Dancing with Cars

With a title like the one on this post, you might just be thinking of a certain hit television program.
But this is Dancing with the Cars, not Dancing with the Stars, though both concepts offer similar levels of celebrity, action and entertainment.
This Dancing with the Cars features www.fivestartoyota.com Scion tCs that will compete in the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. The cars, seen here during a practice session at Willow Springs Raceway in the California desert, will hurtle around the famous and challenging Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach race course April 19, driven by a volatile mix of 18 celebrities and professional racing drivers.
You might think that mixing these two categories of drivers in a 10-lap sprint around the 1.97-mile TGPLB circuit is a bit like trying to mix oil and water. Its not. It’s a whole lot more like mixing fuel and spark. And the result is likely to be an explosion of action and fun.
This year’s batch of celebs will include Drew Lachey, the second-season winner of "Dancing with the Stars," NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little, Raymond Cruz, of "The Closer," Will Fichtner, of "Prison Break," and former football great Eric Dickerson.
Pros will include NASCAR truck series star Mike Skinner, who won the event last year and who is seen here with last year's Celebrity winner Dave Mirra; NHRA Funny Car drivers Cruz Pedregon and Whit Bazemore, offroad racer Beccy Gordon, Grand-Am driver Sarena Traver and others.
That "others" part is important, as it includes one Craig Barto, who won his spot on the race grid by being high bidder in the Boys and Girls Club charity auction.
The Pros seem a good bet to take the victory in this fun event, but there’s more to it than competition. There’s also charity.
That’s because Toyota will donate $5,000 to "Racing for Kids," a non-profit program benefiting children's hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County, Calif., in the name of each celebrity racer, and another $5,000 to the winning racer's charity of choice.
If all this sounds like fun – well, you’re right, it is – more fun, even, than a hit TV program. Who will win? It’s tough to bet against this year’s field of professionals. But the real, sure winners will be the children who receive help from Racing for Kids.