Actor Brody Jenner attends the 36th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race – Press Practice Day of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 3, 2012 in Long Beach, California.

(04/03) the 36th Annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race

Photoshoot: Toyota Racing

Quick Stats: Brody Jenner, reality TV star
Daily Driver: 2007 Cadillac Escalade (Brody’s rating: 10 on a scale of 1 to 10)
Other cars: See below
Favorite road trip: Boulder to Los Angeles
Car he learned to drive in: 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser
First car bought: 2007 Cadillac Escalade

During a short break at Willow Springs while participating in practice sessions for the 36th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race, an enthused Brody Jenner talks about getting the racing bug “big time.”

“This is my first time ever getting in an actual car and racing around the track. It’s just the most awesome experience ever. I’m hooked. I’ve learned so much just in short amount of time that I’ve been out here,” Jenner says. “It’s too much fun, it really is. It takes so much skill. I don’t think a lot of people realize how much skill it really takes to be fast out on the race course. We’re just learning every day and having a good time.”

Jenner had only raced a little in go-carts when he was younger, so before getting on the Streets of Willow, he rented a Shelby Cobra for a few days and drove around Los Angeles to master the manual transmission.

“I went with my brothers. They have a little bit more experience in the racing field than I do,” Jenner says. “I had to go through a couple of the canyons in Malibu and have my brother show me a little bit of stuff. I’m pretty coordinated. I picked it up pretty quick. My brother’s a really good teacher as well and I’m just applying it out here. So I’m just practicing, practicing.”

He says Danny McKeever [Note: our first Celeb Drive] is an incredible teacher and adds that the staff of the celebrity race as well as the other celebs and pros have been having fun bonding on the track and off.

“My cheeks are hurting with how much we’re laughing and having a blast, while sharing an incredible experience getting to race like this,” Jenner says. “To me it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to do it and do it for a good cause, for charity and also have fun. It’s a blessing.”

He’s still perfecting his newly learned race skills. “Going from first to fifth is no problem. It’s the heel-toe shifting, the downshifting and being able to master that which I find it takes time, and you’ve just got to pay attention, but I’m getting it. We’re learning out here — that’s what this is for.

“There’s a lot of rivalries going on, everybody’s battling for position and having a good time with it, making sure they’re safe and having a good time. I’m personally just going at what I feel comfortable, trying to not over-drive the car, going at my pace. I don’t mind staying behind somebody and when the right time comes, going for a pass. I’m not going to push my car too much or wreck one of these bad boys. I don’t want to do that,” he says.

Daily Driver
On this chilly weekend, Jenner drove to the Rosamond racetrack in his 2007 Cadillac Escalade, which he rates a perfect 10. “I love that car more than anything – how comfy it is. It’s an awesome car. Never had a single problem with it ever,” he says. “And it’s American-made.”

In addition to consciously supporting a U.S. automaker, Jenner also has a pure love for classic American muscle. “I love American musclecars,” he says. “It’s my thing.”

1968 Dodge Charger
Rating: 20
Jenner prefers driving his Dodge Charger, which be bought a couple years ago. “It’s my little baby,” Jenner says. “It’s got a 426 hemi in it that’s built up. You never know when something goes wrong, so it’s not the most reliable car all the time, but is just so much fun to drive. If I’m in Malibu driving up and down Pacific Coast Highway, my ‘68 Dodge Charger usually is what I like to drive.”

For his drive between Hollywood and Malibu, this is his ride. “Obviously long road trips that’s not the most ideal car, so I take my Escalade,” he says.

Although Jenner is famous, it’s often the Charger that gets looks. “Sometimes it can be a little invasive,” he says. “I’ll go out and eat somewhere. I’ll come out and there will be 10 people standing around it taking photos of it.”

Jenner thinks these classic musclecars offer more exclusivity than a current sports car anyone can buy from a dealership. “Having a car like that is so much cooler than having a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, which is something that just screams money. This has a little bit more style to it and people respect it.”

Jenner said the other day he was driving the Charger and a motorcycle cop pulled him over. “This thing was so loud and crazy and he followed me and I was really nervous because I knew when you step on the brakes, one of my brake lights goes out. I was like, ‘Great, I’m going to get pulled over, get a fix-it ticket.’”

But he was given a friendly warning, and he thinks if he had been driving a flashier Lamborghini, he would have gotten a ticket. “He goes, ‘I just wanted to let you know that one of your taillights goes out when you put your brake lights on, just letting you know so next time you take it into the shop you can get it fixed.’ He was so nonchalant about it. And he said, ‘Man, I was behind that thing smelling your exhaust fumes the whole time.’ I said, ‘Thank you very much, I appreciate you not giving me a ticket.’ I then went and got it fixed. I know that he could have given me a ticket on the spot but he was really cool about it. They have a little respect for you on the road.”

1967 Chevrolet Chevelle
Rating: 8
Jenner bought this 1967 Chevelle when he was 18 and it’s been in the shop more than it’s been on the road.

