All posts by Luis Torres

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – The fountain of collision and a quest for free tacos being damaged were the main headlines from the bottom of the running order during Sunday’s 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Lap 1 was once again the chaotic point as five cars were involved in a crash, including one driver ending up in the garden where the landmark water fountain is located in Turns 2-3. Despite this, neither retired from the action. Instead, it was a separate collision that marked yetRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – It was the Alexander Rossi Show. While the new King of Long Beach put on a clinic on the competition for the second straight year, NTT IndyCar Series points leader Josef Newgarden continued hitting his stride on his bid for a second championship in three years, finishing second at the 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The fourth-place starter showcased his speed over the other two Team Penske teammates of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, and while the headlines will sayRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – McLaren could be well on their way to a full-time entry sooner rather than later in the NTT IndyCar Series. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, traded the milestone 1000th Formula One grand prix in Shanghai, China, for the always festive Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the site of the fourth round of the 2019 IndyCar championship. It was there during a media availability he shared some of the vision of the organization’s plans, as well as his thoughts on the one-offRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California –  Team Penske’s trio of Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power got redemption by making it back into the Fast Six during Saturday’s qualifying session to determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The positive outing comes following a catastrophic qualifying performance at the last round in Barber Motorsports Park, where none of them managed to make it into the final round. Power set a time of 1:06.8748, which was 0.3937 seconds slower than pole sitterRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – A year ago in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud tangled on the first lap of the first turn, ending Pagenaud’s day. Now heading into Saturday’s qualifying session this afternoon, both drivers set blistering lap times during final practice which saw Rahal take second and Pagenaud ending up fifth quickest. Their efforts comes in a time were both drivers are dealing with a skid of their own with Rahal looking to bounce back from a 23rdRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – In both Friday practice sessions, only two drivers topped the practice charts which were Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who ended up being the two fastest overall drivers in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, setting themselves as early targets heading into tomorrow’s qualifying session which is expected to be tight. Already making faster laps than last year, due in most part of the cooler temperatures and nice headwind into Turn 1, Hunter-Reay topped the morning session with a time ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – One for the sprint car world and one for John Andretti. Sprint car driver Jarett Andretti (John’s son) will compete in a fourth Andretti Autosport Indy Lights entry for next month’s Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To acclimate himself into an Indy Lights car, notably the cockpit, Jarett will be testing at Kentucky Speedway next week before testing at Indy, and with his participation 2.5-mile circuit, he’ll become the seventh Andretti to race in the month of May. “That will beRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – Two years ago in Long Beach, owner Michael Shank and his NTT IndyCar Series driver Jack Harvey struck a deal to run in the Indianapolis 500 as part of an agreement done with Shank and Andretti Autosport, and while his debut didn’t last due to a crash early in the race, the duo have shown consistent pace ever since. Shank described the agreement as a Fernando Alonso deal, where the plan was for him to have Stefan Wilson drive the car, butRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – Fresh off his dominant victory at Barber Motorsports Park, Takuma Sato comes into Long Beach third in the NTT IndyCar Series championship standings, trailing points leader Josef Newgarden by 34 points. Sato won the race from the pole last Sunday, leading 74 of 90 laps to score his fourth career Indy car win. He was congratulated by his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Graham Rahal, who started alongside Sato before his day ended early due to a mechanical failure, and his co-ownersRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – The City of Long Beach recognized two active NTT IndyCar Series drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Will Power as both of their legacies in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach were solidified Thursday as they’ve been inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame. Since 2006, the Walk of Fame have recognized motorsports greats from different generations such as Mario Andretti, Dario Franchitti, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, and Al Unser, Jr. However, unlike previous editions, the city inducted active competitors inRead More