Two Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach winners—Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya— will be inducted on Thursday, April 12, at 11:00 am into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, a City of Long Beach and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach joint project.
The public is invited to attend the 13th annual Walk of Fame induction ceremony, which will be held on South Pine Avenue in front of the Convention Center as part of the festivities surrounding the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Admission to the ceremony is free.
“We look forward to welcoming Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya back to Long Beach to honor them for all of their achievements in motorsports. They are well-deserving honorees,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.
Castroneves, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, won in an Indy car at Long Beach in 2001, and captured the 1997 Indy Lights race at Long Beach as well.
A three-time Indianapolis 500 winner (2001, ‘02, ‘09), Castroneves has logged 30 Indy car race victories. The popular driver, who gained substantial non-racing fame by winning season five of the popular television show, “Dancing With The Stars,” has switched series in 2018, co-driving Acura Team Penske’s #7 Prototype entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series with last season’s Prototype co-champion, Ricky Taylor.
Montoya won the 1999 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach en route to capturing the 1999 CART FedEx Series championship, and finished third at Long Beach in 2015.
The Bogota, Colombia native won the Indy 500 in 2000 and 2015, with 15 Indy car victories and seven Formula One race wins on his resume.
Montoya is co-driving – with Dane Cameron – the Team Penske #6 Acura Prototype in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“It is entirely appropriate that we recognize these two racing legends here at Long Beach this year,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “They have excelled in their performances both here and around the world and this year return to Long Beach both driving sports cars for Team Penske.”
The Walk of Fame medallions include renditions of the racers’ Long Beach-winning cars, as well as their major achievements in motorsports