“I never really got to enjoy it as much as I’ve wanted,” he says. “It’s been in the shop for years now. I would rate that as an 8, but it will be a 10. The Charger I bought already built up, so that’s something I like a little better, because somebody already put the time in and made it an incredible car as opposed to buying a car that I knew I was going to put a lot of money into and doing the whole project. Unless you’re doing it yourself, it’s really hard to trust the right people with one of your cars.”

His Chevelle sat in a shop for years until six months ago, when he took it back and brought it to another shop. “I’ve been slowly but surely putting money into it,” he says. “A buddy of mine said, ‘I’ll make this thing look crazy and hot rod and I trusted him and let him take it. He said he’d have it done in four months and that turned into four years and I just ended up taking it back.” Jenner hopes to have the car back soon from the new shop.

Car he learned to drive in
Jenner learned to drive in a 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser, which he describes as “old school.” “That was the car I drove until I got my pickup truck,” Jenner says.

“My parents just wanted to make sure the first car I got was an SUV and it was safe and reliable,” he says, referring to dad Bruce Jenner and mom Linda Thompson. “They made sure that I was all good. They would drive with me when I had my permit and once they realized I was a decent driver, they bought me a Ford F-250 pickup truck.”

Favorite road trip
Jenner went to college in Boulder, Colorado, and he and his brother Brandon would often drive there from Los Angeles in his brother’s Ford F-150.

“The drive from Malibu through Vail and then over to Boulder is so beautiful,” Jenner says. “I’ll never forget the most memorable road trip was when it was just me and him coming back. He never wanted to stop for anything besides getting gas, because he always wanted to see how quick he could get back home.”

On one road trip back to Los Angeles, it was early in the morning and Jenner was sleeping in the passenger seat while his older brother drove. “He would pee in a Gatorade bottle and he was doing his business while we’re driving and he veered off the highway and hit a berm on the side of the highway going 65,” Jenner recalls.

“I wake up to literally launching six feet in the air in this truck and we were fine, he landed it. It was like he was driving some sort of monster truck. Two of his tires went flat so we called AAA and some of his suspension got messed up. Of course the best part about it was his Gatorade bottle that he was peeing in just went all over him,” he says. “I just thought that was the funniest thing ever. That was wild.”

Qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity Race is April 13 and the race is April 14. Follow @ToyotaRacing on Twitter for race updates and join the conversation with the celebrity racers on #tpcr.

For nearly four decades the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race has taken place in southern California with some of the biggest stars in television, film, sports and music coming out to compete in the world’s largest and most prestigious celebrity racing event. This exciting race is a premier charity event that will benefit Racing for Kids, a fundraising program to support Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach and Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

The event will take place on April 14, 2012, in Long Beach, California, and on behalf of the race and its participants, Toyota been quite generous, donating more than $2 million to various children’s hospitals since 1991. Every year Toyota has donated $5,000 to Racing for Kids on behalf of each participant and another $5,000 to the winning racer’s charity of choice. In addition, People magazine will donate $15,000 to the celebrity pole winner’s charity of choice in conjunction with the 14th annual “People Pole Award” on April 13.

Some of your favorite celebrities will get behind the wheel of “identically prepared, race-ready Toyota Scion tCs to drive the historic 10-lap, 1.97-mile street circuit through the streets of downtown Long Beach, California.”

In 2011, it was William Fichter who emerged the winner of the highly competitive race. Japanese drift racer followed at a close second, with actor Michael Trucco in third place.

Les Unger, national motorsports manager for Toyota Motor Sales remarked, “This was a thrilling race from start to finish. It’s not often that a celebrity comes out on top, and Ken Gushi looked to be hard to beat-Fichtner and Gushi battling it out for first place made for intense and exciting competition. This year’s celebrity field was, as always, a real crowd-pleaser. Their commitment and enthusiasm, all for a great cause, is exactly what the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race is all about.”

This year’s race is filled with popular celebrities and could even surpass last year’s highly successful and exciting event. The names of the drivers were announced just this afternoon, and include Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody, television and film actor Eddie Cibrian and reality television star Brody Jenner, best known as a central character in MTV’s “The Hills.” Jenner is the son of Olympian and television personality Bruce Jenner who has driven in the race five times and won twice.

Other celebs include Jillian Barberie Reynolds, Kate del Castillo, Kim Coates, Eileen Davidson, Hill Harper, Christopher Meloni, Scott Porter, Bill Rancic, Cain Velasquez and Rutledge Wood.

This is truly a not-to-be-missed event. For more information visit Toyota Racing’s Facebook page, or on Twitter @ToyotaRacing.

Source: Yahoo

Brody Jenner, Jan 27, 2012 : A shirtless Brody Jenner looks for the best breaking waves from a distance as
he prepares to go surfing with his brother Brandon on January 27, 2012 in Malibu, California.

(01/27) Surfing with Brandon in Malibu, California

Avril Lavigne and Brody Jenner Enjoy Dinner Date Avril Lavigne and Brody Jenner appeared to be very much together as they dined out in West Hollywood.

(01/31) At Koi Restaurant in Los Angeles, California

Jan, 18 2012: Brody Jenner Out & About for a cup of Coffee in Los Angeles

(01/18) Out for a coffe in Los Angeles