Grand Prix: Ribeiro Wins Final Pro/Celebrity Race

Alfonso Ribeiro knows how to bust a move, and he continued his winning ways on Saturday in the 40th and final running of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.

Ribeiro, who won a "Dancing With the Stars" title in 2014, danced atop the podium in the race's finale at the 42nd running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend.

In the most competitive field in race history on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile layout, Ribeiro won by 4.8 seconds over a group of pros led by sports car champion Max Papis and Pike's Peak legend Rod Millen.

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There was a scary moment early in the race when a course worker was struck by a disabled car after it was struck from behind during a caution period. The race was red-flagged before running the final six of 10 laps.

Ribeiro, who played Carlton on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and is current host of "America's Funniest Home Videos" -- which switched taping the season's final two episodes to Sunday in order to allow Ribeiro to compete -- won the celebrity race in 1994 and, 1995, and as a pro in 2015. This was his fourth Pro/Celebrity race. Once he cleared Olympic champion swimmer Dara Torres on the second lap and Adam Carolla on the third lap, he was as solid as anyone in the field.

Ribeiro liked racing so much after his introduction to the sport he became a gentleman racer, so he's not your typical celebrity driver.

"I said to my wife this is probably my swan song," Ribeiro said. "When you do have little kids, you start to analyze what's important.

"This race will be missed every Saturday from this point forward."

Ribeiro complained about his poor qualifying effort, but when the field was inverted, he was taking the green flag eighth among 20 cars.Papis started started 15th, Millen ninth.

The race marked a return to the streets of Long Beach for Al Unser Jr., who won six Indy car victories and was the pro/overall winner of the celebrity race in 1985 and 2009 and the pro winner in 2014.

Unser started 17th and finished eighth, but appeared to be on his way to a third-place finish before losing positions on the final lap when he went into a tire barrier battling Papis. Top qualifier Jimmy Vasser, the 1997 CART champion, started on the last row and finished seventh.

NASCAR truck driver Mike Skinner finished fourth, drift racer Ken Gushi fifth and actor Frankie Muniz sixth. Muniz, the "Malcom in the Middle" star, qualified second and, after winning the celebrity race in 2005, raced three years in open wheel formula cars.

There were 18 event winners among the 20 drivers who competed, and the only two non-winners were starting on the front row -- courtesy of the inverted field. That left celebrities in the top eight spots but without the usual 30-second head start.

There was a scary moment during cleanup after a Lap 3 accident involving actor Brett Davern and Bob Carter, vice president of Toyota. Davern crashed and stopped in the driving line, and Carter T-boned him. What got everyone's attention, though, was on the next circuit; with the yellow flag waving and track workers trying to hook Carter's Scion to a tow truck, Sean Patrick Flanery rear-ended Carter's car, pushing his car into one of the track workers, who flew into the air and landed on the pavement.

He, along with motorcycle racer Eddie Lawson from an earlier incident, were transported to St. Marys Hospital for precautionary reasons although both appeared to be relatively unharmed.

The was red-flagged on Lap 4 until cleanup was complete. At that point, Ribeiro led, followed by Carolla and Dara Torres. But after the celebs were Papis, a three-time champ car winner, Unser and Millen, a five-time Pikes Peak Unlimited class winner. Vasser, who started on the last of 10 rows, was ninth and Muniz was 10th at the time.

The buffer probably won the race for Ribeiro. On the restart, Ribeiro checked out as the pros made heir way past Adam Carolla and Dara Torres in second and third, respectively. Torres was spun by Skinner on the final lap and finished 10th, and Carolla finished 13th.

Papis, who won three Indy Car races and lived in nearby Newport Beach for a couple of years, had a good view of Ribeiro over the last few laps.

"Alfonso can not only dance," Papis said, "but he can drive a car."

Photo: Alfonso Ribeiro (right) and Sean Patrick Flanery at the post-race press conference. Ribeiro won the Pro/Celebrity race.