Bridgestone Corporation is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese.
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit in Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder and promoter which began as a vision while working at a travel agency in downtown Long Beach. It was the premier circuit in the Champ Car from 1996, and was the first event in the World Series each year from 2004. The 2008 race was the last race for Champ Cars as the series merged with the Indy Racing League,[1][2] and is now an event on the Izod IndyCar Series calendar.