Starting from 3rd place Car 10 Alex Palou won the 2026 ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach Race for his 22nd NTT Indycar Serires win. This is is 3rd win & 4th Top 5 of 2026. 2nd Place Car 60 Felix Rosenqvist, started from pole posted his 1st Top 5 of 2026. 3rd Place Car 9 Scott Dixon, started from 6th place posted his 1st Top 5 of 2026.
4th Place Car 27 Kyle Kirkwood, started from 4th place followed by 5th place Car 5 Pato O’Ward, started from 2nd place. 6th Place Car 3 Scott McLaughlin, started from 8th place followed by 7th place Car 12 David Malukas, started from 5th place. 8th Place Car 15 Graham Rahal, started from 10th place followed by 9th place Car 20 Alexander Rossi, started from 18th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 8 Kyffin Simpson, in 10th place, started from 9th place.
The race had 1 Caution for Laps 4. 1st Caution on lap 57 for Debris: Turn 4.
The race had 4 Lead Changes among 4 Drivers. 1 60 Rosenqvist, Felix. 31 26 Power, Will. 33 2 Newgarden, Josef. 38 60 Rosenqvist, Felix. 59 10 Palou, Alex. Car Driver Laps Led 60 Rosenqvist, Felix 51 10 Palou, Alex 32 2 Newgarden, Josef 5 26 Power, Will 2.
Photo Courtesy of INDYCAR
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Statement:
Quick Pit Work, Pace Help Palou Run Away to Win at Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 19, 2026) – Alex Palou got the break he needed and fast work from his Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew, and then he ran away with a victory Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Palou earned his third victory in five races this season, the 22nd victory of his career and his first win at prestigious Long Beach in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, beating the No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda of NTT P1 Award winner Felix Rosenqvist to the finish by 3.9663 seconds. Palou also took the series lead by 17 points over Kyle Kirkwood as he aims for his fifth series championship and series record-tying fourth in a row.
“It’s huge,” Palou said. “Super proud of everybody’s job but especially this crew. Incredible to finally win here at Long Beach.”
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon rounded out the podium with his best result of the season in the No. 9 PNC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, as CGR produced two of the top three finishers.
Kirkwood finished fourth in the No. 27 JM Bullion / Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global, with Pato O’Ward placing fifth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Pole sitter Rosenqvist controlled the race from the green flag. He led the first 31 laps, with Palou climbing from his third starting spot to second by passing O’Ward on Lap 2. Rosenqvist and Palou pitted for the first time in tandem at the end of Lap 31, with the MSR crew helping Rosenqvist win the race out of the pits after both drivers started their second fuel stint with their mandatory second set of Firestone alternate tires.
Rosenqvist had built a three-second lead over Palou, who admitted he struggled a bit on the softer Firestone alternate tire. But Palou got the break he needed on Lap 57 when a large piece of debris was spotted on track, triggering the only caution period of the 90-lap race.
The entire field pitted on Lap 59, led by Rosenqvist and Palou as a showdown loomed between the MSR and CGR crews. Rosenqvist and Palou each took four primary Firestone tires and fuel on their last stop, but Palou escaped his pit box ahead of Rosenqvist to take the lead for the first time. CGR serviced Palou’s car in 7.3 seconds on the final stop, while MSR needed 8.4 seconds for Rosenqvist’s stop.
Palou rocketed away from the field on the restart on Lap 61. It was checkout time, as he never trailed from that point.
“The OpenAI car was super, super fast, but it was that yellow, that pit stop with all the pressure that these boys were able to do it and execute it perfectly,” Palou said. “From there, it was just managing the tires. We didn’t know how the primaries were going to be.”
The primary tire suited Palou just fine. The Spaniard expanded his lead to 2.4 seconds on Lap 68, with the gap mushrooming to 5.5 seconds with 12 laps remaining. Palou played it safe during the final two trips around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, but Rosenqvist never got close. Still, the Swede, who led a race-high 51 laps, earned his first podium finish since placing second in June 2025 at Road America.
“A little bit of a bittersweet race,” Rosenqvist said. “I lost a little bit on the stop. Alex is obviously going to be 10 out of 10 almost every stop, so I don’t think it was necessarily that our one was slow, but they probably had a great one, as well. That’s how it goes.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to celebrate this one. P2, plus the points and podium – that’s where I want to be.”
The next race is the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 9, kicking off the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the facility’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach Race Results
Streets of Long Beach
April 19, 2026
Position Starting Position Car Driver Lap Status
1. 3. Car 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F 90 Running
2. 1. Car 60 Rosenqvist, Felix D/H/F 90 Running
3. 6. Car 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 90 Running
4. 4. Car 27 Kirkwood, Kyle D/H/F 90 Running
5. 2. Car 5 O’Ward, Pato D/C/F 90 Running
6. 8. Car 3 McLaughlin, Scott D/C/F 90 Running
7. 5. Car 12 Malukas, David D/C/F 90 Running
8. 10. Car 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 90 Running
9. 18. Car 20 Rossi, Alexander D/C/F 90 Running
10. 9. Car 8 Simpson, Kyffin D/H/F 90 Running
11. 19. Car 19 Hauger, Dennis (R) D/H/F 90 Running
12. 25. Car 6 Siegel, Nolan D/C/F 90 Running
13. 12. Car 76 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F 90 Running
14. 14. Car 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F 90 Running
15. 16. Car 21 Rasmussen, Christian D/C/F 90 Running
16. 17. Car 45 Foster, Louis D/H/F 90 Running
17. 21. Car 47 Schumacher, Mick (R) D/H/F 90 Running
18. 22. Car 14 Ferrucci, Santino D/C/F 90 Running
19. 7. Car 26 Power, Will D/H/F 90 Running
20. 11. Car 7 Lundgaard, Christian D/C/F 90 Running
21. 23. Car 18 Grosjean, Romain D/H/F 90 Running
22. 20. Car 4 Collet, Caio (R) D/C/F 90 Running
23. 24. Car 77 Robb, Sting Ray D/C/F 90 Running
24. 13. Car 66 Armstrong, Marcus D/H/F 89 Running
25. 15. Car 28 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F 38 Mechanical
Stats:
Time of Race: 01:49:09.5058 Avg Speed: 97.356
Fastest Lap: 102.928 mph ( 68.8328 sec) on lap 18 by 2 – Josef Newgarden
Lead Changes: 4
Caution Laps: 4
Next Event: Saturday, May 9 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course FOX 4:30 p.m.
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