{"id":231384,"date":"2026-03-22T16:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T16:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/231384\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T16:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T16:19:14","slug":"long-beach-gp-ceo-jim-michaelian-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/231384\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach GP CEO Jim Michaelian dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Michaelian, the \u201chigh-profile leader\u201d of the Grand Prix of Long Beach for the past quarter-century, died on Saturday, a few weeks away from the \u201cfinal event he planned to oversee before his retirement.\u201d He was 83. His last day as president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach was \u201cscheduled to be June 30.\u201d He will be succeeded by Jim Liaw, former Performance Racing Industry GM. The cause of death had not yet been released as of Saturday (Long Beach PRESS-TELEGRAM, 3\/21<\/a>). Michaelian was the association\u2019s controller and COO before becoming president and CEO in 2001. Under his guidance, the Grand Prix of Long Beach became a \u201cmainstay and helped popularize street course racing\u201d (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 3\/21<\/a>). Michaelian also served on \u201cvarious boards over the years,\u201d including the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach, Visit Long Beach and the L.A. Sports Council, \u201cfurther augmenting his impact on the sports scene\u201d in the L.A. area (RACER, 3\/21<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Reactions poured in after news of Michaelian\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

IMSA President John Doonan<\/a>: \u201cJim was a racer\u2019s racer and a dear friend to IMSA and the motorsports community at large. In addition to his stewardship of the Long Beach event, Jim was a frequent competitor in IMSA races over the years. We will sorely miss his presence at Long Beach and racetracks everywhere.\u201dIndyCar owner Roger Penske<\/a>: \u201cJim 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. 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.\u201dIndyCar President Doug Boles on X<\/a>: \u201cA crazy, impossible, vision 50+ years ago turned into an annual, epic, racing event\/celebration! Thanks Jim for leading @GPLongBeach from the very start! And thanks for the friendship, candid conversations about how to make our sport better, and the many shared laughs and smiles!\u201dFox Sports analyst James Hinchcliffe on X<\/a>: \u201cFloored by this news. Chatted to Jim last weekend. What he and his team built over decades at Long Beach Grand Prix stands as one of the great sporting events in the country. A racer through and through. He will be missed by many in our community.\u201dAndretti Global driver Will Power on X<\/a>: \u201cSaddened to hear of the passing of Jim Michaelian. Such a wonderful person and a big part of what kept the Long Beach GP so successful. My thoughts and prayers are with his family \ud83d\ude4f R.I.P. Jim”Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood on X<\/a>: \u201cVery sad news. Jim\u2019s passion and love for our sport is unmatched. An all around fantastic person whose legacy will carry on for many generations. Jim will be truly missed by everyone.\u201dReporter Jeff Pappone on Blue Sky<\/a>: \u201cSaddened to learn that Jim Michaelian is no longer with us. He led the #IndyCar #GPLongBeach for 25 years and was set to retire after this year\u2019s race. He was 83.\u201dTristar Production Group President & CEO Jason Rittenberry on LinkedIn<\/a>: \u201cJim wasn\u2019t just a pioneer in motorsports — he was a builder of people, of events, and of a culture that put fans and competitors first. His impact on this industry is something that will be felt for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Michaelian, the \u201chigh-profile leader\u201d of the Grand Prix of Long Beach for the past quarter-century, died on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132,14396],"class_list":["post-231384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-motorsports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231384","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=231384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}