2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach schedule

Posted in IndyCar on March 18, 2022 by Martin Henderson

Friday, April 8, 2022

7:30 AM Spectator Gates Open
7:45 AM – 8:25 AM Porsche Carrera Cup (PCC) Practice #1
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM IMSA Practice #1
10:30 AM – 10:50 AM Historic IMSA GTP Challenge (GTP) Practice #1
11:05 AM – 11:35 AM PCC Practice #2
12:40 PM – 1:00 PM Stadium SUPER Trucks (SST) Practice #1
1:15 PM – 3:00 PM IMSA Practice #2
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM INDYCAR Practice #1
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM PCC Qualifying
4:55 PM – 5:55 PM INDYCAR Autograph Session (INDYCAR Paddock – free to all spectators)
5:10 PM – 5:55 PM IMSA Qualifying
6:30 PM – 6:50 PM Super Drift Practice
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM Formula D Super Drift Challenge Competition #1

Saturday, April 9, 2022

7:30 AM Spectator Gates Open
8:45 AM – 9:45 AM INDYCAR Practice #2
9:55 AM – 10:15 AM HMSA Practice #2
10:20 AM – 10:35 AM IMSA Series Pit Set Up
10:45 AM – 11:25 AM Porsche Carrera Cup Race #1
12:05 PM – 1:20 PM INDYCAR Qualifying & FIRESTONE FAST 6
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM Commence IMSA Pre-Race
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Start of IMSA Sportscar Grand Prix of Long Beach (100 min)
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Stadium SUPER Trucks Race #1
5:15 PM – 5:35 PM Historic IMSA GTP Challenge Race #1
6:00 PM Acura and ASM Global Present Saturday Concert Starring Royal Machines w/special guests (Terrace Plaza in front of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center)
6:00 PM – 6:20 PM Super Drift Practice
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Formula D Super Drift Challenge Competition #2

Sunday, April 10, 2022

7:30 AM Spectator Gates Open
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM INDYCAR Warm Up
10:45 AM – 11:05 AM Historic IMSA GTP Challenge Race #2
11:10 AM – 11:20 AM Acura NSX Hot Laps
11:25 AM – 11:40 AM Mothers Exotic Car Parade
11:45 AM INDYCAR Pre Race
12:05 PM INDYCARS to Grid
12:29 PM “Drivers To Your Cars”
12:38 PM “Drivers Start Your Engines
12:45 PM – 3:00 PM ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH (Race #3 of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series – 85 Laps)
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Stadium SUPER Trucks Race #2
4:20 PM – 5:00 PM Porsche Carrera Cup Race #2

*Tentative schedule, subject to change without notice.

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Herta Wins at Long Beach as Palou Wins the Championship

Posted in IndyCar with tags , on September 26, 2021 by Martin Henderson

Alex Palou became the first Spanish driver to win the NTT IndyCar Series championship, and Southern California native Colton Herta finished off the year’s campaign with a victory at the iconic Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The championship by Palou, 24, gives Chip Ganassi Racing its 14th title; more impressively, it was won by someone other than Scott Dixon, who has won six Astor Cups. He joints an impressive roster of drivers who won titles for Ganassi: Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alex Zanardi, and Jimmy Vasser.

Palou is the sixth-youngest champion ever, and the first under the age of 25 since Dixon won the title in 2003.

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Could Newgarden Author an Epic Comeback? It’s Not Over Yet

Posted in Column, IndyCar with tags , on September 25, 2021 by Martin Henderson

Could Josef Newgarden author one of the most epic comebacks in Indycar history to win a 17th championship for team owner Roger Penske?

It is still within the realm of possibility.

Hoping to win his third championship for racing’s most successful team, Newgarden must max out the points this weekend. Win one point for the pole. One point for leading a lap. Two points for leading the most laps. Fifty points for the win.

Newgarden accomplished Step 1 by qualifying first on Saturday, ahead of a Fast Six that included Scott Dixon on the front row, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud on the second, and Felix Rosenqvist, and Romain Grosjean on the third.

