Long Beach GP – Syndication Server

Long Beach GP delivers year-on-year TV audience gain

The 50th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach delivered an audience of 552,000 viewers on FOX. It represents a sizable improvement over the disappointing 307,348 who watched last year on NBC’s USA cable channel. Despite the 80 percent …

The 50th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach delivered an audience of 552,000 viewers on FOX.

It represents a sizable improvement over the disappointing 307,348 who watched last year on NBC’s USA cable channel. Despite the 80 percent year-to-year gain, the volume of viewers was the second in a row to fall below seven figures, which was likely influenced by going up against The Masters golf tournament on CBS.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

IndyCar’s debut on FOX at St Petersburg was a runaway ratings success that produced a TV audience of 1,417,000, up 46 percent over the 2024 broadcast with the series’ former partner at NBC. The second race at The Thermal Club, which faced immense competition from March Madness and NASCAR airing on FOX Sports 1, brought an 11-percent drop to 704,000 viewers.

While Long Beach achieved the smallest TV audience among all races at this early point of the season, three events on FOX have combined to bring the IndyCar Series to a larger audience overall, gaining 27 percent over the three opening races in 2024.

Ferrucci rallies from dead last to P11 in epic Long Beach GP drive

Santino Ferrucci was in his happy place on Sunday. Starting 27th and last in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy, Ferrucci had no choice but to smash the throttle pedal and see where he ended up after 90 laps at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Once …

Santino Ferrucci was in his happy place on Sunday.

Starting 27th and last in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy, Ferrucci had no choice but to smash the throttle pedal and see where he ended up after 90 laps at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Once it was over, Ferrucci and the No. 14 car returned to pit lane in 11th place as the biggest movers of the race.

“Qualifying was my fault,” Ferrucci told RACER. “You need everything in order to advance and be competitive with how competitive the grid is. It’s tough, and I made a mistake. They’re not common, but I pigeonholed ourselves into starting dead last, and we really relied on the pit stand and our over the wall crew to gain positions, and all I had to do is put my foot down. I didn’t have a fuel-save race. I was flat out for 90 laps, so I’m a little worn out.”

Driving on the limit for nearly two hours to improve 16 positions came with risks on the narrow and unforgiving street circuit.

“I definitely wouldn’t say it was a mistake-free race,” Ferrucci said. “There was a few times where I thought I was crushing the wall in either [Turn 5 or 9]. And there’s no yellows, and that’s due to the talent on the grid. It’s incredible. No one’s making mistakes. There’s none of these weird cautions from the back marker anymore. None of that happened. The statistics said there was an 800 percent chance there was gonna be yellow. Nope, it’s been green flag start to finish. So that was the reason behind the strategy.”

Honda continues IndyCar sweep with home race win in Long Beach

Three IndyCar Series races down and three trips to victory lane by Honda Corporation US, with the latest coming at the auto manufacturer’s home event which is sponsored by its luxury and performance brand Acura. A perfect start to the season, …

A perfect start to the season, coupled with Kyle Kirkwood’s unparalleled performance to capture the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in the No. 27 Honda, made for a fairytale weekend.

“I just want to give a hats off to them,” Kirkwood told RACER. “Honda has done a phenomenal job over the off-season to adjust for the changes that needed to be done. We came out swinging this entire season thus far. I think that’s going to continue to be the case. We had a very honest conversation. It was the first time I ever sat down with a manufacturer and spoke with them in detail about everything that happens with the power unit.

“They really listened to us. They’re a huge part of our organization, right? They come in. They bring their engineers in. They know everything about us, and we know everything about them. It’s very transparent. Really cool to see. This is a huge weekend for them to win at the 50th Grand Prix of Long Beach presented by Acura, right? To win it in a Honda-powered car is so special.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

A unified relationship between the brand and its drivers was on display days prior to the race in nearby Torrance where Honda’s North American base is located. Just north, HRC makes its IndyCar engines in Santa Clarita.

It’s become a tradition for all Honda-powered IndyCar drivers and Acura-powered IMSA drivers to visit either HRC or Honda and take part in a day dedicated to its employees where the drivers have lunch with the group and sign autographs for the employees.

“We came out here at the beginning of the week,” Kirkwood continued. “We actually went to their main facility in Torrance and toured it, got to meet all the employees, the associates, and spent a lot of time with them. They’re all wonderful people.

