Local man wins Long Beach grid place.

When Long Beach based businessman Jerry Westlund was much younger, his parents would drop him off at the gates of the Grand Prix of Long Beach where he'd watch the race and then take the bus home.

His mode of transportation at this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race on Saturday April 14th will be radically different!

That's because the 41-year-old nightclub owner will be strapped in behind the wheel of a race-ready Toyota Scion tC, duelling with fellow competitors from film, television and sports in the 31st annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, part of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend April 13th-15th.

Westlund, who owns 12 adult nightclubs in five states across the U.S., was high bidder in the recent auction on "longbeachgp.com" to win a chance to race on America's most famed street circuit. His winning bid of $70,500 will go directly to the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach, which, since its inception, has contributed more than $2 million to a wide cross-section of charitable organisations throughout the greater Long Beach area.

"I'm a life-long Long Beach resident," Westlund says. "I've been going to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for around 30 years and I've always wondered how I'd do if I ever got in the Pro/Celebrity Race.

"A friend of mine mentioned the auction to me. I gave it some serious thought and, after some prodding from my employees, I jumped in. I was surprised at how fast the bidding went up, but I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. I can't wait to start training and line up on what is basically my 'home track!'"

Westlund will join the rest of the celebrity and professional field for four days of driver's training conducted by Fast Lane Driving School at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, one day of pre-event driver's training and media exposure on Pro/Celebrity Press Day, plus practice and qualifying on Friday April 13th will lead up to him taking the green flag at 11:45 a.m. Saturday April 14th in the 10-lap sprint race over the storied 1.97-mile seaside street course.

His winning bid earned him air fare, hotel accommodations, meals and ground transportation, as well as race-week dinners and related press and social activities, including a post-race "Victory Dinner."

Westlund will also receive a custom-made professional driver's suit, along with shoes, helmet and gloves, and a $5,000 donation from Toyota will be made in is name to "Racing For Kids," a national programme benefiting two children's hospitals in Southern California.

"I grew up watching people like Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman and Cameron Diaz battle each other in the Pro/Celebrity Race," Westlund says. "To think I'm going to be out there racing people like that, and it's all for a worthwhile cause, well, it just doesn't get any better than that."