A Local’s First Time at the Long Beach Grand Prix

After nearly eight years of living in Long Beach, I finally made it to the Grand Prix. The race tickets were a bit pricey, and I’ve never been a big fan of large crowds, so I’d always put it off. But this year, I took the plunge and picked up paddock passes—and I’m so glad I did.

I brought along my Minolta X-370 loaded with Kodak Portra 200 and my Fujifilm X100VI. It took me some time to navigate from the entrance to the convention center. They had some incredible vintage race cards on display.

At first, I wasn’t sure what the hype around paddock passes was all about. I wandered round a bit aimlessly—until a kind volunteer pointed me in the right direction. And then, I was in.

The paddock was wild. Getting that close to the race crews and the cars was surreal. You could feel the energy and intensity of race day up close. I spent about an hour soaking it all in and snapping photos.

Definitely something I’ll do again next year—catching more of the actual race too.

All the photos here are from my film camera.