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Construction along the streets of Long Beach began Thursday afternoon as the city prepares to celebrate 50 years of racing in April.
With 50 days left until the 50th annual @GPLongBeach, today we kicked off construction of the track for the longest-running 200 mile-per-hour beach party in North America!
This year’s Grand Prix is going to be something really special. Don’t miss it! pic.twitter.com/AIkGeS9ptk
— Office of Mayor Rex Richardson (@LongBeachMayor) February 20, 2025
According to race officials, over 2,400 concrete blocks will line the roads that will become a nearly 2-mile, 11-turn circuit.
City leadership met publicly Thursday afternoon to celebrate the construction, including Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Michaelian in the parking lot of the Long Beach Arena – the future home of Turn 10.
“The Grand Prix is always an exciting event for Long Beach,” said Richardson. “There’s something magical about cars and moving fast, and it gets kids excited. This is an event for families, and we encourage all families to come down, check it out and make some memories in the beautiful City of Long Beach.”
Grand Prix Director of Operations Dwight Tanaka estimates workers will put in more than 33,000 hours building the track – using approximately 24 million pounds of concrete blocks, four miles of fencing and 17,000 bolted-together tires, 14 grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and nine giant vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage.
Turns 9, 10 and 11 will also be used for Round One of the eight-event 2025 Formula Drift season on April 4 and 5.
Another section of the circuit will be used as a running course for the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach’s 7th Annual Grand Prix 5K Run on Sunday, April 6.
All businesses along the race circuit will be unaffected by the construction.
Long Beach has been home to racing series for decades, including Formula 5000, Formula 1 and INDYCAR.
Roughly 194,000 fans attended the race in 2024, the event’s best attendance showing since the 2008 Indy car “reunification.”
The Grand Prix will take place from April 11 through April 13.
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