Previewing the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, professional racers Filipe Albuquerque and Jordan Taylor visited Chavez Elementary to engage with students about racing, driver safety and the path of becoming a professional racecar driver.
Despite the gloomy clouds on a Thursday morning of Apr. 18, students ranging from grades kindergarten to fifth grade were ushered outdoors at the school’s basketball court — beaming with excitement at the scene of a Acura ARX-06 IMSA GT Prototype race car in front of their eyes.
“Everyone wants to succeed (and) everyone wants to win,” Portuguese native Albuquerque said to the audience, “but what makes it different is how hard you work, or how much dedication you put (in) more than your competitor.”
CEO of Murchison Consulting Tracy Murchison said that she and her husband, Mike Murchison, have been working with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for eight years, bringing cars and racers to elementary schools and inspiring the next generation of racers about the career and driver safety. During the morning school assembly at Chavez Elementary, Murchison led the discussion with students and the professional racers.
When Murchison asked the crowd who wanted to become a racecar driver, nearly every student’s hand rose in excitement, shouting “Me!”
“We really feel that there’s a lot of kids out there that don’t get to go down to the Grand Prix or know what it’s about,” Murchison said, “so to be able to bring a race car and a couple of professional drivers is wonderful to teach the kid a little bit about the career, racecar driving and also the safety behind the wheel.”
Albuquerque, 38, and Taylor, 32, will both be competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. During their discussion, both drivers emphasized the importance of safety measures like wearing proper safety gear in motorsports, the role of education in their careers and the value of teamwork in success.
Florida-based Taylor thoroughly explained to the crowd that drivers…
–Wear carbon fiber helmets as a safety precaution;
–Use a system of walkie-talkies to communicate with their crews; and
–There’s a button on his steering wheel that allows him to drink water during the long races.
The students, sitting on the ground in uniform rows, marveled in awe even at the fact that Taylor’s comment about needing to wear six seatbelts during their races.
“The kids just really absolutely love it,” Murchison said, “and hopefully (this) encourages them to stay in school and go after their dreams.”
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