Ahead of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, race drivers trade helmets with firefighters

A swapping of helmets. A sign of mutual appreciation.

Ahead of the official start of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, race car drivers Colton Herta and Colin Braun swapped their helmets with two members of the Long Beach Fire Department who were on the front lines of the catastrophic wildfires that swept through the Los Angeles area at the start of the year.

Herta, a Santa Clarita native who is racing with No. 26 for the Andretti IndyCar team, traded his racing helmet for fire engineer Tyler Vanderstelt’s helmet on Tuesday, April 1.

Vanderstelt is a fire engineer for the Long Beach Fire Department, serving on the Urban Search and Rescue Speciality Station. A member of the department since 2018, Vanderstelt was assigned to the Eaton fire in Altadena in January.

Braun, who drives the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing car in the IMSA series, and Capt. Brian Sher also traded helmets on Tuesday. Sher has been with the Urban Search and Rescue Specialty team for 29 years and worked both the Eaton fire and the Palisades fire.

After exchanging helmets and posing for quite a few photos, the drivers got the opportunity to hop into a different vehicle: Long Beach’s Fire Engine 6.

Herta turned on the truck, started the lights and roared the siren, and then the racers relinquished the driver’s seat to the firefighters. Out onto Magnolia Avenue they went.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach officially kicks off on Friday, April 11. The IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix, round three of the 2025 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will commence on Saturday, April 12, and the NTT IndyCar race will roar through Long Beach on Sunday, April 13.