Toyota Grand Prix Charity Ball Nets $61,000 for a Seat in the 2002 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
LONG BEACH, Calif.--April 5, 2001--$61,000 was the high bid at the annual Toyota Grand Prix Charity Ball for a seat in the 2002 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. For the second year in a row, Dave Pasant outbid the room for the opportunity to race with the stars.
"The experience so far has been so exhilarating, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do it again next year," said Pasant, a retired insurance CEO currently residing in Rolling Hills, Calif.
"The race training experience alone was addictive. Between the expertise of the trainers and Toyota's hospitality and the camaraderie that developed between all the drivers, I knew this was something I would have to do again."
The amount bid benefits the Grand Prix Foundation charities, which include AIDS Walk of Greater Long Beach, Children's Dental Clinic, Conservation Corp. of Long Beach and Racing for Kids, a national fundraising program for children's hospitals across the country. Combined with other fundraising activities staged at the Charity Ball, more than $100,000 was raised to benefit Foundation charities.
"It is such a testament to the allure of the event when a Charity Ball winner secures the seat two years in a row," said John Knauf, president of the Grand Prix Foundation. "In the 11 years that the coveted chance to participate in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race has been offered at the charity ball, on two other occasions drivers have returned after getting a taste of the experience." (Ze'ev Drori and Bob Fouts)
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is a 10-lap race run during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend in April. It pits today's hottest stars against professional drivers in identically prepared, race-ready Toyota Celicas.
This year's race (April 7) features celebrities Josh Brolin, Jim Kelley, William Shater, Erik Palladino, Billy Blanks and Dara Torres, joined with professionals such as Scott Pruett and Sara Senske.