(Manhattan Beach's Meadows Elementary School hosted Formula Atlantic's Pacific Coast Motorsports Team on Tuesday, April 8, just prior to the Long Beach Grand Prix. Through a series of events, Deep Throttle was the only press covering the appearance of Pacific Coast's Alex Figge and his new driving coach, Alex Gurney. There is also a photo gallery.)

I hate math! Yeah, yeah, 3 times 8 is...hey, there's a big truck coming onto the playground. Just my luck, they're probably bringing a truckload of new math books. The back door of the truck is opening. Hey, they're rolling a racecar out of it and parking it on the playground. That's something, you don't see every day at Meadows Elementary School. Oh yeah, the teacher said there was going to be an assembly with a Formula Atlantic car after school. I guess I should pay more attention. They're rolling out a big toolbox. I bet my Dad would like a toolbox, that big. WOW, it's got a TV in it. I bet my Dad would like a toolbox with a TV in it!

Alright, the bell rang. I'm going out to see that racecar. I wonder if it's going to be at the Long Beach Grand Prix that Dad's taking me to this weekend. It must. Why else would they bring a racecar to Manhattan Beach. The truck says, Pacific Coast Motorsports. It's the same colors as the racecar. The car says Alex Figge. That must be the driver. Wow, they're playing a race on the TV in the toolbox. This is cool.

There's a guy climbing on top of the toolbox. He says he's Tyler Tadevic, the team director. This is a team just like my little league team. Cool. He's introducing the team. Some mechanics and Heather, the team secretary. Yech, why do they want a girl on the team? They might get cooties. They have a coach, Alex Gurney. I wonder if he's related to that Dan Gurney guy my Dad talks about. My Dad says Dan Gurney was the best driver, ever! He looks a lot like the pictures my dad has of Dan Gurney.

That Tyler guy is going to bring out the driver. We're all saying, "Alex, Alex, Alex, Alex." There he is. He's dressed in his blue driving suit. That's so cool. Everybody's asking questions. Billy asked if his suit is hot. He said it is, but he's used to it from driving. Bobby just asked him if he's ever been in a crash. I can top that, "Alex, have you ever been on fire?" Nope. Oh well, it was a cool question. Everybody laughed.

Now we get to go in the trailer. Cool. This line is long. There must be 300 kids in it. Boy, this trailer is big. The inside looks better than the workshop in my Dad's garage. Oh boy, they're giving us free stuff. Cool. Some pictures, stickers, a little notebook, and that Heather girl gave me a Formula Atlantic patch. I'm going to have Mom sew it on my jacket. That Alex Gurney guy told Susan to ask Alex Figge a question when she gets an autograph.

She asked him if he's ever been beat by a girl. Alex Gurney and the mechanics are laughing. Figge says he wants Alex Gurney out of his trailer right now. He doesn't seem mad, though. These guys are really funny.

It's my turn to get an autograph. He even wrote my name on the picture and autographed it. "Alex, do you race with Paul Tracy and Jimmy Vasser?" He says they drive in CART not Formula Atlantic. He wants to race in CART but wants to get a couple more seasons of experience first. He has only raced since 1999 in the Star Mazda Series. In 2000, he went on to Formula Ford 2001 and then to Formula Atlantic in 2002.

This sure is cool. I think I'll go play some basketball until Dad picks me up. Here comes Alex Gurney, Alex Figge, and the mechanics. He wants to shoot with us. This is cool. It's fun playing ball with these guys. They're all pretty good except for Alex Gurney. He says he drove a car like Alex Figge's last year. He wanted to race CART, but it would cost him $2 million. I think he should get the money. He should be racing cars because he sucks at basketball.

Copyright © 2003 by Jeff Davidson and Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.