Jamie Little WINS Toyota Long Beach Celebrity Race!

I am totally not making this up. Emergency phone call from Russ the Stat King at Long Beach delivered the scoop:  Jamie Little won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at Long Beach on April 19.

Jamie Little: GET HER IN A CAR and she wins. BAM. Since I'm not in the media center, I am cheering openly here.

Russ on the cell phone: "Jamie won .. oh .. she's climbing the fence ... she stopped at the start-finish and she's climbing the fence ... higher than Helio."

Rock on, Jamie! pressdog is in the whiskey!

Me: "Is Brie (IndyCar Pit Hotty Brienne Pedigo) going to interview Jamie? Because if she is, I may have to take a moment here."

Russ: "No, Brie is watching it here with me on the monitor." I asked Russ to ask Brie if this meant she would have to run the race next year.

"If they ask me. I'd love to," Brie said. OMG. "Long Beach 2009: Pit Hotty Showdown ... This Time It's Personal." Russ said SpeedTV was filming and would likely produce a little 30-minute package on it. Maybe we'll have to have some Special Race Notes. We absolutely need to have some video of Jamie's fence climb during the Long Beach ABC/ESPN coverage.

Apparently there was a bit of controversy at the finish. They don't use the white flag but instead hold up a sign with "1" on it meaning one to go. Next time by, the held up the sign again. WTF? Then Jamie was passed by Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner on that lap, but that was really just an extra lap. Who's running this goat rodeo? I imagine a tight shot of the flag stand showing 19 clowns packed into it all waving random flags.

Bottom line: Jamie led at the end of the last lap -- lap 10 of the scheduled 10 -- so she wins and climbs the fence.

The Toyota Celebrity race helped launch The Danica, so how much longer before J-Lil is scouting for a ride? Jamie is an experienced dirt bike rider, so it's not like she just fell off the truck. And Jamie is an FHM alumni like Danica. Hmmmmmm. Sponsorship probably wouldn't be an issue. Get on the phone to SI, Jamie.

Huge and sustained props to my boy Russ for the scoop. Everybody -- slam round.

Comments

[patrice]

So Jamie now has as many big wins as Danica!!

[Sue]

Nope - Jamie's got a bigger Big Win than Danica! At the 2002 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race, which is Ms. DP's most major "win", she finished first in the Pro Division, but third overall. Ms. DP finished behind Dara Torres, an Olympic diver, and Will Masterson, an actor. Guess she didn't have her patented foot stomp and demand to get out of her way down pat yet. And they obviously didn't know better.

GO JAMIE!

[My Name Is IRL]

WOO HOO! 'Bout time the got her in a car!

[jdh417]

Patrice, nice job. Obviously reading your post was what finally motivated Danica Kournikova to go out and win a race. Making you and Katherine Legge apologists swallow foot with crow must have made the victory even sweeter.

[jdh417]

Oh, Sue. You as well.

[Mike Rice]

Oh, yes...and she drove the damn car really well, it was no "backed into it" kind of win. Started p2, p3 at the exit of turn 1, got dumped back to 4th by the end of the first or second lap in the Gong Show-like dive-bomb approach of some Celeb drivers...then methodically began to reel them back in and pass them with authority. She was on it. With Skinner closing on her, she was closing on the leader. At the end of the Seaside straight (the back straight of the course) she was closing fast on the actor whats-his-name, who choked and stuffed his car into the tire barriers (no assistance from Jamie), and she held off Skinner to the flag - or what should have been the flag. It was the best Pro/Celeb race I've ever witnessed. Props, big time props, to the best IPH ever on the win.

[ramblin man]

"Who's running this goat rodeo? I imagine a tight shot of the flag stand showing 19 clowns packed into it all waving random flags."

Love this stuff!

Can't wait to see Jamie racing at Indy and the SI photos!

Go Jamie!