The race pitted celebrities against professional racers from various disciplines on the 1.968-mile Long Beach Street Circuit over 10 laps. All participants drove identically prepared cars: showroom stock Toyota Celicas from the event's inception in 1977 through 2005, Scion tCs from 2006 to 2012, and Scion FR-S cars from 2013 to 2016. One seat was auctioned for charity, with the high bidder taking part in the race alongside the celebrity and professional fields.
Celebrities received a 30-second head start over the professionals and past champions. All participants underwent thorough practice, safety, and training sessions before competing. Despite a large number of crashes across the event's four decades, no serious injuries occurred. Members of the broadcast team for the feature IndyCar or Grand Prix race frequently entered; Ken Squier, Paul Page, Jack Arute, and Jamie Little — who won the celebrity category in 2008 while simultaneously broadcasting the feature event — all competed.
Dan Gurney and Alfonso Ribeiro each won the event four times, making them the joint most successful drivers in the race's history. Gurney's victories came in the professional category in 1982, 1983, 1986, and 1988. Ribeiro won the celebrity category in 1994 and 1995, crossed over to compete as a pro and won the overall in 2015, then won again in 2016, becoming one of only three drivers to win in both celebrity and professional classifications. Adam Carolla and Sean Patrick Flanery also achieved that crossover distinction.
The first edition in 1977 was won overall by Sam Posey, the professional entry. Other notable overall winners included Gordon Johncock (1978), Parnelli Jones (1980, 1989), Elio de Angelis (1981), Dan Gurney (1982, 1983, 1986, 1988), Al Unser Jr. (1985), Juan Manuel Fangio II (1987), Bobby Rahal (1990), Donny Osmond (1991), P.J. Jones (1992), Eddie Lawson (1993), Alfonso Ribeiro (1994, 1995), Sean Patrick Flanery (1997, 1998), Josh Brolin (2000), Scott Pruett (2001), Dara Torres (2002), Peter Reckell (2003), Max Papis (2004), Rhys Millen (2005), Danica Patrick (pro category, 2002), and Al Unser Jr. again in 2009 and 2014.
The 2002 edition was historically notable as the first year two women captured the top two finishes: nine-time Olympic medallist Dara Torres won overall and Danica Patrick won the professional category.
On 11 March 2016 Toyota announced that the 2016 event would be the final running of the race, citing the company's decision to move its North American headquarters from Torrance, California to Texas. The final race was composed almost entirely of past winners, described as a Champion of Champions field, and was won by Alfonso Ribeiro in the celebrity/overall category and Max Papis in the professional category. The event ran for 40 consecutive years from 1977, becoming one of the longest-lived motorsport charity events in the history of American racing.
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