The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was a much different place in 1991 than it will be in 2005 source: champcarworldseries.com by David Phillips The circuit still ran through the parking garage adjacent to the Hyatt Hotel, there was no Long Beach Aquarium and wanna be Aviators could still visit the Spruce Goose across the harbor next to the Queen Mary. And by the end of the '91 TGPLB weekend, the only families to win Champ Car races at the street circuit Chris Pook built were still named Andretti and Unser. Mario Andretti won the first two Champ Car races at Long Beach in '84 and '85, followed by the first of Michael Andretti's 42 Champ Car wins in '86 before Mario reasserted himself in '87. That, of course, was a but a prelude to Al Unser, Jr. winning four straight from '88 to '91 (and two more in '94 and '95 after erstwhile teammate Danny Sullivan inadvertently nerfed him out of the lead in '93). But another name began making its way into Long Beach and Champ Car lore on the weekend of April 14, 1991: Paul Tracy. Then a rather, ummm, "fluffy" and bespectacled 22 year old who didn't look a day over 18, Tracy made his Champ Car debut at Long Beach hard on the heels of winning the '90 American Racing Series (aka Indy Lights) title the previous season. As was sadly typical, despite winning nine of 14 starts in the '90 ARS, Tracy barely got the time of day from most of the geniuses who owned or ran the Champ Car teams of the day. TrueSports president Steve Horne, a well-known connoisseur of emerging talent, had a serious interest in Tracy. The complete article at champcarworldseries.com
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