IndyCar: 50th Anniversary of Long Beach Grand Prix Preview
This weekend, the NTT INDYCAR Series will race in Long Beach, California, at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. It is the 50th anniversary of the auto racing event and the 41st IndyCar event on the 1.98-mile course winding through the streets of downtown.
Three of the 27 drivers hail from that state. Alexander Rossi, the 2018 and 2019 race winner, is a native of Nevada City. Colton Herta, who won the 2021 race, grew up in Valencia. Nolan Siegel debuted his IndyCar career in Long Beach last year and is from Palo Alto.
Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Ganassi Racing Honda, is looking to add a win at this circuit to his career stats this weekend. The 2024 Champion has won the first two races of the season.
Scott Dixon
Scott Dixon, the defending race winner, is looking to extend his consecutive starts streak to 342, the longest streak of any driver. The six-time champion will be honored on Thursday morning with an induction into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.
Also honored are Jim Michaelian, the President and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, LLC, who has served since 2001, and Beverly O’Neill, the former mayor of Long Beach, who was critical in rebuilding the downtown waterfront property. All three will be presented with a bronze medallion that will be placed on the public sidewalk on South Pine Avenue in Long Beach’s downtown waterfront.
Other milestones that will be accomplished this weekend include Alexander Rossi attempting to make his 150th career start and Marcus Ericsson will attempt to make his 100th career start.
The race last year pulled 190,000 attendance over the three days. I would expect we will see more people attending the 50th anniversary.
Race Info
Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise) in Long Beach, California
Race distance: 90 laps / 177.12 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time, with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation
Hybrid energy deployment parameters: Unlimited activation, with a maximum deployment of 415 kilojoules (kj) per lap
Firestone tire allotment: Five sets primary (hard) and five sets alternate (soft) to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
Long Beach Entry List
|
CAR |
DRIVER |
HOMETOWN |
CAR NAME |
TEAM |
ENGINE |
|
|
1 |
2 |
Josef Newgarden |
Nashville, Tennessee |
Astemo Team Penske |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
2 |
3 |
Scott McLaughlin |
Christchurch, New Zealand |
DEX Imaging Team Penske |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
3 |
4 |
David Malukas |
Chicago, Illinois |
AJ FOYT RACING |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
Chevrolet |
|
4 |
5 |
Pato O’Ward |
Monterrey, Mexico |
Arrow McLaren |
Arrow McLaren |
Chevrolet |
|
5 |
6 |
Nolan Siegel |
Palo Alto, California |
Arrow McLaren |
Arrow McLaren |
Chevrolet |
|
6 |
7 |
Christian Lundgaard |
Hedensted, Denmark |
Arrow McLaren |
Arrow McLaren |
Chevrolet |
|
7 |
8 |
Kyffin Simpson |
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands |
Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
|
8 |
9 |
Scott Dixon |
Auckland, New Zealand |
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
|
9 |
10 |
Alex Palou |
Barcelona, Spain |
DHL Chip Ganassi Racing |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
Honda |
|
10 |
12 |
Will Power |
Toowoomba, Australia |
Verizon Team Penske |
Team Penske |
Chevrolet |
|
11 |
14 |
Santino Ferrucci |
Woodbury, Connecticut |
AJ FOYT RACING / SEXTON PROPERTIES |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
Chevrolet |
|
12 |
15 |
Graham Rahal |
New Albany, Ohio |
Fleet Cost & Care |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
Honda |
|
13 |
18 |
Rinus VeeKay |
Hoofddorp, Netherlands |
askROI |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
|
14 |
20 |
Alexander Rossi |
Nevada City, California |
ECR Java House |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
Chevrolet |
|
15 |
21 |
Christian Rasmussen |
Copenhagen, Denmark |
ECR Splenda |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
Chevrolet |
|
16 |
26 |
Colton Herta |
Valencia, California |
Gainbridge |
Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian |
Honda |
|
17 |
27 |
Kyle Kirkwood |
Jupiter, Florida |
PreFab |
Andretti Global |
Honda |
|
18 |
28 |
Marcus Ericsson |
Kumla, Sweden |
Bryant |
Andretti Global |
Honda |
|
19 |
30 |
Devlin DeFrancesco |
Toronto, Canada |
EVTEC |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
Honda |
|
20 |
45 |
Louis Foster (R) |
Odiham, England |
Mi-Jack |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
Honda |
|
21 |
51 |
Jacob Abel (R) |
Louisville, Kentucky |
Abel Construction |
Dale Coyne Racing |
Honda |
|
22 |
60 |
Felix Rosenqvist |
Värnamo, Sweden |
SiriusXM |
Meyer Shank Racing |
Honda |
|
23 |
66 |
Marcus Armstrong |
Christchurch, New Zealand |
SiriusXM/Root Insurance |
Meyer Shank Racing |
Honda |
|
24 |
76 |
Conor Daly |
Noblesville, Indiana |
Juncos Hollinger Racing |
Juncos Hollinger Racing |
Chevrolet |
|
25 |
77 |
Sting Ray Robb |
