CarCast is one of our favorite podcasts, hosted by the man tipped to head up America's flavor of Top Gear, Adam Carolla. And apparently, the Las Vegas bookmakers are paying attention to Carolla's car-nut status as they have chosen him as the favorite to win the celebrity portion of the upcoming 34th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Each year the event plays out to be almost as much demolition derby as it is road race, but once the lesser-talented have taken each other out of the race, things heat up a bit. This year, Adam Carolla is picked to top the celebrity rankings at 11-1 odds, ahead of others like Zachary Levi (12-1) of NBC's "Chuck" and Patrick Warburton (15-1), both of which are picked for second place. Patrick Dempsey, noted actor and racer in the American Le Mans Series among others, will also be on track that same weekend, though he'll be at the wheel of a Tri-Point Mazdaspeed3 for the professional World Challenge series.
Picked to win the pro side of the race is Jimmy Vasser (2-1 odds), with Tanner Foust (7-2) close behind, and third and beyond expected to be a dice between Steve Millen (7-1), Jamie Bestwick (10-1), Marty Nothstein (11-1) and Keanu Reeves (12-1), who competes with the pros by virtue of having won last year's celebrity portion.
Oddly, the odds for the Pro/Celebrity GP are purely for "entertainment" purposes, as the charity race is not intended to be a venue for any wagers. Still, it's good to see a real car guy picked to win, and whatever the outcome, it's sure to be an entertaining "race." The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach pits 19 celebrities and pros against a 10-lap sprint race around the 1.97-mile street circuit behind the wheels of race-prepped Scion tCs. It takes place on April 17.
Past celeb winners include Dave Mirra, who now races rally cars with Rally America, Frankie Muniz, and Josh Brolin. Past pro winners include Danica Patrick, Jeremy McGrath, Mike Skinner and last year's winner, Al Unser, Jr.
[Toyota]
