Since the first Grand Prix in Long Beach 50 years ago, racing has been a bonding experience for Les Tjelmeland, 90, and his son Vince Tjelmeland, 67.
“We’ve kind of been racing all our lives,” Les said.
The father and son duo, who live in Yorba Linda, have attended “30 to 35” of the 50 Long Beach races, Vince said. This year will be extra memorable: They’ll be part of the action, with Vince racing in a special Historic Formula Exhibition honoring five decades of Grand Prix history.
Vince said attending the original 1975 race came as a surprise because his father rarely took weekends off from the Anaheim-based company he started in 1969, Sabina Motors and Controls.
“I mean, he didn’t take the whole weekend for Christmas, but he took the weekend for this,” Vince said.
Vince remembered being in awe of legendary racers Al Unser Jr., Mario Andretti and Brian Redman – who won the inaugural race in Long Beach.
Unser and Andretti are the co-Grand Marshals for this year’s race.
Two years ago, Vince received an award from Redman for winning a vintage car race. He told Redman it was a joy to watch him win the 1975 Long Beach Grand Prix and Redman recounted the entire race and lead-up from memory.
In 2002, Vince took over Sabina Motors and Controls, which specializes in making large-scale motors like the ones used for ski lifts. Two years later, he started Sabina Precision Prep, a wing of the company that specializes in restoring vintage cars out of a warehouse in Anaheim.
Les, the elder Tjelmeland, spent Friday watching his 6-foot-6 son whip around the track in the Formula 5000 car Vince recently restored: a 1975 Lola T332 Chevrolet.
“I’m blessed to be here after 50 years,” Les said after the practice round.
The Chevrolet race car is the same type Danny Ongais drove in the 1975 Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, “loves the car, the way it sounds and everything,” Les said.
On Saturday and Sunday, Vince will compete in the Historic Formula Exhibition — a race added to the weekend of events to celebrate its 50-year history.
The race features cars from all three eras of the race: Formula 5000, Formula 1 and Indy car.
Vince spent years racing off-road cars, mostly because his height didn’t allow him to race smaller cars.
He won championships in 1986 and 1989 but has since moved to racing vintage cars.
This year marks Vince’s second time racing in Long Beach. In 2004, he drove a 1984 Eagle Indy Car around the track.
“I was scared to death then too,” Vince said.
After his practice Friday, Vince was working out an error with the fuel injection system.
“[The car is] beautiful, we just have to work out all the mechanical things,” Vince said. “It’s not like in the movies where you hit the track and it just wins.”
Vince and his wife Sue’s four children also caught the racing bug.
Sons Adam and Shane have raced offroad in the past, and Shane got his vintage license this year, Vince said.
Adam, who also works at Sabina Motors and Controls, was at the race weekend with his 8-year-old son Dean and 5-year-old daughter Ava.
“We’ve got four generations in the grandstands right now,” Vince said. “[It’s] amazing.”