Recap: 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Craton Promotions Colorful First Season As Official Merchandiser
Rome, GA – Craton Promotions – When we were told that Craton Promotions was awarded the contract to be the official merchandiser of the famed Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, our “At The Events” team was so excited for many reasons, one main reason was the fans of the event. The Grand Prix of Long Beach is so far the biggest crowd that we have been put in front of. An estimated 180 to 200 thousand people attended the 2023 city street race in LBC.
We had 4 different LBGP Merch stores around the track and one full walk-in store inside the Long Beach Convention Center that was so busy that we had to add more staff to keep the line waiting to buy souvenirs to a minimum. The Team IMSA store was packed as well inside the Fan Walk in vendor row. Check out some crazy photos of our team from the event:
The 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was a thrilling street race that took place on April 16, 2023, in Long Beach, California. It was the third round of the 2023 IndyCar season and the longest-running street race in North America. The race consisted of 85 laps on a 1.968-mile circuit.
Kyle Kirkwood, driving for Andretti Autosport, won his first-ever IndyCar Series race after a stunning overtaking move on the final lap. He passed Connor De Phillippi, who had led most of the race but ran out of fuel on the last corner. De Phillippi finished second, followed by Matt Campbell, Philipp Eng and Pipo Derani.
The race was also part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which featured four classes of cars: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD) and Porsche Carrera Cup. Nick Tandy set the fastest lap in the GTP class with a time of 01:11.990. In the GTD PRO class, Laurens Vanthoor took the victory for Porsche, while Bill Auberlen won the GTD class for BMW. The Porsche Carrera Cup races were won by Kaylen Frederick and Sebastian Priaulx.
The race weekend attracted more than 200,000 fans who enjoyed not only the world-class racing but also concerts, a Family Fun Zone and other race-related events.