“To do it at home, I know there’s a ton of Honda people here. To do it in front of them where they can see where their efforts go is absolutely massive for the morale of Honda and the longevity of them, as well. Very thankful for the product that they’ve given us. It’s because of them that we’re able to come out here and get these wins.”

Kirkwood vaults to another Long Beach victory

The 50th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach saw polesitter Kyle Kirkwood lead the field of 27 drivers and 11 teams with ease to score his third career IndyCar Series victory and second at the home track for Honda Racing Corporation U.S. …

Andretti Global’s driver put in an epic lap to take pole and was flawless throughout the race as he sustained constant pressure from championship leader Alex Palou. Kirkwood wheeled the No. 27 Honda home to a 2.686s triumph over Palou in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and was well clear of Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, who sealed up three of the top four for Honda and HRC.

“It’s really good,” Kirkwood said. “To win here at the 50th, with Acura as the sponsor, with Honda… It was a flawless weekend. When you have a flawless weekend, you tend to win. It might have made it a little bit boring.”

Palou got close on a few occasions but never appeared to have the outright pace to challenge Kirkwood.

“I’m super happy to be here,” said Palou whose season has opened with finishes of first, first, and second. “I think it’s been a great weekend. We really didn’t have that ultimate speed that the No. 27 car had. Kyle, they did an awesome job throughout the weekend, qualifying and the race. He was managing. Every time I was having like a small chance, he just had a little bit more pace. So yeah, shame that we couldn’t really make it more interesting for the fans, but I’m super happy to be here.”

The overcast-turned-blue-skies and relatively cool event set in 68-degree weather was absolutely packed with fans throughout the 1.9-mile, 11-turn road course situated in Southern California.

Biggest mover among the lead group was Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard who went against the strategy grain by starting on primary Firestone tires—one of only six drivers to do so—and was rewarded by vaulting from 12th to third. Team Penske’s Will Power was fifth, with teammate Scott McLaughlin in sixth, the same spot he started, to give Chevrolet some of the spoils at Long Beach. In seventh, Kirkwood’s front-row teammate Colton Herta persevered at his home race, but wasn’t delighted to go rearwards by five positions.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

“I would have liked to be able to fight with Alex and Kyle at some point,” Lundgaard said. “We started a little far too back. Obviously we were on a completely different strategy than both of them were on. We made the most of our strategy and ended on the podium from 12.”

The greatest forward motion was delivered by AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci who went from last to 11th. Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel, who awoke with suspected food poisoning, received fluids prior to the race and fought while ill to take the finish in 20th.

Among the other highlights, Sting Ray Robb—running on the same strategy as Lundgaard—led 12 laps and impressed on the way to match a career-best ninth-place finish for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

It was the second consecutive race to go caution-free.

Key moment

Other than seeing the lead change hands between Kirkwood, who started on alternates and shed them quickly at the first stop, and Lundgaard who started on primaries and went long on the first stop, it wasn’t the most action-filled race among the leaders. If a key moment stands out, it was qualifying on Saturday where Kirkwood set the stage to lead 46 of the 90 laps with relative ease.

Race notes:

Kyle Kirkwood streaked away to lead the field into Turn 1 as Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist demoted Alex Palou from third to fifth. Alexander Rossi leapt from eighth to sixth.

Lap 3 and Josef Newgarden is in to get off the alternates. Twenty-one out of the 27 drivers started on alternates.

Lap 6 and Herta and McLaughlin and Palou pit take primaries. Kirkwood has 3.7s over Rosenqvist. McLaughlin gets past Herta on their out lap.

Lap 8 and Kirkwood and Rossi pit.

Lap 10 and Lundgaard holds the lead by having stayed out. Kirkwood, in eighth, is the leader of those who’ve pitted and has Palou right behind him.

Lap 21 and nothing has changed up front.

Lap 25 and Lundgaard has 2.5s over Dixon. The gap to Kirkwood in seventh is 31.0s. Palou is 1.1s behind Kirkwood.

Lap 28 and Lundgaard pits at the end of the lap. He leaves on alternates.

Lap 29 and Dixon pits from second to do the same. He returns right behind Lundgaard and right in front of McLaughlin.

Lap 31 and Kirkwood’s in the lead with 1.2s over Palou and 4.2s over Rosenqvist.

Lap 32 and Lundgaard (fourth) and Dixon (fifth) on alternates are up many positions (eight and nine, respectively) and could use a caution to keep them.

