Johnny's Diary - California - Saturday
By:  John Procida - Toyota Motorsports

Tim Daly and JB	Al Unser Jr and Keanu Reeves	Al Unser Jr. and Keanu Reeves

Today was race day for the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race here in Long Beach, Calif., and it was absolutely beautiful – about 80 degrees, sun shining with blue skies.  You couldn’t have asked for a better day to go racing. 

I started the race on the outside of the first row of the professionals, which meant 30 seconds behind the celebrity drivers.  I thought going into the race, it was going to be tough to catch the leaders without a yellow – and it was.   Al Unser Jr. was on the pole for the professionals and we were able to get through traffic pretty well and work our way past most of the celebrities, but we were still 20 some seconds behind the leader.  That’s when that much needed yellow flag came out when Disney star Raven Symone went off into the tires right in front of me just past the half-way point of the race.   

That allowed us to close up onto the three front-running celebrities – X Games star Danny Way, Keanu Reeves and MTV’s Fonzworth Bentley.  And that’s when things really got wild.  I’m definitely used to two-abreast and three-abreast racing in my Toyota Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series, but I had a front-row seat to see the three celeb leaders all go side-by-side…and then watch Al Unser Jr. make it four abreast and pass all three of them -- on a street course! 

After a hall of fame career, Al’s retired from racing, but make no doubt, he definitely can still drive a race car.  Unfortunately, his daring move and the celebrities going three abreast next to him left me in a tough spot – sitting back in fifth-place when everything cleared and watching Al drive away.   After passing Keanu for fourth, discretion became the better part of valor as Fonzworth Bentley and Danny Way battled for the celebrity lead.  On lap nine (of 10), things heated up again as Danny attempted what was probably a little bit too optimistic of a pass and ended up bouncing off the tire wall and right in front of Fonzworth, who was leading the celebrity field at the time, taking them both out of the race. 

That moved me up to second-place, but by that point, I had no real chance to catch up to Al as he went on to win the race with Keanu Reeves winning the Celebrity portion of the event.   Now I know how Al earned the nickname “King of the Beach” as this was the eighth time he’s won here, six in an Indy car and twice in this race.   Second-place isn’t usually something I’m all that pleased with, but considering I haven’t run many road courses and who the competition was, second-place wasn’t all that bad. 

Of course, the on-track racing is really just a part – and maybe a small part – of the event.   The whole experience racing in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is one I’ll treasure for a long time.  Not only meeting all these celebrities that I’ve admired from afar, but also finding out what good people they really were was a privilege.  

And best of all, through Toyota’s generous contributions we were able to raise more than $100,000 for children’s charities.   If there ever was a race where everyone was a winner, it was here in Long Beach.

Thanks for riding along, I’ll see you at the race track!  For complete results - click here

Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race Final Results

1.      Al Unser Jr.  (Professional Winner)

2.      Johnny Benson

3.      Tom Rudnai (Toyota dealer)

4.      Keanu Reeves (Celebrity Winner – Speed, The Matrix)

5.      Ken Baker (E! TV)

6.      Carlos Mencia (Mind of Mencia)

7.      Coy Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

8.      Jamie Little (ESPN Pit reporter)

9.      Tim Daly (ABC’s Private Practice)

10. Adrien Brody (Best Actor Oscar-winner for The Pianist)

11. Eric Close (CBS’ Without a Trace)

12. Annamarie Dean (Celebrity Auction Winner)

13. Doug Fregin (Inventor of the Blackberry)

14. Mary Lynn Rajskub (Fox’s 24)

15. Alex Trebek (Jeopardy)

16. Fonzworth Bentley (MTV)

17. Danny Way (X-Games Skate-boarding champ)

Raven Symone (Disney’s She’s So Raven)

Johnny's Diary - California - Friday
By:  John Procida - Toyota Motorsports

Alex Trebek and Johnny	Carlos Mencia, Johnny and MaryLynn Rajskub

Well, we’re two days through the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race and it’s been great.  Today we went out for our first practice on the streets and we saw a little bit of everything.  We didn’t even get a chance to take the green flag before we came around a corner and there was a car upside down against the wall and I was thinking it was going to be a long day.   But they got that cleaned up and we were able to get a little practice time and get ready for qualifying. 

This place is tricky.  It’s fast and it’s very narrow in spots.  I ended up qualifying second overall with Al Unser Jr. in first.  Let me tell you, when you come to Long Beach and can be anywhere near Al on this track, it’s been a great day.  He only won the Toyota Grand Prix Indy car race here six times!   All in all, in coming to a track where I’ve never been to and run as well as we have, I’m really pleased.  Al’s got us covered by a little right now, but come race day anything can happen. 

