Olympic Medalist Rai Benjamin to Serve as Grand Marshal at Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Craton Promotions has been on a whirlwind tour of auto races, festivals, and events the entire month of September. This coming weekend one of the Team Craton crews will be in Long Beach, California for the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.  To preview, or order your IMSA gear go to TeamIMSA.com 

From: IMSA.com 

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2021) – Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Rai Benjamin will “start the engines” of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach as grand marshal for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday, Sept. 25 starting at approximately 5 p.m. ET.

Benjamin is an American track and field star who took home the silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, his first Olympic competition. He also starred on the University of Southern California track and field team, notching a 47.02-second mark in the 400-meter hurdles, equaling Edwin Moses’ lifetime best and former world record, and is considered the second-fastest man in 400-meter hurdle history.

Benjamin joins IndyCar champion driver and team owner Michael Andretti, who will be grand marshal for Sunday’s IndyCar race at Long Beach.

“We’re delighted to have both Michael and Rai participating as grand marshals on race weekend at the Acura Grand Prix,” said Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President & CEO Jim Michaelian. “Michael has achieved so much here at Long Beach as has the whole Andretti family and, while Rai hasn’t ever competed here, nevertheless he has shown his own speed capability at the recent Olympics in Japan. A big Long Beach welcome to both.”

Saturday’s national anthem will be sung by SPC Raivyn Hearne, vocalist with the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard, Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. The color guard will feature the California Army National Guard, based at Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.

And, the flag will arrive from the skies courtesy of Team Fastrax, the only civilian parachute team to have performed at 9/11 Ground Zero ceremonies, the Pentagon, Independence Hall and the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Team Fastrax has successfully completed more than 175,000 skydives with precision, including at NASCAR, Formula One and previous races at Long Beach, as well as NFL and Major League Baseball games.

Fans can select and pay for their Grand Prix seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com or by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach news and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race-week activities.

Ticket prices range from $34 for a Friday general admission ticket to $155 for a three-day ticket that includes Saturday/Sunday reserved seating in grandstand upper levels.  Prepaid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, IndyCar paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages.

Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach

Also Follow Team Craton Promotions at our “At The Event With Craton Promotions” page