Lap 34 and Rosenqvist and McLaughlin pit. Palou’s rear tires are either hot or degrading, or possibly both. He’s in at the end of the lap for more primaries. Slightly extended stop—maybe a second or two—with the left-front tire needing a second attempt to affix the wheel nut.

Lap 35 and Kirkwood’s in from the lead. Herta follows him.

Lap 38 and Dixon pits to get off the alternates. Slow right-rear tire change. Nine laps on new alternates.

Lap 39 and Lundgaard has 33.0s over fifth-place Kirkwood, which is impressive.

Lap 40 and Lundgaard’s in to replace the alternates with primaries.

Lap 42 and Robb and Shwartzman are first and second; Kirkwood in third set his fastest lap of the race.

Lap 53 and Robb pits for alternates, leaving Shwartzman in the lead with the same need to pit.

Lap 54 and Shwartzman pits.

Lap 54 and Kirkwood is back to the lead and has 1.5s over Palou and 3.6s on Rosenqvist.

Lap 60 and Palou’s taken the lead down to 1.3s. Rosenqvist is up to 3.9s.

Lap 62 and Newgarden is in. Appears to have a seatbelt problem.

Lap 63 and Newgarden is back in for more work on his belts.

Lap 64 and Rosenqvist pits from third.

Lap 65 and Palou and Herta pit.

Lap 65 and Kirkwood pits at the end of the lap. His final corners were filled with slower cars. Will Palou get by?

He does not. Excellent out lap by Kirkwood.

Lap 80 and Kirkwood’s 3.4s up on Palou. He’s got this under control.

Lap 90 and Kirkwood seals the victory.

FOX’s Driver’s Eye set to debut Sunday in Long Beach GP broadcast

FOX Sports and its partners at the Racing Force Group will introduce the Driver’s Eye camera to the IndyCar Series during Sunday’s broadcast of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Fans of Formula 1, Formula E, and NASCAR have seen the technology …

FOX Sports and its partners at the Racing Force Group will introduce the Driver’s Eye camera to the IndyCar Series during Sunday’s broadcast of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Fans of Formula 1, Formula E, and NASCAR have seen the technology from RFG in use with the tiny HD cameras placed inside driver’s helmets, and after trialing its use in practice in qualifying this weekend, polesitter Kyle Kirkwood, Pato O’Ward, Will Power, and Felix Rosenqvist will carry in-race views from the cockpit for the first time in IndyCar’s aeroscreen era.

“We met (RFG COO) Alex Haristos through NASCAR, and we used Driver’s Eye for limited deployment in NASCAR a couple years ago,” FOX Sports’ executive VP of field operations Michael Davies told RACER. “I was really happy when we got IndyCar, because one of the biggest things that (FOX Sports CEO) Eric Shanks, my boss, wanted to do was to make sure that we had Driver’s Eye. So we talked to Alex, and we thought we’d be able to use some of the legacy stuff from Formula E, from Formula 1. But it turned out that because of the [Dallara DW12 Indy car], it was a total re-engineering job for them.

“So we knew what we wanted, and we knew how to get it, and we knew these guys needed to do it. What we didn’t understand was how much work would be done in order to fit it into this car. Nothing to do with the helmets, for sure. That’s easy. It was just in terms of fitting the system to work within the car that took a lot of effort.”

For Haristos, miniaturization was key to creating a tiny, featherweight camera to place within the helmet padding, which has become recognized as the smallest broadcast-level camera in use in sports.

“The strategy that we use from the technology side is that we have to do the least possible inside the helmet,” Haristos said. “And this is first a safety constraint, sure. So we need things to be small and very light. The camera is nine by nine millimeters, 1.4 grams, very, very small. And the rest of the things that we have to do to provide the video feed to the TV production is in the car. We have to use the one single cable to do everything, to stream the video, to be able to get the power supply and to command and control the camera.”

Fitting a small camera inside an IndyCar driver’s helmet isn’t the biggest challenge for FOX Sports and RFG. It’s filming from behind a range of visors—some that are clear, some with light tinting, and others with darker shading—where the broadcast team need to tune and adjust the settings on the camera to provide clear images for viewers.

