The Toyota Grand Prix returned the streets of Long Beach, California, for the 35th time last weekend. The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach features four days of races, exhibitions and a lifestyle expo. StopTech, the ultra performance division of Centric Parts based in Southern California, had a presence throughout the weekend both on and off the track.
Perhaps the biggest highlight in four days full of many came during the last race of the weekend when James Sofronas took first place in the second stop of the 2009 SCCA SPEED GT World Challenge Racing Series. It was a victory he fully credited to the StopTech Trophy Big Brake Kit his No. 14 GMG Racing Porsche sported. The Trophy kits premiered at the first stop of the series in Sebring where StopTech CEO Dino Crescentini earned pole position by pulling the fastest qualifying lap in his Porsche.The SCCA race wasn’t the only one with a winner’s circle represented by StopTech. The Pro/Celebrity Race held a day earlier on Saturday saw Hollywood superstar Keanu Reeves and racing legend Al Unser Jr. each win their category in race-ready Scion tCs with StopTech brakes. Of cour
se, all racers were in identically equipped vehicles including Adrien Brody, Carlos Mencia, Alex Trebek and more., so the odds of a StopTech victory were guaranteed.The Indy car-heavy weekend also brought a family of StopTech equipped vehicles back to Southern California. No, they don’t make brakes for Indy cars (yet) but the Delphi Safety Team that gets them out of trouble upgraded their two Honda Ridgelines and one Honda Pilot to StopTech’s. These heavy vehicles need to maneuver the racetrack at near racing speeds during yellow flags. The immediate feedback from one of the team leaders and driver was that the 
improvement was vast and very welcome.
improvement was vast and very welcome.StopTech also had a booth up at the Lifestyle expo featuring a pair of eye-popping racers including the StopTech Mitsubishi EVO X operated by the company’s head engineer, Stephen Ruiz, who also double duties for GMG Racing.
We were there with our video cameras and are putting together a reel for the video library.
For more info on the entire Long Beach Grand Prix, visit http://www.gplb.com/.
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