{"id":230777,"date":"2026-03-22T03:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230777\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T03:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:13:13","slug":"long-beach-grand-prix-ceo-and-president-jim-michaelian-dies-at-83-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230777\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Grand Prix CEO and president Jim Michaelian dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Michaelian<\/a>, the president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, died at 83 on Saturday. The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach holds IndyCar’s<\/a> annual Grand Prix of Long Beach<\/a> in Long Beach, California.<\/p>\n

Michaelian was a founding member of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is set to hold its 51st race on April 19. The race has been held annually since 1975, except for the canceled 2020 race due to the COVID pandemic. Michaelian became the association’s president and CEO in 2001 and was set to transition into a to-be-determined role with Penske Entertainment in July<\/a>. Jim Liaw will assume that position.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEveryone at Penske Entertainment and within the IndyCar community is deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Michaelian,” Penske Entertainment CEO Roger Penske said in a statement. “Jim was a leader of a small, passionate group who believed in the concept of bringing elite open-wheel competition to Long Beach in the 1970s, worked tirelessly to make it happen despite steep odds and then helped nurture the Grand Prix of Long Beach into becoming America\u2019s premier street race.<\/p>\n

“His vision and energy surrounding this great event remained boundless for 50 years, as no task was too small for Jim even while he served in numerous leadership roles. Penske Entertainment is committed to honoring Jim\u2019s legacy of putting fans and competitors first as we continue to build on the strong foundation he and his staff created for a half-century in Long Beach. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife, Mary, and their sons, Bob and Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michaelian was the association’s controller and COO before becoming president and CEO in 2001. The Grand Prix of Long Beach is the longest-running street circuit in North America, and it’s the second-oldest active event in American open-wheel racing behind only the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndyCar owes an immense debt of gratitude to Jim Michaelian,\u201d\u00a0Penske Entertainment Corp.\u00a0president and CEO\u00a0Mark Miles\u00a0said when it was announced Michaelian was stepping down. \u201cFrom Day 1, his guidance, management and exemplary leadership, has made the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach a marquee event and a beloved fan-favorite on the\u00a0NTT IndyCar Series calendar. I know our paddock \u2013 past and present \u2013 and decades of racing champions and legends join me in congratulating Jim on the impactful legacy he leaves.”<\/p>\n

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When the Grand Prix of Long Beach was created, it was the lone street race on the SCCA\/USAC Formula 5000 Championship schedule. Under Michaelian’s guidance, and with the help and involvement of the Long Beach community, the race became a mainstay and helped popularize street course racing. Six of IndyCar’s 18 races this year are on street courses.<\/p>\n

“These are a challenge. They\u2019re not easy, and you see a lot of firms and companies and promoters \u2014 even cities \u2014 find that just saying you want to have a race isn\u2019t enough,\u201d Michaelian told IndyStar last year<\/a>. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why you have to do it in a successful manning both operationally and financially, and that\u2019s why there\u2019s been dozens of street races in America since we started, and how many are left?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no easy formula for this, but it\u2019s the result of a lot of community involvement and relationship building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michaelian, a UCLA graduate, also raced cars. He competed at endurance tracks like Le Mans, Daytona, N\u00fcrburgring, Spa, Watkins Glen, Dubai and Sebring.<\/p>\n

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Zion Brown<\/a>\u00a0is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at\u00a0@z10nbr0wn<\/a>. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with\u00a0our Motor Sports newsletter<\/a>. Subscribe to theYouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar<\/a>\u00a0for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Long Beach Grand Prix CEO and president Jim Michaelian dies at 83<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Michaelian, the president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, died at 83 on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[69106,65321,68915,68912,131,133,132,68916,7633,68917,69109],"class_list":["post-230777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-grand-prix-of-long-beach","tag-indycar","tag-jim-liaw","tag-jim-michaelian","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-penske-entertainment","tag-president-and-ceo","tag-roger-penske","tag-street-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}