Almost 170K attend Long Beach

Nothing against the American Le Mans Series, comprised of sports cars that racing purists savor, but the three-day Grand Prix attendance probably wouldn't have exceeded 65,000 had it been the headliner, which would have been slightly less than the 170,000 that Michaelian estimated showed up over the weekend.

"Considering the unattractive situation we were faced with a little over a month ago and considering the way the nation's economy has been going, we're quite satisfied with the way things turned out," said Michaelian. "The attendance was down about seven percent. But things are looking great for the future. Danica Patrick is going to be here next year." Long Beach Press Telegram