NTT IndyCar Series Tag

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

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – A lot has changed in the world since 2019. The three NTT IndyCar Series title contenders are no exception as their racing careers have also undergone change over the course of the past two years. When the checkered flag dropped at Laguna Seca that year, Josef Newgarden was celebrating his second INDYCAR title, which lifted a tremendous amount of stress off him. Current championship leader Alex Palou was racing in Japan’s Super Formula, along with Pato O’Ward, who was also racing inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Qualifying has been the bane of Josef Newgarden’s existence in recent weeks, but Saturday, the tide turned in his favor with a lap fast enough to score the pole for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Still mathematically eligible for the NTT IndyCar Series championship, the elation among the No. 1 team was palpable, with Newgarden emerging from his Team Penske Chevrolet following his pole-winning run with arms stretched upwards, yelling “F*** yeah!” to his team, knowing he was still inRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou will have some work to do for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He not only failed to make the Firestone Fast Six, but his 10th starting position was also the worst among the title contenders. Josef Newgarden ended up winning the NTT P1 Pole Award, cutting his gap on Palou to 47 points. Pato O’Ward, who also missed the Fast Six, will start two spots ahead of the Spaniard in eighth. During RoundRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – For Colton Herta, it’s déjà vu all over again. In a repeat of Friday’s first practice, Herta was fast again during the second practice of the weekend for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, topping the board with a scorching lap of one minute, 7.978 seconds. “We tried to find that happy medium between drivability and comfort and it looks like we’re pretty close,” Herta said. “We feel really good. I think there’s still some work to do to make theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, Calif. – Charlie Kimball was one of two drivers who failed to qualify for the 105th Indianapolis 500. He hasn’t been back in an Indy car since, but that’ll change this Sunday at Long Beach, Kimball’s home circuit. Driving the third AJ Foyt Racing entry, the Camarillo native told Motorsports Tribune Thursday this weekend will symbolize a proper end of a crushing Month of May. “It’ll be nice to close the loop a little bit on the Month of May because not qualifying forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor LONG BEACH, Calif. – Coming off his win one week ago, Colton Herta found himself in familiar territory on Friday’s opening practice for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with his Andretti Autosport Honda at the top of the board. Reminiscent of his run on the Streets of Nashville back in August, Herta’s car looked to be out of control around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course, but the clock doesn’t lie as the 21-year-old put up a lap of one minute, 9.268 seconds toRead More