Bid business.

Think speeding tickets are costly?

They're not by Long Beach Grand Prix standards. The price of exceeding the limit on Shoreline Drive and trading paint with celebrities and professional race-car drivers in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach's Celebrity Race is about $50,000.

The 33rd Grand Prix will run on April 13-15.

An online auction (www.longbeachgp.com) for this year's celeb race spot began last Monday, and will run through Feb. 14. Proceeds from the winning bid will go to the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach, which has contributed more than $2 million to a wide crosssection of charitable organizations.

That's presuming, however, that there are some proceeds. As of midweek, no one had bid on the celebrity race position, which requires a minimum of $50,000 bid. Last year, the first time the auction was held online, only a few bidders turned out and the winning bid was $50,350.

"We're hoping to do a lot better this year," said race spokesman Christian Esslinger. "The online auction has been a change for us, and this year we're trying to make people more aware that it's up there."

The winning bidder gets to join the rest of the celebrity and professional field for four days of professional driver's training with Fast Lane Racing School at Willow Springs Raceway.