Long Beach Recap

This past weekend, the Grand Prix of Long Beach presented racing from IndyCar, Indy Lights, TUDOR, Pirelli World Challenge (PWC), Stadium Super Trucks, KMC Wheels Super Drift Challenge, and, in true California style, there was even a celebrity race!

While the west coast and California can be a beautiful place to visit, the racing is difficult to watch at any street course. Fans are very limited as to viewing areas and grandstand seats are sold as reserved tickets, so you are not free to roam and watch from various turns. Most of the grandstands do not have television screens so you better bring a radio or scanner if you want to at least listen and follow the racing action.

In reviewing the race weekend schedule, I noticed the lack of track time for PWC. In comparison to the other “support” events, let’s review:

So in summary, on Friday at 11:30am PWC was done for the day on track after 45 minutes on track, and on Saturday at 9:00am PWC was done for the day on track after 30 minutes on track. My first thought is the expense to the teams for crew travel, housing, salary, food, etc. for a total of 75 minutes over two days.

My second thought is the car preparation. Is this enough track time for the drivers to provide feedback and engineers to gather data in order to have the best car ready to race after unloading from the hauler? Yes, the crew works on the car when not on track, in the cramped paddock area, but it’s not like the team can make adjustments to try out at the next session later the same day.

So unless my math is as bad as my eating habits, I calculate PWC had 1-1/2 hours (90 minutes) total of track time before their race. While the Pro/Celebrity folks enjoyed 120 minutes of weekend track time. And the Super Drift cars were on the track for a total of 250 minutes over the weekend. You draw your own conclusions, but if I were a PWC team or driver, I would be a little heated too come race time.

On a personal note, I choose not to write about a race I do not see in person. For the PWC race on Sunday, I had arrived home from the airport in time to watch on my laptop. My only comment is that I hope something is learned, rules are reviewed, and positive changes are made for the future of PWC racing.

Being from Laguna Seca, EFFORT Racing driver Michael James Lewis was born to race and considers Long Beach, a home track. Michael had many friends and family visiting the track. I am very fortunate Michael had a few minutes to sit down and chat while I asked him some hard-hitting race questions.

If you ever get a chance, I encourage you to visit the EFFORT Racing paddock and meet both Michael Lewis and his teammate, Ryan Dalziel, both very talented drivers and fan-friendly. You too will be part of the #EFFORTNation. Big thank you to KBru Communications for organizing the EFFORT Racing garage tour and arranging this interview.

Q: If you had not been successful in karting or racing quarter midgets, what career path would you have chosen?

A: Action sports athlete and being a professional in the area of skateboarding or mountain biking.

Q: What is your favorite food?

A: Mexican beef burrito with red sauce.

Q: What is your favorite television show?

A: Archer, which is an American adult animated series, basically a cartoon about a secret agent. (This one a new to me…I had never heard of this show.)

Q: Of all your podiums, which one is your most rewarding and why?

A: The 2011 Formula 3 race at Autodromo di Monza, Italy.

(That weekend was the final two races of the season and going into race one, Michael was 2nd in points and needed all the points he could get, and was considered a long shot. For race 1, Michael captured the pole, recorded fastest lap, and won. While standing on the podium, his team mate gave him the word, the championship was within reach. The day of race 2, it was pouring rain, but he raced as hard as he could, and while he didn’t win race 2, Michael referred to it as “very historic”. Michael did win the 2011 rookie Formula 3 Italia Championship.)

Q: What track would you like to watch a race as a fan?

A: Michael had two tracks (1) Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500 race; (2) Tulsa Expo Raceway in Oklahoma for the midget event on dirt commonly referred to as the “Chili Bowl”

Q: What is the one thing about you not published on Website or Facebook, which you can share with your fans?

A: Like several drivers I have asked this question to, Michael has four confessions. First, he brakes with this right foot. Not too uncommon. Second, he always puts his left glove on first. Again, pretty common. Third, he is very particular with his seat belts. When he is buckled in to race, the belts have to “feel” right. If not, he unbuckles and tries again. Okay, picky buckles might narrow down the field, but I am betting number four is a Michael thing only. While shopping with some of his teammates near Laguna Seca, he wondered into a little shop and bought what he refers to as his ​​“lucky turtle”. The turtle sits on his dashboard in the car and has yet to be named.

​​For more information on Michael James Lewis, please check out his website at mjlracing.com

You can follow Michael on Twitter @MJLRacing_ and on Instagram @MJLRACING

Also, EFFORT Racing on Twitter @EFFORTRacing and on Instagram @EFFORTRACING

Please also support and follow KBru Communications on Twitter @KBruComm and Instagram @KBRUCOMM for race weekend updates.

Thank you all for reading and I welcome your comments. I have no affiliation with PWC, EFFORT Racing, Long Beach Grand Prix, etc. just a fan. There are many blogs and websites where you will find statistics, results, and scoring from the race; this is “just the way I see it”.

Got a response? Follow and tweet me @viclovesracing

And look for future “Vickie’s Trackside Report” coming to a track near you!

#pirelliworldchallenge #VickiesTracksideReport