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Day 2 of Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach promises competitive races, raucous tunes

April 15, 2023

Long Beach’s motorsports party is into Day 2 — and now it’s really going to rev up.

The second day of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach got underway early Saturday morning, April 15, with visitors getting to enjoy a full day of competitive action, the continuing delights of the Lifestyle Expo, Family Fun Center and countless culinary creations.

And for the second straight day, an evening concert will cap off the fun.

RELATED: For Day 1 coverage, click here. For all of SCNG’s Grand Prix coverage, click here.

Keith Napp was geared up with his Grand Prix cap and T-shirt ready to start his early morning on Saturday.

Napp arrived from Venice right as the gates opened. He has been attending the Grand Prix for about 20 years, only missing a couple in the early 2000s, he said.

“I’m looking forward to a good race and the Formula 1 cars,” he said. “They’re old and don’t want to rack up but it’s cool to still get to see them.”

Napp said he would definitely recommend people make the trip out to Long Beach, even just for the other attractions and the experience.

“I always enjoy coming,” Napp said. “It’s great partying with everyone ever year.”

Things got off to a relatively slow start during Day 1, which is normal, given the street circuit mostly hosts practice and qualifying runs and that Friday is a workday for many.

But that doesn’t mean folks didn’t have a blast.

“It’s great — my favorite part is the Super Trucks,” Desirae Hepp, a Long Beach native attending the Grand Prix for the first time, said on Friday. “They remind me of (Hutch’s) cars in ‘Grand Theft Auto.’”

Still, with organizers expecting more than 180,000 people to attend over the Grand Prix’s three-day run, the downtown Long Beach concourse will likely be more crowded on Saturday.

And there’s plenty for folks to enjoy.

The Stadium Super Trucks and the Porsche Carrera Cup with each have their first races of the weekend, with the Super Drift Challenge No. 2 also scheduled for Saturday.

And for those of a certain-generation — or at least with a love of all things vintage — the first Historic F1 Challenge Race is also on tap.

That’s a moment that Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, said will be special.

“For those who are old enough to reminisce about (seeing) those cars blur down Shoreline Drive, it’s going to be a great chance to go back into your memory bank,” Michaelian said in a previous interview. “But more importantly, I think the vast majority of the people will not have had a chance to see or hear those cars — and by the end of the weekend, you’ll get a small taste of what it was like to run when we ran Formula 1 year in the old days.

“That’s going to be a special moment.”

The headliner of the day, though, will be the IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix — a 100-minute affair.

The evening’s headliner, meanwhile, is also poised to amp folks up.

All-star band Kings of Chaos will rock the Grand Prix during the Saturday night concert at the Terrace Theater plaza, a day after DJ Boombox Cartel welcomed back Fiest Friday by getting people moving to electronic dance music.

Kings of Chaos is made up of a rotating roster of well-known musicians. The roster for Saturday includes vocalists Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Corey Glover and Vernon Reid from Living Colour, Lzzy Hale, lead vocalist-guitarist of rock band Halestorm, plus Rome Ramirez of Long Beach’s Sublime with Rome.

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Based on that lineup, it seems as if the Saturday night concert is poised to provide an eclectic array of musical energy.

So whether you love roaring engines or ear-splitting rock, there will be no shortage of fun for those who attend Day 2 of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

If you can’t make it but would still like to know what’s going on in downtown Long Beach, don’t fret: Come back here for updates on the day at the races.

Orange County Register

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Day 2 of Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach promises competitive races, raucous tunes

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