Sunshine, cars and the beach: Is there anything more perfect? — for the car lovers out there, anyway. I grew up going to car events in Southern California, like the LA Car Show and Cars and Coffee at the Petersen Automotive Museum, but this is the first time I made it to the Long Beach Grand Prix — an epic event to say the least, as there’s nothing like being right next to the track, feeling the vibration of the engines and igniting your senses.

The event had a forced 2.5-year hiatus due to the pandemic, but they were finally able to bring it back safely. Proof of vaccination was compulsory, and masks were required at all times unless you were actively drinking or eating. It didn’t feel like it was the pandemic, though; everyone was out not wearing masks. We made sure to keep to the area where there weren’t too many people congregating and had a fantastic time watching cars. We enjoyed a great expo of Acura race cars. All the big carmakers had booths: Honda, Chevrolet, Hyundai, special car part makers and lots of racing experience modulators. There was even an area where some of the small car-racing teams were bringing their cars in after the race to do repairs, so we got to see them in action.

The main draw was the 100-minute IMSA SportsCar race. The event had these massive monitors set up around the perimeter to allow you to see the cars going through the back part of the track, the more exciting parts because that’s where most of the collisions were happening with the crazy tight turns. All in all, it was a fantastic event, and I look forward to enjoying the event next year from the comfort of my house.

— Maria Angeles, account executive