One big thing to remember for tomorrow is that the professional drivers start the race 30 seconds behind the celebrities.  It’s just a 10-lap race, so it’s going to be hard as we’ll have to gain three seconds per lap just to catch them.  I don’t think we can do it without a caution.   But I do think we can get up there and get close to the front.  We’ll have to deal with traffic as quickly as we can and a lot of that is simply going to be in the timing of when you catch people. 

The guy to beat overall is still going to be X-Games star Danny Way, the skateboarder who won the celebrity pole.  Danny’s actually jumped over the Great Wall of China on a skateboard, so he’s certainly not intimidated by the walls here in Long Beach.   

Off the track, everything has been great. All of the celebrities have been extremely nice.  I’m having a lot of fun and really enjoying our time.  Just to get some time to sit down and talk with them has been very cool.  To see all the stars of some of our favorite TV shows has been great.  We’re big fans of ‘Private Practice’ with Tim Daly, that’s just a great show; and ‘24’ with Mary Lynn Rajskub and Eric Close in “Without a Trace”.   We watch all those shows and we’ll make sure to watch even more now that we’ve gotten to know the personalities behind them. 

This has definitely been an experience to remember.  I look forward to getting back to the team and telling them all the stories.  I’ve already been name-dropping a little with the guys, telling them about all the people I’ve met and how down to earth and pleasant they’ve been.   In the end, I guess we’re all just normal people with some pretty cool jobs. 

Well, tomorrow’s race day.  Everything’s been great here so far and I’m having a lot of fun, but I know when the green flag falls, the competitiveness is going to come out. 

Johnny's Diary - California - Thursday
By:  John Procida - Toyota Motorsports

We’re here in Long Beach and I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, which is a part of the Toyota Grand Prix IndyCar event.  Racing on a street course is something really different for me, about the only thing I can compare it to is a mini-Grand Prix for the Arthritis Foundation back in Grand Rapids in the early 1990s.

While the weekend gets started tomorrow (Friday), the event actually began a few weeks back out in Lancaster, Calif., with a training session for all the drivers to get used to the Scions we’ll be racing and to give many of the celebrities their first taste of racing.

Danny McKeever, the driving instructor and his staff have done a tremendous job helping everyone get comfortable in their cars and getting them acclimated.  They’ve done a tremendous job.  The training was a lot of fun.  It was very interesting to drive a front-wheel drive race car with anti-lock brakes on a road course.  Truthfully, I still haven’t adapted very well to it.  I tend to have this little problem of separating the circle track racing we normally do in our Toyota Tundra in the Camping World Truck Series and road racing.

 It’s really interesting to meet all of the racers involved in this year’s race.  I’ve known Al Unser Jr. for a lot of years and we come from the same world, so it’s always good to see Al.  It’s been a great experience to talk to and get to know some of the celebrities.  It’s really cool to meet someone you’re used to seeing on TV or at the movies.  It’s a great field with the likes of movie stars Keanu Reaves and Adrien Brody, Jeopardy’s Alex Trebek, and TV stars Tim Daly, Eric Close and Mary Lynn Rajskub – and that’s only about half the field.

I am meeting some of these stars that I see on TV and it’s pretty neat, but I think it also has given me a little different perspective toward our own fans in racing who may normally only see us on TV.  It has to be very similar and I appreciate how they must feel when they’re out at the race track.

While it’s been great getting to know all the people and preparing to compete in this weekend’s race, the most important thing about the race is that it’s run for charity – in this case, Racing For Kids, which benefits Children’s Hospitals.  Over the years, Toyota has raised almost $2 million for charities here in Southern California through the Pro/Celebrity Race, so it really is a worthwhile event.

Today we were scheduled to go down to visit some children at Miller Memorial Children’s Hospital in Long Beach only to have the event cancelled after a tragedy occurred at the hospital where a shooting occurred in the work-place.

It was heart-breaking for all of us.  When we heard about the news, we were all stunned.  We looked into going later, but that wasn’t going to be an option with local authorities.  It’s really sad, not only for the loss of life, but getting a chance to go see the kids is really what this whole event is about Children’s Hospitals here in Long Beach, Victory Junction Gang. 

Well, we’ve got a driver’s meeting here shortly, so I’ll cut this short now.  Tomorrow I’ll give you an update on how practice and qualifying went and who I think might win this race.

