2012 Toyota Pro and Celebrity Race Lineup Announced
Each year, the city of Long Beach, California gets transformed into a motorsports-themed environment to make way for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. To kick off the festivities annually is the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race and this year’s lineup of drivers has just been announced.
The celebrities that will be piloting Scion tCs through the streets of downtown Long Beach this year include Jillian Barberie Reynolds, Adrien Brody, Adam Carolla, Kate del Castillo, Eddie Cibrian, Kim Coates, Eileen Davidson, Hill Harper, Brody Jenner, Scott Porter, Bill Rancic, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, and host of Top Gear USA Rutledge Wood. The mix of actors, actresses, tv personalities, and more will race through the 10-lap, 1.97-mile street circuit on April 14th.
This year’s pros will include Scion drifter, Fredric Aasbø, former USAC National Midget champion and 2012 driver of Toyota-powered USAC teams, Bryan Clauson, and Grammy award-winning record producer and owner of Rebel Rock Racing, Jim Jonsin. Lastly, joining the field are charity auction winners Doug Fregin (co-founder of Research in Motion) and nightclub owner Jerry Westlund. Each year, Toyota also dedicates a spot for a Southern California Toyota dealer employee and this year that will be Biff Gordon, general manager of Quality Toyota in Corona.
Each participant will have $5,000 donated to Racing for Kids on behalf of Toyota and another $5,000 will go to the winning racer’s charity of choice. A $15,000 donation will also be made in conjunction with the 15th-annual “People Pole Award” sponsored by People magazine.
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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11/03/2012 | By: Jason Siu Wow, this article was written 8 months in the future! Cool!