Ten years on...Fernandez returns to Long Beach.

The streets of Long Beach, California, come alive this weekend as the city prepares for the 29th running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Round Three of The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford will mark the 11th Champ Car start on the challenging street circuit for series veteran Adrian Fernandez, who made his Champ Car career debut at Long Beach in 1993.

Momentum is high for Fernandez and the Fernandez Racing team going into the Long Beach weekend following a fourth-place finish in the last round of competition - the Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix. Fernandez, who currently sits sixth in the championship point standings, has claimed two fourth-place finishes on the downtown circuit. He will be chasing his first podium finish at Long Beach this weekend.

"I have come close to a podium at Long Beach, and our goals going into this weekend are the same as they were in Mexico three weeks ago - to finish the race and to finish on the podium," said Fernandez. "They are achievable goals. We have been focusing all of our efforts on the engineering side and, while Paul Tracy definitely had the car to beat in Monterrey, we are not far off. I really feel the effort we have been putting in is going to yield the results.

"Long Beach is one of those races that has become a tradition. I have been competing here for over a decade and every year the event itself just seems to get better. This year has even more meaning since my sponsor, Tecate, is now involved with the race. [Tecate is the official imported beer sponsor of the event.] The fans are great and the atmosphere is tremendous. The race will be exciting and full of drama as usual when you are competing on a tight street circuit. Hopefully ours will be the car pulling into the Winner's Circle on Sunday."

Sunday's Long Beach Grand Prix marks the 163rd career Champ Car start for the Mexican driver, who turns 38 one week later. In preparation for this weekend's race, Fernandez Racing have stopped off at the new Arizona Motorsports Park for a two-day test on Monday and Tuesday. The team will be in good company as five additional Champ Car teams are also expected to test on the 2.23-mile, 16-turn road course located in Litchfield Park. Noted road course designer Alan Wilson planned the circuit, which opened its doors on March 7 of this year.