I had an invigorating feeling of being an American while standing down in the pits in the middle of Shoreline Drive at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Sunday. It took me back to the days when I was a child and my father and I used to race quarter midgets.
I felt the old feeling that drivers get of tension and excitement right before the main event and the drop of the green flag. At that very moment, I thought about jumping right into one of those massive speed demons and taking off right down the streets of Long Beach, but my dreams were suddenly interrupted when a track official told me and others to get behind the wall for the start of the race.
And as honorary grand marshal George Lucas said the famous words, “Gentlemen start your engines,” and the speed demons began to roar, I got a chill down my spine the I only get when smelling the fumes and hearing the cars at the race track. When I looked around at all the work and massive amounts of money put into this race, I was proud to see America at its finest.
When my fellow patriots and I walked through the crowd, we could see corporate America hard at work. Through all the booths and advertisements, one could see how much work and money was invested in this huge weekend event.
The Grand Prix staff really has the routine down after 33 years of having it here in Long Beach. With $40 tickets and $9 22-ounce beers (which I think are really only 16 ounces), a college student can spend a lot of money just as fast as one of the champ cars races down the course.
Although it got somewhat pricey, it was nice to see fellow Americans getting away from their hectic daily lives and spending some true American green down at Shoreline Village. As the cars raced past and the crowd cheered, I thought to myself how lucky we all were to be here, as Americans, drinking our $9 beers and watching our million dollar cars zoom by.
Although there are many other things we can spend our money on, this weekend, many of us around Long Beach chose to spend our money at the races. But more importantly, we chose to spend time with our family and friends and watch a sport that we love in what’s considered Long Beach’s biggest citywide party.
Racing is one of the most family-oriented sports I know of, and it was great to see fathers and mothers enjoying time with their families.
Kids plugged their ears as the engines zoomed by. Dads busted out wads of cash to pay for churros. Twenty-somethings people watched with those pseudo-22-ounce cups of Tecate in hand. It was great.
So, yes, it is crazy how much money Americans spend on a good time, but that’s just the great thing about this country. Being at the Grand Prix this weekend was just another friendly reminder of what great freedom we have to enjoy the wonderful sport of racing.
It was America at its finest.
Jason Swieso is a junior communications major.
