The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is America’s #1 Street Race, and Broadway Glass is proud to be a supporter of this wonderful event. We were very excited to participate in 2018 and help make the event a success once again. It was an exciting weekend, and we had a blast.
Thank you to all involved with the race. We’re looking forward to next year and continuing our relationship with this great event and organization.
TRACK HISTORY OF THE GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH
Although the City of Long Beach had no way of knowing, when Friday morning, March 26, 1977 dawned, the city would never be the same again.An auto racing fan-turned-travel-agent — Chris Pook — was about to put the city on the international sports map and spark a business, travel and financial renaissance that continues today.
Barely 18 months earlier, Pook had beaten all the odds and naysayers by staging the first Long Beach Grand Prix, a Formula 5000 race won by Brian Redman that attracted more than 46,000 race fans and curiosity seekers. He followed that only six months later by staging a Formula One race, won by Switzerland’s Clay Regazzoni, that was a moderate success.
Now, at 4:30 a.m., it was financial crunch time. With a pack of creditors snapping at his heels, Pook desperately needed a high-profile F/One race that would be watched by countless millions worldwide and – he hoped – packed grandstands in Long Beach.
He got it. With some help from a tough, diminutive Italian-American from Nazareth, PA. Mario Andretti avoided a first-lap, multi-car collision, then went on to outduel F/One stars Jody Scheckter and Niki Lauda to become the first American to win a F/One race in a U.S. Grand Prix.