“The iris control and all the management of the image is very challenging,” Haristos added. “Imagine that we start from a massive under exposure inside the helmet. You have to go through the visor, the tearoffs, and the aeroscreen. Managing a camera that isn’t sitting outside, like an onboard camera, but is inside and you have to be perfect with iris and white balance and everything when you look at the image, is hard. But the TV production, you cannot even say what the color of the visor is, because it’s been completely balanced and neutralized by the camera. All these things, they happen in the car.”

Long Beach is the launching pad for the Driver’s Eye with IndyCar, and once the month of May arrives, look for wider use of the technology to be a big part of FOX Sport’s first airing of the Indianapolis 500.

“We still have a lot to learn,” Davies said. “We always do figure out what’s ready to optimize, and luckily, we’ve got bosses that allow us to do these things and to come in without a net, a little bit. And that’s why we really didn’t speak about this very much until now. Now we’ve got a little bit more confidence in it. We can start figuring out what we’re going to do next. And I think what you’re going to see is this featured quite a bit in Indy race week.”

Porsche Penske Motorsport remains undefeated in 2025 with Long Beach IMSA victory

The story continues in 2025 – Porsche Penske Motorsport, Nick Tandy, and Felipe Nasr remain undefeated in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Tandy and Nasr drove the No. 7 Porsche 963 to victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, …

The story continues in 2025 — Porsche Penske Motorsport, Nick Tandy, and Felipe Nasr remain undefeated in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Tandy and Nasr drove the No. 7 Porsche 963 to victory in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, leading a Penske 1-2 finish — 3s ahead of the No. 6 Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell. It’s Porsche and Penske’s second straight 1-2 finish, and extends the No. 7 car’s lead to 123 points in the WeatherTech GTP standings.

Pole-winning RLL BMW with their No. 24 M Hybrid V8 of Dries Vanthoor and Philip Eng led until the race went under a full course yellow after the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s 100-minute sprint. Quicker pit work from Porsche Penske Motorsport’s two crews helped get the two factory cars out ahead of the No. 24 BMW, where they remained until the checkered flag.

Whelen Cadillac led the V-Series.R contingent as the No. 31 (Jack Aitken/Earl Bamber) finished fourth, holding off the No. 25 RLL BMW (Sheldon van der Linde/Marco Wittmann) in fifth.

Behind the two Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs, the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Ross Gunn and Roman de Angelis completed a trouble-free race and finished eighth, while the two Meyer Shank Racing Acuras lost out on strategy — and, in the case of the No. 93, a mechanical black flag for damage from an earlier incident that dropped Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly to last in class.

The No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-06 (Tom Blomqvist/Colin Braun) could only muster a ninth-place finish, and lost its left-rear wheel after the finish just to add further insult to a tough day.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

Laurens Vanthoor also remains undefeated in the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech series, as he and co-driver Jonny Edgar teamed up to give AO Racing the win in GTD.

AO Racing and “Rexy” used the overcut to their advantage as the No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R, making a one-off cameo appearance in GTD, took the win. It was AO Racing’s second GT win in a row, after taking the GTD PRO victory in last month’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

Vasser Sullivan Racing narrowly missed out on a Long Beach three-peat. The No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 of Parker Thompson and Jack Hawksworth led early but dropped to second, one place ahead of the No. 89 of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz — which, like the winning car, was making a special entry out of GTD PRO.

GTD Championship leaders Russell Ward and Philip Ellis finished fourth in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Patrick Gallagher/Robby Foley) in fifth.

Robert Wickens and Tommy Milner ran a strong race in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, but contact between Milner and Foley at the hairpin Turn 11 inflicted damage on the Corvette and forced Milner to pit from fifth place. They finished a lap down in 15th.

IMSA returns to action further up the California coast at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 11th.

‘Maybe we need to look at tweaking’ tire allocation – Ericsson

Marcus Ericsson appreciates the effort made by IndyCar and its tire partner Firestone to create more of a performance and lifespan gap between its primary and alternate compounds. He also wonders whether taking away one set of the longer lasting …

Marcus Ericsson appreciates the effort made by IndyCar and its tire partner Firestone to create more of a performance and lifespan gap between its primary and alternate compounds.

He also wonders whether taking away one set of the longer lasting primaries, which has led to drivers sitting on pit lane for even longer stretches during practice to save tires for the race, is the way to go.

“I think the primary, the hard compound, is pretty solid,” the Andretti Global driver told RACER. “I think the question mark is the greens (softer alternates). I only did a couple laps on them, so it was not enough to learn much for Sunday. We tried to focus on just trying to get them optimized for tomorrow, for qualifying. But definitely the big question mark is how they gonna last on Sunday.

