With paparazzi in tow, the celebrities have descended on the fair city of Long Beach, bringing with them publicists, metric tons of makeup, and did I mention the paparazzi? The pit area of the Grand Prix was getting a different use yesterday as it hosted the Media/Celebrity Day, part of the 33rd annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. This year’s race features, among other, Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody, Alex Trebek, Danny Way, and Carlos Mencia.
Some celebrities—especially Way, Reeves, and Brody—are taking the race seriously, with some perhaps more-than-friendly competition going on (a few of the other celebrities said they thought Reeves and Brody were taking it a bit too far in practice laps). However, in front of the media, Reeves says, “I just don’t want to wreck in front of Adrien or Danny” and Brody claims his only preparation has been drinking before he comes to practice.
Others, like Alex Trebek, just don’t want to get hurt—you can read more about Trebek’s “don’t pass, don’t crash” philosophy by clicking here. Fonzworth Bentley says that for him, the race is “all about expanding horizons and refreshing yourself, like a website page.” Feel free to click refresh on this story if you don’t want to enter the race
The field of celebrities also includes five pro’s (with Al Unser Jr., six-time Grand Prix of LB winner being one of them), and two auction winners whose generosity earned them a berth in the race. Yesterday was the first practice run for everyone on the closed track, as they gear up for next week’s race. The biggest danger wasn’t the track (which fortunately didn’t require rain tires as the weatherman predicted), but the snappy photographers who crowded the drivers—at one point a photog tried to stand between cars as the celebs took off out of the lot. Seriously.
It’s hard to handicap the celebrities, but while Way and Brody are strong contenders, the LBPostSports money is going on Keanu—if only because I’ve seen Speed about thirty times, and I believe the man can handle an out of control vehicle.