Grand Prix is headlined by a Verizon IndyCar Series race on Sunday but also includes several other racesGETTY IMAGES
More than 185,000 fans attended last weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach "during its three-day run this year, the largest crowd in at least 18 years," according to Jeremiah Dobruck of the Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM. Last year "roughly 183,000 people attended" the long-running race. Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President & CEO Jim Michaelian "credited the pumped-up crowd numbers to a revamped digital marketing campaign, stabilized economy, rebirth of Downtown Long Beach and an IndyCar racing series that’s on the rise." At 44 years running, Michaelian said that he thinks the Grand Prix has "inspired a generational loyalty among fans" and "hopes that will keep the crowds growing" (Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, 4/17). The Grand Prix is headlined by a Verizon IndyCar Series race on Sunday but also includes several other races including IMSA, Stadium Super Trucks, Pirelli World Challenge, classic cars and Formula Drift. Michaelian said that he was still doing final tabulations yesterday and did not have a Sunday race day figure yet for ’18, but Sunday of last year drew about 85,000 (Adam Stern, Staff Writer).