“The challenge we have there is we did that change to have more greens for qualifying, improving that show, but then we missed a little bit there with a grippy and degrading green tire, which they’ve done, and they’ve done a good job with that, but taking away a primary set to do that maybe was not the way to get us all more out on the racetrack. Because everyone is obviously scared for the race, and wants to have enough primes for the race.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

The 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner says he likes what the new compound approach has done on road and street courses, but questions whether the new tire plan with five primaries and five alternates is the right mix.

“It just makes us have to stick sit a bit longer in pit lane in practice, unfortunately,” he continued. “Let’s see if we can change that a bit. I think what Firestone and IndyCar are doing with the tires, that’s brilliant. It’s not like go out and you drive crazy and then there’s no deg (tire degradation) and everyone is just following each other.

“The challenge and dynamic of races with tire deg on two compounds is very different. I think that creates great racing. It creates great opportunities for drivers and teams to differentiate from each other. I really like that. But the tire allocation, maybe we need to look at tweaking.”

RLL BMW stays perfect with another IMSA pole in Long Beach

Dries Vanthoor is still perfect in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying in 2025, and on Friday, Vanthoor led an all-BMW M Team RLL sweep of the front row for Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Vanthoor and the No. 24 BMW M …

Vanthoor and the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 won their third straight pole of 2025 after the Belgian wrestled the top spot from his teammate Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 25 BMW. The pole time for Vanthoor was a 1m11.539s, only 0.2s behind the 2024 pole-winning time, but 0.25s ahead of van der Linde’s 1m11.789s.

The first four rows of the grid for the 100-minute sprint race are all-manufacturer aligned. Porsche Penske Motorsport locked out the second row; Nick Tandy qualified third in the championship-leading No. 7 Porsche 963, ahead of former co-driver Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Penske Porsche who hustled his way to fourth.

Then it was the two Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06es, led by the red No. 93 of Nick Yelloly, ahead of the No. 60 of Tom Blomqvist, and then the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing car of Filipe Albuquerque in seventh.

Jack Aitken was seventh before all of his times were deleted for a breach of pit lane protocol from the Cadillac Whelen team. He will start 11th and last in GTP, behind Tijmen van der Helm, Louis Deletraz, and then the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie of Ross Gunn, just 1.8s off the pole time and continuing to find pace in every session.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

Parker Thompson won his second consecutive GTD pole position at Long Beach. The Vasser Sullivan Racing driver held off all challengers and put his No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 up front, ahead of AO Racing’s Jonny Edgar in second.

Edgar was the first driver to dip under the 1m20s range, taking provisional pole with a 1m17.937s aboard the No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R. But Thompson found some pace in reserve, and with a 1m17.877s, he took pole by just 0.06s.

Thompson and Jack Hawksworth will try and complete Vasser Sullivan’s Long Beach three-peat, starting alongside Edgar and the yet-to-be-defeated Laurens Vanthoor aboard AO Racing’s “Rexy.”

Heart of Racing’s No. 27 of Tom Gamble found traffic at the worst time and his Aston Martin Vantage GT3 qualified third, only 0.062s short.

Behind him, Manny Formal was an impressive fourth place in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. Patrick Gallagher qualified fifth in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, ahead of Vasser Sullivan’s second car, the No. 89 Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo in sixth.

Robert Wickens qualified eighth for his first race in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. Driving with hand controls, Wickens’ best time of 1m18.239s was good enough to have put him on the third row of the grid (in fifth).

Due to an outstanding penalty for causing a red flag in the second practice session, he would fall back on a 1m18.411s, putting himself and Tommy Milner on the outside of the fourth row behind championship leader Russell Ward in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, who was seventh.

After Trent Hindman crashed in the afternoon practice session, the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 did not set a representative time in qualifying and will start from the rear of the 27-car grid Saturday afternoon.

The green flag for the IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach drops at 2:05 p.m. PT with live coverage in the United States on USA Network and Peacock, and live streaming coverage in most other countries on the official IMSA YouTube channel and IMSA.TV.

Power leads tire-saving Long Beach GP Friday practice

Tire conservation was the focus for many teams at the start of Friday’s lone IndyCar Series practice session on the streets of Long Beach. With five sets of the more durable primary Firestones—one less than in 2024—and five sets of the short-life alternates, the popular call was to sit and limit running on the prized primaries to ensure there are enough new or low-mileage sets for Sunday’s 90-lap race.

