Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: Meet the man with an odd annual quest

A cleanable achromatic T-shirt and a achromatic marker.

Those are the lone tools Doug Pitt needs — on with a grin connected his look — to undertake his yearly quest astatine the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: Getting arsenic galore signatures arsenic helium can.

Pitt, a Downey resident, has headed to downtown Long Beach during the acceptable up for the street-racing play for 30 years, searching for autographs from those progressive with the Grand Prix.

But getting signatures is simply a communal enactment astatine the Grand Prix, arsenic it is astatine immoderate sporting event. The Grand Prix, successful fact, hosted an autograph league with this weekend’s competitors connected Friday, Sept. 25, the archetypal time of Long Beach’s biggest yearly event.

What makes Pitt’s quest genuinely quixotic, however, is his hierarchy of those helium seeks out:

Crew members.

Team owners.

Drivers.

The nonrecreational drivers, the Grand Prix’s celebrities and raison d’être, bring up the rear connected his list, Pitt said, due to the fact that they thin to instrumentality up excessively overmuch existent estate, signing larger than anyone else. Pitt besides refers to the drivers arsenic “overpaid jockeys” — a testament to his admiration for the guys down the scenes.

Doug Pitt shows gets a unit subordinate autograph the time earlier enactment starts astatine the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach successful Long Beach connected Thursday, September 23, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

But lest you deliberation Pitt spends his yearly Grand Prix pilgrimage tilting astatine windmills, helium seems well-liked astir the track.

Take Tim Broyles.

Pitt ran into Broyles, the wide manager of Ed Carpenter Racing, connected Thursday portion riding his motorcycle astir the track. Broyles has signed astatine slightest 15 of Pitt’s 30 shirts implicit the years — and helium described the Downey antheral arsenic a portion of the event.

“I look guardant to seeing him each year,” Broyles said. “It feels beauteous chill to get immoderate appreciation and designation from a fan.”

Doug Pitt shows gets an autograph from unit member, Tim Broyles the time earlier enactment starts astatine the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach successful Long Beach connected Thursday, September 23, 2021. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Pitt said helium doesn’t person a favourite autograph — helium values each of them.

But determination is 1 autograph that eluded him:

Paul Newman’s.

The legendary histrion — who starred successful “Cool Hand Luke,” among different classical films — was a racing enthusiast. Pitt said helium met Newman a mates of times astatine the Long Beach way and they chatted.

But Newman, according to Pitt, had a strict argumentation of lone signing during sanctioned times and locations to debar being mobbed.

Newman died successful 2008. The 13th day of his decease is Sunday, the last time of the Grand Prix.

But Pitt said helium doesn’t dwell connected not getting the actor’s autograph. He’s contented to person the representation of gathering him.

And helium inactive has each those shirts with each the different signatures helium did nab.

He’s been offered wealth for the shirts, Pitt said, but refuses to merchantability them.

“I’ll beryllium cremated with each of the shirts,” Pitt said. “They’re going with me.”

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