Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Defending Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion Kyle Kaiser was expecting more from the track that gave him his first Indy Lights win in 2016. His first Verizon IndyCar Series race was one spent learning as much as he could, but unfortunately wall contact ended his night early Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway. Kaiser qualified 14th in his No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet and stayed midfield during his race, running as high as 11th before his firstRead More

By INDYCAR Consistency and stability, plus the return of a favored track in the Pacific Northwest, highlight INDYCAR’s announcement of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule that again contains 17 races. Sixteen of the 17 races from this year’s exciting and momentum-building season return in 2018, with most falling in the same spot on the calendar to further capitalize on their date equity. The newcomer to next year’s schedule is Portland International Raceway, which hosted Indy car races under CART and Champ Car sanction from 1984-2007, including what is stillRead More

By Takuma Sato, Driver Columnist In his third column for Motorsports Tribune, Takuma Sato talks about the tough times trying to tackle the Grand Prix of Long Beach, testing in Texas, unveiling his own brand of wine and having former Formula One opponent Fernando Alonso as a teammate at Andretti Autosport for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500. From Long Beach to Texas Long Beach was a tough weekend and we were left with a disappointing outcome. There was a little bit of up and down run by us in practiceRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief There are few races that draw the desire out of race drivers more than the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The same could be said for the journalists covering the sport. I’ve been privileged to cover several events across NASCAR, IndyCar and even Formula 1, but what was experienced this weekend was a one of a kind moment in my still relatively young career. Covering the 100th Indianapolis 500 last year, the enormous crowds and interest wasn’t all that surprising – especially considering the milestoneRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief LONG BEACH, California – JR Hildebrand suffered a broken bone in his left hand after a collision on the last lap of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which opens the possibility of missing the next round at Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks. The 29-year-old Californian was attempting to get by Mikhail Aleshin before the two eventually wrecked. After undergoing treatment from INDYCAR medical director Dr. Geoffrey Billows, it was determined that a re-evaluation is needed later this week in Indianapolis before being clearedRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach displayed the talents of Dale Coyne Racing’s driver duo of Sebastien Bourdais and Ed Jones as they managed second and sixth place finishes in the second round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Bourdais, coming off of a win at the season opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, started 12th but moved to tenth after the first lap contact between Charlie Kimball and Will Power brought them to the back of theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief LONG BEACH, California – Make it three in a row for Helio Castroneves. The 41-year-old Brazilian scored the Verizon P1 Award for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach with a scorching lap of 1 minute, 6.2254 seconds (106.980 mph), breaking the previous lap record held by him in 2015. Driving the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California for Team Penske, Castroneves, the 2002 winner of the event, was ecstatic to score the 48th pole of his career – fourth all-time behind Bobby Unser –Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2017 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is set for action this weekend and our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid brought together some of the most talented drivers from the Verizon IndyCar Series to preview the 43rd edition of North America’s most famed street circuit. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The Andretti Autosport No. 27 entry driven by Marco Andretti will see its primary sponsor for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season change from hhgregg to United Fiber & Data. Originally set for a full campaign, hhgregg recently closed over 80 stores and has now filed for bankruptcy. “We’d like to wish Bob (Riesbeck) and the entire hhgregg family luck as they work through the current situation,” said Andretti Autosport CEO Michael Andretti in a team release. “We are blessed to have such loyal and dedicated partners; andRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter & NASCAR Contributor Graham Rahal became victim of fuel mileage as he ran out of gas on the last lap of Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and finished 15th after running as high as ninth. Rahal started deep in the field in 17th after a tough two days of practice. From the green flag, he picked off two cars on the opening lap and passed another car soon after on lap three to put himself in 14th place. His Rahal Letterman Lanigan withRead More