Perfect conditions met the field with temperatures in the 70s and blue skies, and after the three-layered session structure was complete, it was Team Penske’s Will Power’s 01m07.3227s lap in the No. 12 Chevy that led the day.

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson was fastest in his group and was second-best with a 1m07.3503s in the No. 28 Honda.

“We just have a really good setup in general to work with, and the team does a really good job preparing the cars and giving us drivers cars that we feel confidence in to drive because that’s [everything] — street course racing is so much about that confidence. It’s being close to those walls and having the confidence to push to the limit,” Ericsson said.

Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood was third (1m07.3523s), the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Marcus Armstrong (1m07.3602s) and Felix Rosenqvist (1m07.3875s) were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Penske’s Josef Newgarden completed the top six (1m07.5191s). Other than a spin and prolonged 47-point turn for Louis Foster and a meeting with the wall that kept Pato O’Ward from turning more than a handful of laps, the sessions were clean.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

Fifteen minutes into the session and only 15 of the 27 drivers had made an attempt to set a competitive lap. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb was the fastest at the point with a best tour of 1m10.443s.

After 20 minutes, Penske’s Power brought the speeds up to a more familiar place with a 1m08.0582s lap. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was next to take the top spot after 25 minutes had gone by, edging Power with a 1m13.9340s. O’Ward hit the wall with his left-rear corner after completing just five laps, and with the time needed to affect repairs, he lost most of the day.

Palou kept improving and by 30 minutes in, his best was a 1m07.6364s lap, just ahead of Penske’s Newgarden with a 1m07.7858s.

After 44 minutes, Palou and Newgarden remained up top and had Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist behind them in third and fourth. In the final minute as some drivers put on the alternates to close the full-field session, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard vaulted to second with a 1m07.7108s; teammate Nolan Siegel, also on the faster alternates, motored to fourth with a 1m07.8607s.

In the first split 10-minute session, Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson was quickest with a 1m07.3503s in the No. 28 Honda, and in the second, Penske’s Power was fastest with a 01m07.3227s to take P1 for Friday.

Penske Entertainment purchases Long Beach Grand Prix

Penske Entertainment has purchased the Long Beach Grand Prix. The acquisition adds the popular Southern California street race founded by Chris Pook and Dan Gurney in 1975 to a portfolio that includes the NTT IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis Motor …

Penske Entertainment has purchased the Long Beach Grand Prix.

The acquisition adds the popular Southern California street race founded by Chris Pook and Dan Gurney in 1975 to a portfolio that includes the NTT IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Detroit Grand Prix. Penske Entertainment is also involved at varying levels in promoting IndyCar’s Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, and the upcoming Arlington Grand Prix in 2026.

Earlier this year, and after receiving inquiries from rival sanctioning bodies about buying the event, longtime IndyCar team owner Gerry Forsythe acquired the half of the grand prix offered for sale by the estate of his late partner Kevin Kalkhoven and became its sole owner, ending any speculation as to whether NASCAR or Formula 1 would buy the event and replace IndyCar.

In the sale to Penske, the steward of IndyCar and its marquee Indy 500 has taken ownership of its second-most popular event, which also features IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as its Saturday feature, and heads into 2025 when Long Beach will celebrate its golden anniversary

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408].

“As we prepare to celebrate a truly remarkable milestone, the 50th anniversary of this amazing event, it’s fitting that we have such exciting and important news to share about its future,” said Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach CEO Jim Michaelian.

“Roger and the team at Penske Entertainment understand the special history and unique qualities that give us such a strong foundation and will be ideal partners as we continue to deliver an exceptional race weekend for our fans moving forward. I also want to acknowledge the significant contribution that the previous owners, Gerry Forsythe and the late Kevin Kalkhoven, made to the success of our event over the past 19 years.”

Roger Penske will retain Michaelian and his highly experienced Grand Prix At Long Beach promotions team.

“We’re incredibly proud to be the new stewards of this cherished and iconic event,” Penske said. “This is the most historic and prestigious street circuit race in North America, and we’re excited to work with Jim Michaelian and his great team in Long Beach to ensure continued success and growth over the long term. This race and its loyal fans matter so much to everyone across the IndyCar community, and we’re looking forward to a very special 50th anniversary celebration this April, as well.”