Adrian Fernandez’s first Champ Car race was at Long Beach in 1993. He returns this year in a dual role as team owner/codriver of one of Acura’s new American Le Mans Series entries and as honoraryhost of CARA Charities’ fifth annual Raceway Rendezvous on Friday, April 13.
“Long Beach is a special event – there is somuch racing history there,” noted Adrian. “AndCARA’s creativity with their annual charityevent makes it a special oasis in a busyweekend. It is a friendly and informal night offun for drivers, team owners and race fans. Itis one of the more enjoyable events of the yearand I will have fun hosting it.”
This year’s “Castaways of G-Force Island” will take place on board Hornblower’sSS Endless Dreams. The cruise of Long Beach harbor will feature an on-boardcasino night with live and silent auctions. Some of the items up for bid includea six bottle set of the sold out 2003 Quintessa Rutherford; a framed driverautographedcollage of tickets from the 2006 season; a weekend stay in theHyatt Regency; brunch for two at Spaghettini; a nights stay at the Long BeachHilton, and a weekend stay at the Long Beach Hyatt Regency.
In addition, CARApartners Champ Car and the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach have donatedspecial VIP access packages that include items unavailable to the public like timein the Champ Car starters stand for race warm-up, overcrew passes, victory circleaccess, and passes to the exclusive Ocean Club. “We will continue to get auctionitems from now through the race weekend and expect our final list to surpass lastyear’s in variety and individuality,” said Vicki Faivre, president of CARA Charities.Boarding is at 6:30 PM in Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor at the foot of PineStreet, next to the Hyatt Bridge. The cruise departs at 7:30 PM and will tour theharbor for an hour. For those wishing to debark early, the Endless Dreams willreturn to port at 8:30 PM and than go out for another hour tour at 9:00 PM.
Tickets are available by calling CARA Charities at (317) 299-2277, or by going online at www.caracharities.org. Tickets are $150 per person and tables of eightare $1,000. Sponsorships are also available.
Entering their second quarter century of giving, CARA is a leading motorsportscharity that has donated more than $4 million dollars to dozens of philanthropiccauses helping children, hospitals, scholarships funds, ministries and numerouscharity foundations.
