Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame facts for kids

City of Long Beach City Manager Pat West presenting Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame plaque to Mario Andretti on April 17, 2008

The Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame is a walk of fame located on South Pine Avenue in the downtown waterfront area of Long Beach, Southern California, to recognise those who have made a major contribution to auto racing in Long Beach. The project was conceived in late 2005 through talks with the Economic Development Bureau of the City of Long Beach and officials in order to improve and strengthen the city's ties with the open-wheel car racing event, the Grand Prix of Long Beach. It earned support from elected officials, local government and business and auto racing enthusiasts, and was officially dedicated in a ceremony led by Beverly O'Neill, the Long Beach mayor, on April 6, 2006. The Walk of Fame received development funding from the Redevelopment Agency of Long Beach, and the project set itself the objective of teaching the public on the auto racing role played by Long Beach.

Each year, two or three auto racing figures are inducted following a vote by an informal group that is composed of individuals such as local officials and Long Beach Grand Prix Association members. All inductees are honored by a 22 in (1.8 ft) bronze medallion plaque that is permanently embedded in the palm-lined concrete sidewalk that includes a rendition of the racer's car and lists their top auto racing achievements. The medallions proceed up the sidewalk's center alongside the Grand Prix of Long Beach race circuit in front of the Long Beach Convention Center. Members are inducted at a ceremony that occurs outside the Long Beach Convention Center in the week of the event; drivers and their families receive a 6 in (0.50 ft) and 3 in (0.25 ft) bronze medallion replica from Long Beach's mayor. Mark Vaughn of Autoweek described it as "a venue somewhat similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame several miles up the freeway."

A total of 33 people from the world of motorsports have been inducted since 2006. The two inaugural members, Dan Gurney and Phil Hill, were inducted in 2006. All but eleven inductees are from the United States. In 2019, Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power were the first two active IndyCar Series participants to be added to the Walk of Fame. Only one person has been posthumously inducted, Gary Gabelich, the former world land speed record holder in 2008. There have been three racing teams added to the Walk of Fame. In 2007, Newman/Haas Racing, who were considered one of the most successful squads in Long Beach Grand Prix history, became the first team added to the Walk of Fame; the two other teams are Chip Ganassi Racing, inducted in 2011, and Galles Racing, who was added the following year. Bruce Flanders, Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, Roger Penske and Christopher Pook are the five non-drivers who are members of the Wall of Fame. The two most recent inductees were Oriol Servià and Willy T. Ribbs in 2020.

Inductees

Key

	Indicates posthumous induction

Inductees of the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame

Inductee	Nationality	Year	Notes	Refs
Gurney, DanDan Gurney	United States	2006	Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, and sports car driver and team owner and Grand Prix of Long Beach co-founder
Hill, PhilPhil Hill	United States	2006	1961 Formula One World Champion and 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring winner
Racing, Newman/HaasNewman/Haas Racing	United States	2007	One of the most successful teams at the Grand Prix of Long Beach
Pook, ChristopherChristopher Pook	United States	2007	Co-founder of the Grand Prix of Long Beach and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach president and CEO
Redman, BrianBrian Redman	United Kingdom	2007	1975 Long Beach Grand Prix winner and 13-time Formula One Grand Prix starter
Andretti, MarioMario Andretti	United States	2008	Formula One and IndyCar champion, Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Long Beach GP and Daytona 500 winner
Gabelich, GaryGary Gabelich	United States	2008	Dragster and stock car driver who set the world land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1970
Jones, ParnelliParnelli Jones	United States	2008	1963 Indianapolis 500, midget car, NASCAR, off-road and sprint car winner
Rahal, BobbyBobby Rahal	United States	2009	Indianapolis 500, CART and Sports Car Club of America champion and 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring winner
Unser Jr., AlAl Unser Jr.	United States	2009	Two-time Indianapolis 500, International Race of Champions, CART champion, Grand Prix of Long Beach and 24 Hours of Daytona winner
Andretti, MichaelMichael Andretti	United States	2010	1991 CART champion and two-time Grand Prix of Long Beach winner
Sullivan, DannyDanny Sullivan	United States	2010	1985 Indianapolis 500 winner, 1988 CART champion and 1992 Grand Prix of Long Beach winner
Racing, Chip GanassiChip Ganassi Racing	United States	2011	Five-time Grand Prix of Long Beach winning team
Vasser, JimmyJimmy Vasser	United States	2011	Grand Prix of Long Beach driver and winner owner, 1996 CART champion and 2010 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race winner in the Pro class
Racing, GallesGalles Racing	United States	2012	Five-time Grand Prix of Long Beach winning squad
Pruett, ScottScott Pruett	United States	2012	Pruett drove a wide variety of vehicles, and won at Long Beach in each of Trans-Am and Grand-Am
Fernández, AdriánAdrián Fernández	Mexico	2013	2009 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach class winner and helped increase Hispanic/Latino presence in Long Beach Grand Prix
Tracy, PaulPaul Tracy	Canada	2013	Four-time Grand Prix of Long Beach winner and 2003 CART champion
Forsythe, GeraldGerald Forsythe	United States	2014	Won the Long Beach Grand Prix twice and the support Atlantic Championship round four times as a car owner
Franchitti, DarioDario Franchitti	United Kingdom	2014	Four-time IndyCar Series champion and winner of both the Long Beach Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500
Kalkhoven, KevinKevin Kalkhoven	Australia	2014	Won the 2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach and the 2005 Long Beach Atlantic Championship race as a car owner
Gordon, RobbyRobby Gordon	United States	2015	Winner in each of IndyCar, NASCAR, sports car and off-road racing
Herta, BryanBryan Herta	United States	2015	Won the 1993 Indy Lights Championship and won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 as a car owner
Flanders, BruceBruce Flanders	United States	2016	Since 1978, Flanders has announced the Grand Prix of Long Beach and also does so at short tracks
Penske, RogerRoger Penske	United States	2016	Penske led Team Penske to 16 Indianapolis 500 wins, 177 race victories, and 13 IndyCar titles by the time of his induction
Fittipaldi, EmersonEmerson Fittipaldi	Brazil	2017	Two-time Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion, and the 1989 CART winner with 40 race wins in both series
Kendall, TommyTommy Kendall	United States	2017	Multiple winner of the Trans-Am Series Championship and the IMSA GTU Series Championship and competed in sports car and stock cars
Castroneves, HélioHélio Castroneves	Brazil	2018	Won the 2001 Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500 three times
Montoya, Juan PabloJuan Pablo Montoya	Colombia	2018	Took the 1999 Grand Prix of Long Beach en route to claiming the 1999 CART tile and won the Indianapolis 500 twice
Bourdais, SébastienSébastien Bourdais	France	2019	Quadruple Champ Car World Series champion and triple Long Beach race winner
Power, WillWill Power	Australia	2019	Two-time Long Beach Grand Prix winner, the 2014 IndyCar Series and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion
Servià, OriolOriol Servià	Spain	2020	1999 Indy Lights champion and CART, American Le Mans Series, Grand-Am and Formula E driver
Ribbs, Willy T.Willy T. Ribbs	United States	2020	Competed in Formula Atlantic, IMSA, NASCAR and was the first African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 1991

By nationality

Inductees by nationality

Nationality	Inductees
United States	22
Australia	2
Brazil	2
United Kingdom	2
Canada	1
Colombia	1
France	1
Mexico	1
Spain	1