia in the NASCAR Late Models, made a number of changes to his car since opening night. He overhauled his engine after finishing seventh in the opening night race. The changes paid off somewhat in qualifying. He was fourth fastest. Another change is on his car's hood. He is carrying the Dream Center as a sponsor.
To hear Henson's comments about the changes to his car, click here.

Bryan Herta's big plans for the future

Bryan Herta, who made his debut as a race car team owner in the Firestone Indy Lights season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla., last weekend, talks about his plans for the future. His immediate goal is to win an Indy Lights race. His long-term goals include moving up to the IRL IndyCar Series and perhaps entering this year's Indianapolis 500.
Read about his plans and his thoughts on racing in the Grand Prix of Long Beach at The Signal.

Biffle going off-road before Phoenix

Before Greg Biffle makes his way to Phoenix International Raceway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in a couple of weeks, he’ll swing through Primm, Nev., for an off-road race.
Biffle will take part in the Best in the Desert Terrible’s 250 driving a Ford F-150 SVT Raptor R. He’ll go from Primm to Phoenix for the Cup race a few days later.
“When I think of Raptor the first thing that comes to mind is a proven off-road piece with its finish in the Baja 1000, and I think it’s a long-time overdue, if you want my opinion,” said Biffle, who is participating in the event’s Fun Run on April 16 before heading to Phoenix for Saturday night’s NASCAR event. “Up to this point, no manufacturer has built a truck like this. People had to do it themselves, so there’s a definite market out there and I’m excited about it. I’ve been paying attention and watching some of the desert testing that they’ve done and I can’t wait.”
Before Biffle graduated to the Cup cars, he was a NASCAR Truck Series champion. But this will be the first time he’s raced in an off-road truck.
“I really enjoy off-roading. I enjoy riding motorcycles. I enjoy my sand car,” said Biffle, who will be driving the F-150 SVT Raptor R being campaigned by former Ford Rough Riders Rob MacCachren and Steve Olliges in all five Best in the Desert races this year. “I’ve never pre-run Baja or anything like that, and I might do that this year, but I’ve never really been in a specific off-road. I’ve watched the stuff on Speed a lot. It looks fun and it looks exciting to do, so I’d like to mess with it a little bit.”

Harvick, Hornaday visit Walter Reed

NASCAR drivers Ron Hornaday Jr., center, and Kevin Harvick, right, visit the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday.

Kevin Harvick and Ron Hornaday Jr. spent Tuesday visiting injured soldiers at the Water Reed Army Medical in Washington, D.C.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is one of the sponsors on Hornaday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team, owned by Kevin Harvick. Harvick and his wife DeLana have teams in the Truck and Nationwide Series.
“This is an opportunity very few people get to experience,” said Kevin Harvick, a driver from Bakersfield. “I am very proud of our affiliation with the VFW and all of the programs they offer to our veterans and their families. I was able to personally say thank you to some of our country’s finest men and women who have given so much for all of us. This visit was an eye-opening experience at how far medical research has come and it was truly an honor to be able to meet and talk with these brave men and women.”
Hornaday and the Harvicks toured the medical center, signed autographs and listened to the stories the soldiers had to tell. A few years back, Hornaday went with a group of other NASCAR drivers to Iraq to visit soldiers.
“I really value our relationship with the VFW, it is through our affiliation with them that we get the opportunity to come to places like this,” said Hornaday, who used to race at Saugus Speedway and lived in Palmdale. “It is incredible to listen to the stories and hear how desperately these patients want to get well only to rejoin their battalion. This visit was a real honor. I got the opportunity to shake hands with true heroes. I am so thankful for each and every person in this hospital, not only the patients but the doctors and nurses who are taking care of them. A visit like this really makes you proud to be an American.”

Sunday night roundup

Drivers for Don Schumacher Racing are leading three of the four national divisions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series after the races at The Strip in Las Vegas.
Tony Schumacher leads the Top Fuel standings after winning in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Ron Capps leads the Funny Car standings. He was also a winner in Las Vegas.
Matt Smith leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings.
“I'm tremendously ecstatic,” said team owner Don Schumacher. “It was great to have Ron win today, to have Tony win today, have Matt Hagan get to the final, a rookie like that. Tommy DeLago is doing a great job over there. All my Funny Cars are doing a great job, the dragsters are all doing a great job, and we’re number one in the points with the Pro Stock Motorcycle also. Ron and Tony are really stepping this program up. They’re doing one great, great job.”
Things are going well for Don Shcumacher Racing. Hagan, a rookie in the Funny Car division, met Capps in the final at Las Vegas. Hagan beat Jack Beckman, his Don Schumacher Racing teammate and a driver from North Hills, in the quarterfinals.
"It's just frustrating because it dropped a cylinder early and we're trying to figure out what caused that to happen. The Valvoline/MTS guys are looking at the data right now," Beckman said. "All we can do is keep our chins up and go out and make some good runs in Atlanta and get a hone in on this because that was an absolute surprise to us. It hadn't done that at all this weekend. We'll figure it out."
Beckman beat Ashley Force Hood in the first round at Las Vegas. Force Hood, a driver for her dad’s John Force Racing, was coming off her first win of the season.
“We had a team meeting this afternoon and I told our team that we never get any luck," Force Hood said. "Not even a glimmer of luck. We have a really good car but every close race we are on the losing side. We have lost races that I would want to make the run we made since it would have won any other time or other part of the ladder. You think one of these days we will get some luck.”

Eric Holmes of Escalon won the NASCAR Camping World Series West race at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., on Saturday night.
It was the first win of the year in the West Series for the Bill McAnally Racing driver. He was a winner at All American Speedway last year.
“I had an excellent car,” Holmes said. “(Crew chief) Ty Joiner and the whole BMR team gave me a great NAPA Toyota Camry. Last lap finishes like Texas are a lot of fun, but these are more fun for my team, to have such a dominant car. It was an easy car to drive and I was just patient all night.”
Greg Pursley, a driver from Newhall, graduate of Canyon High School in Canyon Country and winner of the West Series season opener at Thunderhill Raceway in Texas, was sixth.
Jason Bowles, a driver from Ontario, was second in the West Series race at All American Speedway. He was followed by Paulie Harraka from Failawn, N.J. in third.