Brian Austin Green Wins the Celebrity Category of the 2010 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

Jimmy Vasser Takes Checkered Flag As Overall and Professional Winner

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Apr 17, 2010, 11:44 ET

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- It was auto racing at its most exhilarating as actor Brian Austin Green prevailed over a highly competitive group of America's favorite celebrities from film, television, music and sports to win the Celebrity category of the 2010 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Former CART Champion Jimmy Vasser finished first overall and in doing so also won the Pro category, followed closely by Formula Drift Champion Tanner Foust.

Green, the actor who achieved fame as a teen idol for his role as David Silver in the original "Beverly Hills, 90210," first fought off comedian Adam Carolla, then battled much of the race with actor Adrien Brody, taking the lead in the eighth lap and holding it to cross the finish line in his race-ready Scion tC just fractions of a second before Brody and actor Zachary Levi.

Green was ecstatic after the race. "We all pushed each other and really battled," said the new celebrity champ. "This is such a great group of people. We've all become really close friends under very cool circumstances. I'd be just as happy had Zach or Adrien won."

"This was an exciting and entertaining race," said Les Unger, national motorsports manager with Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. "These drivers battled the entire race, and the crowd responded. Every participant was hungry to take home the trophy and brought their A game to the competition. The drivers remained intensely focused throughout their training, and yesterday's practice and qualifying sessions. Their commitment and enthusiasm exemplify the spirit of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race."

Vasser, who won the Pro category, did not overcome the pros' 30-second handicap until the last lap, holding off Foust and Green, who came in second and third overall. Vasser voiced the feelings of the rest of the drivers when he concluded by describing the charitable nature of the event. "This was great fun," said Vasser. I'd love to do this again. It's an honor, we develop great camaraderie and we get to race for the children's charity."

FINAL RACE RESULTS

Pos	Class	Name	Laps	Time
1	Pro	Jimmy Vasser	13	27:31.586
2	Pro	Tanner Foust	13	27:32.231
3	Celebrity	Brian Austin Green	13	27:34.563
4	Pro	Marty Nothstein	13	27:34.859
5	Celebrity	Adrien Brody	13	27:37.746
6	Celebrity	Zachary Levi	13	27:37.979
7	Pro	Steve Millen	13	27:38.617
8	Celebrity	Patrick Warburton	13	27:44.142
9	Celebrity	Adam Carolla	13	27:44.225
10	Charity Auction Winner	Dave Pasant	13	27:44.956
11	Pro	Keanu Reeves	13	27:45.651
12	Celebrity	Christian Slater	13	27:46.127
13	Charity Auction Winner	Jerry Westlund	13	27:56.299
14	Celebrity	Tika Sumpter	13	27:57.783
15	Celebrity	Megyn Price	13	27:58.242
16	Celebrity	Jesse McCartney	6	11:10.570
17	North Hollywood Toyota Vice President	Chris Ashworth	6	11:24.403
18	Celebrity	Tony Hawk	6	11:24.432
19	Pro	Jamie Bestwick	2	4:07.377

Toyota will donate $5,000 to "Racing for Kids" in the name of each celebrity racer and an additional $5,000 to the winning racer's charity of choice. The organization for which Green raced is Cure Autism Now, an autism advocacy organization sponsoring research and spreading awareness of the disorder. "Racing for Kids" is a national nonprofit program benefiting children's hospitals. Recipients of Toyota's donations will be the children's hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County, Calif. Toyota has donated $1.8 million on behalf of the race and its participants since 1991.

Additionally, a $15,000 donation was made in conjunction with the annual People Pole Award. Sponsored by People magazine, the award was given to Zachary Levi, this year's pole-position winner of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race qualifying session. Levi selected Operation Smile, which works to transform the lives of children who suffer from cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. Levi is hoping the funds generated by the People Pole Award will go a long way to improving the lives of children.

The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is scheduled to be broadcast on the Speed Channel on Saturday, May 1, and will air repeatedly. (See local listings or http://www.speedtv.com/ for times.)