'Fresh Prince' Star Takes Crown As Winner In Celebrity Toyota Grand Prix For Third Time
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" star Alfonso Ribeiro won Saturday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race for the third time.
Ribeiro the best qualifying time Friday, but the race's rules call for the professionals to start 30 seconds behind the
celebrities.
Ribeiro was classified as a professional because of his wins in 1994 and 1995.
Ribeiro started 14th in the 18-car field, but needed just four laps to pass actor Joshua Morrow (Nicholas on CBS' "The Young and the Restless") to take the lead and remained in front for the remainder of the 10-lap race on the 1.97-mile, 11-turn street circuit surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center.
Ribeiro completed the race in 18 minutes, 5.495 seconds, 15.822 seconds ahead of runner-up Dave Pasant, a retired insurance executive who won a spot in the field by being the top bidder in an auction benefiting the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach.
Morrow, who started on the pole, was in second with one turn remaining when Pasant's car tapped his back bumper, causing Morrow to lose control and finish 10th.
Nathan Kress, a co-star on the 2007-12 Nickelodeon comedy "iCarly," finished third, followed by television personality Rutledge Wood and Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Dara Torres.
All the drivers drove 210-horsepower Scion FR-6 cars.
Toyota will donate $5,000 to Racing for Kids, a national nonprofit program benefiting children's hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County, in the name of each of the 18 drivers, and another $5,000 to Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, the charity designated by Ribeiro before the race.
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts is a Carlsbad-based national non-profit providing reconstructive surgery for infants, children and teenagers with physical deformities caused by birth defects, accidents or abuse.
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