Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The runner-up step on the podium has become a familiar place for Romain Grosjean in his short time in the NTT IndyCar Series, with the driver of the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda finishing second for the third time in his career in Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Grosjean, who showed speed throughout the weekend, rolled off sixth when the green flag flew and kept himself near the front of the field for the majority of the day. In an effort to gain anRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor A day after Jimmie Johnson’s status for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was thrown into uncertainty, the picture is becoming much clearer for the driver of the No. 48 Honda heading into Sunday. In the first practice session of the race weekend on Friday, Johnson found himself in trouble after contact with the curbing in Turn 5 sent him sliding into the tire barrier. The incident itself didn’t look too bad, but Johnson kept his hands on the steering wheel through the entirety ofRead More

By INDYCAR LONG BEACH, Calif. – Colton Herta pulverized the track record by nearly a second to win the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, leading three Andretti Autosport cars in the Firestone Fast Six. Southern California native Herta’s top lap was 1 minute, 5.3095 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to earn his first pole of the season and eighth of his career. That lap crushed the track record of 1:06.2254 set by Helio Castroneves in April 2017, as air temperatures were aboutRead More

By INDYCAR LONG BEACH, Calif. – On a scorching April afternoon in Southern California, Simon Pagenaud turned up the heat even higher before the big chill arrives. Frenchman Pagenaud turned a top lap of 1 minute, 7.1991 seconds in the No. 60 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda to lead the opening practice Friday for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third NTT INDYCAR SERIES race of the season. 2016 series champion Pagenaud’s top lap was more than four-tenths of a second quicker than his closest pursuer, two-time Long Beach winner AlexanderRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The biggest street course race of the season will commence this weekend in Long Beach. It’s the site of the third race in a span of eight weeks as 26 drivers hope to leave Southern California victorious. For some racers, a performance that’ll get their season on the right track. Only this time, it’ll be back in its traditional spring date for the first time since 2019 as last year’s race was held last September. As for its future, Long Beach will take place atRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The NTT IndyCar Series wrapped up its 2021 campaign with 46th Annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last Sunday. Initially, the race was intended to be held in April but was postponed until late September, but what better race to cap off the 16-round odyssey than the sport’s biggest street circuit. When the dust settled, Andretti Autosport continued its dominance on the streets. Only this time, it was Colton Herta who owned the competition and went on to score his third win of the year.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – When Alex Palou climbed behind the wheel of the No. 10 Honda for the first time during an offseason test at Barber Motorsports Park and bested his more experienced teammates, Chip Ganassi Racing’s newest hire caught the eye of his team owner. With speed right out of the gate, the team knew they had something special in the 24-year-old Spaniard, but didn’t know just how special of a season they were in for. “It’s pretty interesting,” Ganassi said of that first test.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – Another dominant race to end the NTT IndyCar Series campaign for Colton Herta, who won Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. “What a good car that we’ve come here with,” said Herta, who led 43 of 85 laps. “We’ve actually done numerous changes this weekend, but one very minor change that stuck on the car. It just shows what kind of car we brought do this race weekend. “Yeah, it was perfect. Without the muff-up in qualifying, I think we couldRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – Pole sitter Josef Newgarden knew a shot at a third Astor Cup was a huge reach. He entered Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach third in points, 47 markers behind Alex Palou. After 85 laps, Newgarden finished second in both the race and championship, losing out to Palou by 38 points. Newgarden led opening 18 laps until pit stops shuffled the running order, handing over the lead to Helio Castroneves. From there, cautions bit Newgarden which allowed eventual race winner ColtonRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Almost as quickly as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach began, the championship hopes for Pato O’Ward vanished just as fast. Starting the day with high hopes that he would be able to put up a challenge for the Astor Challenge Cup, it took just one lap on the Southern California street course for everything to go awry. As the field stormed into Turn 11 on that first lap, O’Ward found himself in the middle of a hornet’s nest, when EdRead More