Payette, Idaho |
Juncos Hollinger Racing |
Juncos Hollinger Racing |
Chevrolet |
|
26 |
83 |
Robert Shwartzman (R) |
Tel Aviv, Israel |
PREMA Racing |
PREMA Racing |
Chevrolet |
|
27 |
90 |
Callum Ilott |
Cambridge, England |
PREMA Racing |
PREMA Racing |
Chevrolet |
X: @GPLongBeach, @INDYCAR, #AGPLB, #INDYCAR
Instagram: @GPLongBeach, @INDYCAR, #AGPLB, #INDYCAR
Facebook: @GrandPrixLB, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR
TikTok: @grandprixlongbeach, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR
YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: www.gplb.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com
2024 race winner: Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
2024 NTT P1 Award: Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda), 1:06.0172, 107.317 mph
Qualifying lap record: Colton Herta, 1:05.3095, 108.480 mph, April 9, 2022
FOX Sports telecast: Practice 1, 6 p.m. ET, Friday, FS1 (live); Practice 2, 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live); Warmup, Noon ET Sunday, FS1 (live); Race, 4:30 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX (live). Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be available on FOX Deportes.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Ryan Myrehn, Jonathan Grace and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race (4 p.m. ET on April 13) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all local times):
Friday, April 11
3:05-4:25 p.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 (split group format), FS1 (live)
Saturday, April 12
8:30-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (limited green flag guarantee of 45 minutes), FS1 (live)
11:35 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS2 (live)
Sunday, April 13
9:02-9:27 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS1 (live)
12:59 p.m. – Driver introductions
1:30 p.m. – FOX on air
1:45 p.m. – Start engines command
1:52 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (90 laps/177.12 miles), FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network (live). Spanish telecast on FOX Deportes (live)
WHAT TO LOOK FOR AT LONG BEACH:
- Palou on repeat: After scoring wins in the first two races of the season, Alex Palou looks to continue his winning streak and become just the fourth driver since 1979 to open the season with three or more wins.
Scott Dixon was the last driver to start the season with three wins, when he captured the first three races of the 2020 season. Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais (first four races of the 2006 Champ Car season) and Paul Tracy (first three wins of 2003 CART season) all won INDYCAR SERIES titles after starting the season with a win streak.
- It’s not where you start…: Except for Alexander Rossi’s wins in 2018-19 and Kyle Kirkwood’s win from pole in 2023, the pole position has not been the place to start at Long Beach.
Just six drivers have won Long Beach from the top spot. While pole winners have scored podium finishes in recent races, they’ve also finished 15th or worse just as often (Colton Herta – 23rd in 2022, Ryan Hunter-Reay – 20th in 2014, Dario Franchitti – 15th in 2012, and Justin Wilson – 19th in 2008).
- …It’s where you finish: Alex Palou is the only driver to finish in the top five in both of this season’s events. Palou, who won at St. Petersburg and Thermal, is one of six drivers to finish in the top 10 in each race, so far. The other drivers are Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi.
Race Notes:
- This weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark the 50th auto racing event and the 41st INDYCAR SERIES event on the historic Long Beach street circuit. Mario Andretti won the first INDYCAR SERIES race in 1984. Scott Dixon won the race in 2024.
- Al Unser Jr. has won the most times at Long Beach (six), while Scott Dixon, Will Power and Alexander Rossi are the only entered drivers with multiple wins. Dixon won in 2015 and 2020 Power won in 2008 and 2012, and Rossi won in 2018 and 2019. Other former race winners scheduled to compete are Colton Herta (2021), Josef Newgarden (2022) and Kyle Kirkwood (2023).
- Six drivers have won the race from the pole – Mario Andretti (1984, 1985 and 1987), Al Unser Jr. (1989-90), Helio Castroneves (2001), Sebastien Bourdais (2006-07), Alexander Rossi (2018-19) and Kyle Kirkwood (2023).
- Twenty-four of the 27 drivers entered have competed in INDYCAR SERIES races at Long Beach. Will Power has 18 starts, the most among all entered drivers. Nine entered drivers have led laps: Power 187, Alexander Rossi 151, Scott Dixon 146, Josef Newgarden 100, Colton Herta 78, Kyle Kirkwood 54, Alex Palou 24, Graham Rahal 4 and Felix Rosenqvist 1.
Milestones: Alexander Rossi will attempt to make his 150th INDYCAR SERIES start at Long Beach … Marcus Ericsson will attempt to make his 100th INDYCAR SERIES start at Long Beach…Scott Dixon will look to extend his consecutive starts streak to 342 – the longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history…Dixon’s next top-10 finish will be the 300th of his career.
Lucille Dust reporting live from Long Beach