Pro/Celebrity Racer, John Salley, eager for life in fast lane

Tagged with: john salley, long beach, Pro/Celebrity Race, Scion tC News, tc, Toyota Grand Prix

Posted by ScionNews on Friday, April 11, 2008, 9:59

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John Salley has a heck of a time shoehorning his 7-foot frame into the driver’s seat of a Toyota Scion tC.

But that’s the whole point.

“I’m totally hooked on this racing stuff now,” the co-host of Fox Sports Net’s popular “Best Damn Sports Show Period” said as he climbed into his car for practice Tuesday for the Pro/Celebrity race at the 34th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “I got into it when I went to my first Daytona 500 (in February).

“Now I’m in the race car. I want to own one of these race teams. I’m into it.”

Salley, a four-time NBA world champion with the Lakers, Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, could be a metaphor for the excitement building toward the April 17-20 race weekend on the streets of Long Beach.

Celebrity race participants including Salley, ABC/ESPN pit reporter Jamie Little, producer Brad Lewis, singer Drew Lachey, Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson and actors Wilmer Valderrama, William Fichtner and Raymond Cruz all spent two separate March weekends being performance-trained in the Scion tC at Danny McKeever’s Fast Lane Driving School at Willow Springs International Raceway.

They will be joined in the 10-lap race around the picturesque 1.97-mile seaside course April 19 by NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, NHRA Funny Car champions Whit Bazemore and Tony Pedregon, off-road winner Beccy Gordon and cycling champion Marty Nothstein in the Pro Division.

The Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach has had far-reaching consequences on occasion.

Actor Patrick Dempsey was so smitten with the sport after his ride in the celebrity race, he bought into an Indy Racing League team.

The 2002 winners included Olympic swimming champion Dara Torres and Danica Patrick, who parlayed the notoriety into a Champ Car Atlantic Series ride with Rahal Letterman Racing and eventually, fame and fortune in the IRL.

Salley is consulting with former NBA player Brad Daugherty and other professional athlete team owners, including Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets and former NFL quarterbacks Jim Kelly, Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman about team ownership.

“I’m determined to get started in this,” Salley said.

Meanwhile, the 34th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be a fond farewell to Champ Car, its sanctioning body since 1984.

Because of a scheduling conflict when the reunification of American open-wheel racing was finalized Feb. 22, the IRL IndyCar Series will race at Twin Ring Motegi, Honda’s world headqarters, April 18-20.

Both races in Japan and Long Beach will include full IRL purses and points toward the 2008 IndyCar Series championship.

The Long Beach event will be Champ Car’s valedictory.

A field of 20 Champ Car competitors is confirmed, and the weekend will be filled with sentimental last laps by drivers and cars who became the stuff of legend on the streets of Long Beach.

Among those are four-time winner Paul Tracy, David Martinez and Franck Montagny of Forsythe/Pettit Racing; Alex Figge and Mario Dominguez of Pacific Coast Motorsports; Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal - last Sunday’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner - of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing; Bruno Junqueira and Mario Moraes of Dale Coyne Racing; Antonio Pizzonia and Juho Annala of Rocketsports Racing; Franck Perera and Enrique Bernoldi of Conquest Racing; Jimmy Vasser, Oriol Servia and Will Power of KV Racing Technology; Roberto Moreno, Nelson Philippe and E.J. Viso of Minardi/HVM Racing; and Alex Tagliani of Walker Racing.

An extra day, April 17, has been added to the schedule so fans can watch practice sessions for the Formula Drift and American Le Mans Series the latter of which includes driver Bryan Herta of Valencia.

The Atlantic Championship, ALMS, Formula Drift, Speed World Challenge and Toyota Pro/Celebrity race will join the Champ Car Farewell on a busy Long Beach race weekend.

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