Benson Trading Paint With the Stars
By:  Steve Kaminski
Johnny Benson Jr. is not headed to Hollywood, and don't look for the Grand Rapids stock car driver to show up on "Jeopardy" anytime soon.

So what is Benson doing in California this week hanging out with game-show host Alex Trebek and actor Keanu Reeves?

Benson, the defending NASCAR Camping World Truck champion, was invited to participate in Saturday's annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, the undercard of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar race.

That means he gets to rub elbows and fenders with stars, including Adrien Brody, Tim Daly and Luke Wilson.  "Keanu Reeves and Tim Daly are the guys I hung out with the most. They are awesome and fun to be with," Benson said. "I also got my picture taken with Raven (Symone), but that was for my daughters."

The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race offers professional and celebrity categories, and competitors will race in Toyota Scion tCs.  Celebrities are given a 30-second head start, and they tackle the same 1.97-mile street course IndyCars will fly around. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Racing For Kids and children's hospitals.

The celebrities and pros spent four days together at racing school. The pros also include Al Unser Jr.  Benson said he is picking professional skateboarder Danny Way to win the 10-lap, 20-car race. "The guy who will win the race, I'm almost certain of, is Danny Way, the skateboarding dude," Benson said. "He is very fast. Me and Al Unser Jr. were both racing, and we were like, 'This guy is pretty quick.' I finally approached him and said, 'Dude, what have you raced?' He said he doesn't race, he just does skateboarding stuff.

"I said, 'No, no, no. Dude, you race something because you aren't going to run that fast.' He could pull away, and I'm not a road course connoisseur, but Little Al is. Finally, he said he races shifter karts. That made sense."

Benson's invitation to the event came after he gave Toyota the Truck championship last season. While he has raced everything from a Sprint Cup car to a Late Model to a Supermodified during his career, he said he never has raced anything like the Toyota Scion.

"These are front-wheel cars and very different from what I race," Benson said. "They don't slide around as much, and they don't spin out."

Another Photo Session

The Pros and Celebrities who will be driving in the race

Nice Uniform!

Johnny has enjoyed his time in California getting ready for the Toyota Pro / Celebrity Race.  He was invited to participate as the defending champion in the Truck series and the top Toyota driver. 

It's been a great experience to meet the celebrities and he has had a chance to speak with everyone.   He has even giving some driving tips.   

Johnny and Al Unser Jr.	Mary Lynn Rajskub and Johnny (Chloe from "24")

Johnny spent time will Al Unser Jr.  Did you know they raced each other in the IROC series in 1996?

The cars are totally different than his Toyota Tundra giving him quite a challenge to sort things out and get comfortable.  The celebrities start out the race with a 30 second lead and then the Pro's take off.  Since Jamie Little won last year, she is considered a pro and will be starting in the back.

Even though Johnny's odds to win is favored 7 - 2, he says to watch out for skateboarder, Danny Way.  He has been tearing up the track in the practice sessions.   

For complete details - check out www.toyota.com

Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race - Practice
Practice Session are underway this weekend for the Toyota Pro Celebrity Race.  For complete details - check out www.toyota.com

Johnny and Keanu Reeves (We hope Johnny is inviting Keanu to a Truck Race!)

Toyota Scions taking to the track for practice.

Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race - Meet the Drivers

Johnny Benson, NASCAR Champion and son of former Michigan Modified Driver John Benson Sr., hopes to make it to the finish line first to capture the victory in this year’s Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

Dating back to 1982, Benson began his racing career on the dirt tracks in Michigan, and he currently competes in the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Benson competed in 247 races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series over a period of 11 years, while he competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for two full seasons. Benson was named Rookie-of-the-Year in 1994 and the Nationwide Champion in 1995. He also competed in 100 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series over a period of seven years, with nine wins.

Benson currently lives in Cornelius, North Carolina, with his wife Debbie and children, Katelyn and Mikayla.

Highlights:

• 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion in a Toyota Tundra

• Won NASCAR Truck Series “Most Popular Driver” in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

• Won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 1990, 1994 and 1996.

• Hand builds an average of five Outlaw Asphalt late model cars and super-modified cars during the off-season.

For Details on the rest of the field - Click Here

Johnny to Compete in Celebrity Race
A star-studded field of Hollywood's elite will attempt to outpace and out-maneuver each other Saturday, April 18 in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, part of the 35th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The field of 20 drivers will compete in brand new race-ready Scion tCs in what has become the world's longest-running, most successful celebrity racing event.  The historic, 10-lap race for charity on a 1.97-mile street circuit through the downtown streets of Long Beach in Southern California is one of six featured events during race weekend.