Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, April 14 – Sunday, April 16
Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise) in Long Beach, California
Race distance: 85 laps / 167.28 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, five sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for Practice 1.
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Event website: http://www.gplb.com
INDYCAR website: http:/www.indycar.com
2022 race winner: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet)
2022 NTT P1 Award: Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), 1:05.3095, 108.480 mph
Qualifying lap record: Colton Herta, 1:05.3095, 108.480 mph, April 9, 2022
NBC Sports race telecast: 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 16, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Dave Burns and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters.
Peacock Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions, qualifying and races will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton and turn announcers Nick Yeoman, Jake Query and Michael Young. Ryan Myrehn, Alex Wollf and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 160 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85 (Race only), racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, April 14
3-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 (75-minute session), Peacock (live)
Saturday, April 15
8:45-9:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (45-minute session), Peacock (live)
12:05 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock (live)
Sunday, April 16
9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock (live)
Noon – Driver introductions
Noon – NBC on air
12:38 p.m. – Start engines command
12:45 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles), NBC and Peacock (live)
“3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR” AT LONG BEACH:
- Newgarden on repeat?: Since 2008 only Alexander Rossi has ever been able to back up one Long Beach win with another – he did it in 2018-19.
Josef Newgarden has the potential to double down after scoring his first victory at Long Beach last season. Newgarden won that race coming off a thrilling win at Texas Motor Speedway.
He enters 2023 looking in the same situation after his win at Texas on April 2. Can the Team Penske star score back-to-back races at Texas and Long Beach for the second year in a row?
- It’s not where you start…: With the exception of Rossi’s wins in 2018-19, the pole has not been the place to start at Long Beach. Just five drivers have ever won Long Beach from the top spot, and while pole sitters have scored podium finishes in recent races – Newgarden was second in 2021 –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: Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon are the only drivers so far this season to sweep the top five this season. O’Ward has back-to-back second-place finishes at St. Petersburg and Texas, while Dixon has finishes of third (St. Pete) and fifth (Texas).
Keeping that mark could be a challenge for both. O’Ward has only one top-five at Long Beach (third in 2022) in three previous starts while Dixon has six top-five finishes in 15 previous races at Long Beach.
Race Notes:
This weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark the 39th INDYCAR SERIES event on the historic Long Beach street circuit. Mario Andretti won the first INDYCAR SERIES race there in 1984. Josef Newgarden won the race in 2022.
There have been two winners in as many races in 2023 – Marcus Ericsson (St. Petersburg) and Josef Newgarden (Texas). Since 2012, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has averaged just under nine different race winners per season, including a record-tying 11 winners in 2014. There were nine different winners in the 17 races in 2022, with equally tight competition projected for this season.
Two California natives are entered: 2021 Long Beach race winner Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport hails from Valencia while 2018 and 2019 Long Beach race winner Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren is a native of Nevada City. Herta has won three of the last five INDYCAR SERIES races held in the Golden State (Laguna Seca 2019, Laguna Seca 2021 and Long Beach 2021).
Al Unser Jr. has won the most times at Long Beach (six). Will Power and Alexander Rossi are the only entered drivers with multiple wins. Power won in 2008 and 2012, and Rossi won in 2018 and 2019.
Other former race winners scheduled to compete are Helio Castroneves (2001), Takuma Sato (2013), Scott Dixon (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016), Colton Herta (2021) and Josef Newgarden (2022).
Five 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) and Alexander Rossi (2018-19).
Twenty-three of the 27 drivers entered have competed in INDYCAR SERIES races at Long Beach. Will Power has 16 starts, the most among all entered drivers. Eleven entered drivers have led laps: Helio Castroneves 194, Power 172, Alexander Rossi 151, Scott Dixon 104, Colton Herta 71, Josef Newgarden 54, Simon Pagenaud 54, Alex Palou 22, Graham Rahal 4, Devlin DeFrancesco 1 and Jack Harvey 1.
Four NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookies – Marcus Armstrong, Agustin Canapino, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb – are expected to compete. All will be making their first Long Beach INDYCAR SERIES start.
Milestones – Conor Daly will attempt to make his 100th INDYCAR SERIES start at Long Beach… Alex Palou will attempt to make his 50th INDYCAR SERIES start at Long Beach…Scott Dixon will look to extend his consecutive starts streak to 308 – the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.
Statement from Roger Penske on Passing of Lucy Foyt
“I have known A.J. and Lucy Foyt nearly as long as I have been involved in racing. So much of A.J.’s racing success was rooted in the solid foundation of the love and support that Lucy provided for him throughout his career. Racing can be a tough business, and A.J. was not immune to the dangers drivers often face. It was Lucy who was always there to help A.J. navigate through the hard times and get him back to his winning ways. Most importantly, Lucy’s commitment to the Foyt family is her biggest legacy. Keeping the family connected allowed A.J. to focus on being one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. I truly believe that it would have been hard for A.J. to achieve all of his on-track success without Lucy. Our prayers and condolences are with A.J. and the entire Foyt family.”
INDYCAR
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Photos Courtesy of INDYCAR