Conor McCarrell's blog
Long Beach
11:08 PM on Apr 19, 2008

After 9 years being away from the closest racing venue to me, I finally got off my ass and down to Long Beach to catch this year's action on "Super Saturday". When I first arrived in the gates mid morning and heard those screeching Cosworth turbos firing up and running, I was glad to be back :)

When I was younger, I would go on Fridays because of the smaller crowds and such, but this time, I REALLY wanted to watch the ALMS for the first time since I missed out last year. Boy, was I not disappointed. The race was a blast and the perspective is entirely different compared to what is shown on TV. Lots of battles within the separate classes that I bet were not televised and the sounds...my god, they were awesome. Tremendous event from a racing perspective, too. Lots of passing and intriguing in-class and out of class fights and without giving too many details, two of the classes' outcomes were resolved on the final lap which made the race that much more exciting :)

It was also the first time I got to see the Champ Cars and their Panoz chassis. Beautiful cars. I was not all that impressed with them on TV, but in person, wow...they are stunning. Their paint jobs really make them stand out, too. Too bad they are being put out of service :(

Also caught up on the Celebrity race and some drifting. The celeb race was kinda entertaining despite the lack of real celebs in it (Mike Skinner was in the Pro class, the fuck?). The drifting was too short to really care for, IMO, and I am not one of those people who like sports with judging and style points. But hey, the crowd seemed to enjoy it :)

Speaking of the crowd, it was huge! Being the cheap ass that I am, I bought General Admission tickets thinking I'll have plenty of open seats to choose from. Well shit, they were all filled! Granted, the reserved grandstands dwindled a bit, but once Champ Car qual started, a lot of ass were in the seats :P. And this on a Saturday. Should be interesting to see what tomorrow brings...

Came home with a healthy sunburn and down 70 bucks, but it all good :)

Anyone else here (besides Stibling) go or is going?



Posted by Bob Fay at 04:47 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #1

Being at the last Champ Car event is priceless. That 70 bucks was well spent! Have fun today fellas. Do something so I see yas on TV (ya know, like running around the track naked with an R2P sign, or even a "Tim McArthur, we luv you!" sign LOL)

Posted by David Fridley at 06:39 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #2

Pretty cool Conor. Bit sad I never got the chance to see the Panoz's and their turbos. But no biggie. I'll probably end up seeing the Honda's at MidOhio this summer along with ALMS. Will be cool just to see a fairly deep field.

Posted by Dennis Cummings at 07:38 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #3

Who is carring the Champ Car race on TV?
I see the ALMS race at LB is being carried by ABC, but can't find the Champ Car race
DC

Posted by Bob Fay at 07:43 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #4

ESPN2HD at 5:30PM EST I thought. I better check.

EDIT: Yes, this is the time and channnel. I'm hoping that the broadcast will be 16:9 1080 widscreen, HD at it's best!

Posted by Dennis Cummings at 08:45 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #5

Found it, thanks Bob

Posted by Conor McCarrell at 09:01 AM on Apr 20, 2008
Comment #6

It's gonna be tape delayed by an hour and a half so don't go flipping through the other ESPN channels to accidentally find out who the winner is. Actually, Champ Car races are about an hour and a half right? So we should be okay.

Can't go to the races today. I was hoping my boss was going to have some free tickets down in the hairpin area today like yesterday, but he doesn't. Damn :(

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