As we near the 37th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will drop the green flag on three straight days of racing this Friday, two more distinguished motorsports figures will be inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame on Pine Avenue. The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach recently announced that driver/owner Jimmy Vasser and team Target Chip Ganassi Racing will be enshrined this Thursday.

“Jimmy Vasser and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team have made legendary contributions to the field of motorsports, and I am delighted that they are being honored in the Motorsports Walk of Fame,” said Mayor Bob Foster in a recent press release. “Every year the Walk of Fame ceremony kicks off a great week of Grand Prix events that bring thousands to Long Beach.”

Vasser won the Grand Prix of Long Beach in 1996, the same year he captured the CART Championship, in addition to a long and distinguished driving career in open-wheel racing of all kinds. Target Chip Ganassi Racing captured wins at Long Beach from 1996-1999 and again in 2009 with driver Dario Franchitti.

Both new inductees have storied traditions and, frankly, too many racing accomplishments to name. Their trophy case is not the point. The point is their stake in Long Beach, which is rather limited. Vasser and Chip Ganassi have had success here, sure, but there should be no confusion that they will be cast in bronze this week more because of their overall careers than their light involvement with our quaint local event.

It’s a departure from recent inductees, who counted major milestones or consistent domination of the downtown Long Beach street course. To be honest, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame kind of burned itself out with its first few inductions.

I mean, my goodness, the first induction in 2006 honored legends Phil Hill and Dan Gurney. In 2007, Newman/Hass Racing, Grand Prix founder Chris Pook and driver Brian Redman (the winner of the first ever LBGP, a feat which alone should have earned him his own induction ceremony). The class of 2008 was especially loaded, with Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones and Gary Gabelich, each of whom should have had their very own separate parade, let alone been honored independently. Andretti is likely the greatest American driver ever and the winner of the ’77 Grand Prix of Long Beach. Jones is synonymous with American sportscar racing at every level, while Gabelich grew up driving the streets of Long Beach and held the land speed record for thirteen years. These should have been three inductees in three separate years.

Instead, they were crammed all together (with Councilmember Rae Gabelich accepting the honor on behalf of her late husband), as all-world drivers Bobby Rahal and Al Unser Jr. were enshrined the following year. That should have been five years of individual inductions right there.

Instead, the Walk of Fame used its big names rather early, and with all due respect to Vasser and Ganassi, is a bit dry for relevant Long Beach racing figures. Vasser and Ganassi are two of the largest names that haven’t been bronzed yet, but two figures with a more direct connection to the event itself would be Sébastien Bourdais (three-time LBGP winner) and Kevin Kalkhoven (longtime owner who bought the LBGP Association in 2005 and ushered the merger between Champ Car and CART). Maybe even Paul Tracy (three-time winner) or Alex Zanardi (two-time winner who lost his legs in an accident and continues to race).

But no matter who is honored, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame induction is always an event that any racing fan – no matter their age or level of devotion – should attend, to see their heroes in the flesh and share their priceless memories. The induction of Vasser and Ganassi Racing will take place this Thursday at 11:00am, at the steps of the Long Beach Convention Center on Pine Avenue.