2016 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

[DAEMANO]

To Clarify

The celebrities receive a 30-second head start to begin the race against the professionals and past champions. In 2015, actor Alfonso Ribeiro won while classed as a pro (thus starting with a 30-second handicap) and thereby became the third driver to have won the event in both "celebrity" and "pro" classifications, after Adam Carolla in 2013 and Sean Patrick Flanery in 1997/1998.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Pro/Celebrity_Race

[NyC Zn6]

Originally Posted by DuMa

Ken Gushi let us all down

Isn't he a drifter, not a track driver

[DuMa]

Originally Posted by NyC Zn6

Isn't he a drifter, not a track driver

hes also a FT86 member. he let us down

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

FINAL RACE RESULTS

Pos Name Laps Time
1 Alfonso Ribeiro 10 31:25.0
2 Max Papis 10 31:29.8
3 Rod Millen 10 31:34.7
4 Adam Carolla 10 31:36.9
5 Mike Skinner 10 31:37.1
6 Ken Gushi 10 31:37.6
7 Frankie Muniz 10 31:37.8
8 Jimmy Vasser 10 31:38.7
9 Ricky Schroder 10 31:39.2
10 Al Unser Jr. 10 31:44.4
11 Rutledge Wood 10 31:47.4
12 Dave Pasant 10 31:48.8
13 William Fichtner 10 31:49.4
14 Dara Torres 10 31:54.2
15 Doug Fregin 10 32:00.6
16 Brian Austin Green 10 32:27.1
17 Sean Patrick Flanery 3 05:24.9
18 Brett Davern 2 03:43.4
19 Bob Carter 2 03:46.0
20 Eddie Lawson 1 01:55.9

Originally Posted by DuMa

Ken Gushi let us all down

Originally Posted by MJones_RB

Adam Carolla beat Ken Gushi? Wow...

Originally Posted by NyC Zn6

Isn't he a drifter, not a track driver

Originally Posted by DuMa

hes also a FT86 member. he let us down

Damn you @Knshro13 you let us all down!

[KR-S]

Originally Posted by MJones_RB

Adam Carolla beat Ken Gushi? Wow...

Yep, Carolla has actually won the Pro/Celebrity race several times actually, and in both categories.

[Knshro13]

Originally Posted by DuMa

hes also a FT86 member. he let us down

hahaha yeah sorry buddy, I let you down.

But to clarify everything that went down. The flag stations had a local yellow with a debris flag waving. It's unfortunate that Sean Patrick Flannery didn't see any of the flags since he actually passed me under a local yellow (for those who don't know, there is no passing allowed under a caution flag) and then proceeded to chase whoever was in front of me. He then crashed into Bob Carter (VP of Toyota Motor Sales) who was getting help from the track officials with a tow rig.

Anyway, the starting grid was inverted hence why some of the "celebrity" drivers finished ahead of us pros. There was no 30 second gap between anyone. It was all according to reverse qualifying order.


I don't want to take any credit away from Alfonso. That man can drive. IF you guys take a closer look at the grid, you'll notice names like Jimmy Vasser, Al Unser Jr., and Eddie Lawson. Al is actually the winningest driver to ever drive on the Long Beach course. Hats off to Max Papis though since he actually started behind me and made a quick move up front to stay clear of all the wreckage.

This was by no means an easy win for Alfonso.

I truly wished everyone on this board can experience such a raw race like the Pro-Celebrity race. If you guys have a chance at a local spec 86/FRS/BRZ race, go for it. It's amazing.

[Knshro13]

Also, just to clarify that i don't really SUCK (lol)

All the participants (minus Bob Carter) are all previous (and some multi) champions of this race.



INSANE

[MJones_RB]

Originally Posted by Knshro13

It's unfortunate that Sean Patrick Flannery didn't see any of the flags since he actually passed me under a local yellow (for those who don't know, there is no passing allowed under a caution flag) and then proceeded to chase whoever was in front of me. He then crashed into Bob Carter (VP of Toyota Motor Sales) who was getting help from the track officials with a tow rig.

Flannery got a LOT of heat for not only passing on a yellow (and tailgating tsk tsk) but for his apparent disinterest in the well-being of the official he tagged. He made sure his family knew he was okay, though. Hmm...

Long Beach is a tough tight course (or so the video games would lead me to believe) so respect to anyone who can race it. Kudos, Ken.

[GeorgeJFrick]

who wants to call into Adam Carolla's podcast and ask how he got beat by Carlton?

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by mav1178

Skip to the 1:25 mark for the juicy bits, including a stupid decision to hot pull...

-alex

Holy shit, how damn dumb of the race operators/organizers/and that driver...

[Knshro13]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Holy shit, how damn dumb of the race operators/organizers/and that driver...

Yea it was a scary moment. I drove by right when Flanery slammed into Carter. I saw the track worker's legs in the air. I was more afraid that there would be another worker sandwiched between the two cars. It was a huge relief to hear that every single person was surprisingly unhurt.


What should have been done was to do a full-course caution with double yellow waving flags and pull out the safety car immediately. I say this because we had 3 wrecked cars in a matter of 2 consecutive corners. Lawson was wrecked outside turn 7 and Carter had already slammed into Davern's car at the exit of turn 8. The tow truck was already assisting Carter. All of this and still a local yellow. The safety car was finally deployed after Flanery had slammed into Carter. In my opinion, a little too late.

[Clipdat]

Based on the location of this crash, wouldn't it have technically warranted a red flag?

Originally Posted by Knshro13

The tow truck was already assisting Carter. All of this and still a local yellow. The safety car was finally deployed after Flanery had slammed into Carter. In my opinion, a little too late.

[Knshro13]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Based on the location of this crash, wouldn't it have technically warranted a red flag?

Bingo. I didn't mention this, but a red flag should have been the first thing out when Carter hit Davern. But given that we only had a 30 minute window to complete 10 full laps including a parade lap and a driver introduction session, I don't think they thought it was necessary. Eventually, they did deploy the safety car and a red flag. The checkered flag came out at lap 9 because we ran out of time.

[Clipdat]

Driver safety should come before whatever ideal arrangements they have for the race. Sigh.

Originally Posted by Knshro13

But given that we only had a 30 minute window to complete 10 full laps including a parade lap and a driver introduction session, I don't think they thought it was necessary..