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2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach schedule

Posted in IndyCar with tags , on August 17, 2021 by Martin Henderson

It’s finally here. The Grand Prix of Long Beach, IndyCar’s marquee road/street event and a staple in Southern California culture for four decades, returns after a year’s hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Closing out the NTT INDYCAR season, a champion will be crowned at the Roar by the Shore for the first time in its history.

Here’s the schedule for the 2021 season finale.

Thursday, September 23

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony (S. Pine Ave. in front of Long Beach Conv. Ctr.)
6:30 PM – 10:30 PM Thunder Thursday at The Pike Outlets

Friday, September 24

7:30 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM – 9:20 AM Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge Practice
9:45 AM – 10:45 AM IMSA Practice
11:10 AM – 11:30 AM Stadium SUPER Trucks Practice
12:35 PM – 1:00 PM Global Time Attack Practice
1:20 PM – 2:35 PM IMSA Practice #2
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM INDYCAR Practice #1
4:00 PM – 4:20 PM Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge Qualifying
4:45 PM – 5:55 PM IMSA Qualifying
6:15 PM – 6:35 PM Super Drift Challenge Practice
6:45 PM – 8:15 PM Formula D Super Drift Challenge Competition #1

Saturday, September 25 

7:30 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM – 9:45 AM INDYCAR Practice #2
10:05 AM – 10:35 AM Stadium SUPER Trucks Race #1
10:40 AM IMSA Race Pit Set Up
11:05 AM – 11:20 AM Global Time Attack Competition #1
12:05 PM – 1:20 PM INDYCAR Qualifying & FIRESTONE FAST 6
1:30 PM IMSA Pre-Race Ceremonies Begin
2:06 PM – 3:46 PM IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix of Long Beach (100 min)
4:30 PM – 4:50 PM Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge Race #1
5:30 PM – 5:50 PM Super Drift Challenge Practice
5:30 PM Vince Neil Concert Presented by Acura and ASM Global
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM Formula D Super Drift Challenge Competition #2

Sunday, September 26

7:30 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM INDYCAR Warm Up
10:10 AM – 10:25 AM Global Time Attack Competition #2
10:45 AM – 11:05 AM Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge Race #2
11:10 AM – 11:20 AM Acura NSX Hot Laps
11:25 AM – 11:40 AM Mothers Exotic Car Parade
11:54 AM INDYCAR Pre Race Ceremonies Begin
12:05 PM Indy Cars to Grid
12:38 PM “Drivers Start Your Engines”
12:39 PM INDYCAR Pace Laps
12:45 PM – 3:00 PM ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH (Season Finale of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES – 85 Laps)
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Stadium SUPER Trucks Race #2

TIME CERTAIN SCHEDULE – All sessions, except as noted, to start and finish on schedule

Subject to Change without Notice

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Busch-Logano Incident, and NASCAR Reaction, is Troubling

Posted in Column, NASCAR with tags , , on March 13, 2017 by Martin Henderson

Heat of the moment passion in sports is completely understandable. I get it. Kyle Busch gets screwed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race and he wants to make someone pay. He seeks out Joey Logano to read him the riot act. Maybe shove him as he turns to walk away, just to make his point.

Perfectly fine.

But for whatever strides Busch has made the past couple of years off the track — maturity seemed to gain some traction in his life — his post-race confrontation with Logano in Las Vegas was a step backward.

Frankly, it was a step toward the criminal.

Walking to Logano’s hauler and then hauling off with a roundhouse right is assault. Had it happened in the stands between a couple of paying customers, the offending party would have been in the pokey.

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ICS: Fontana Tries to Beat the Heat—And the Odds Against It

Posted in Column, IndyCar with tags , on June 22, 2015 by Martin Henderson

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana deserves better. Deserves a better date, deserves a better time, deserves better attendance. The superspeedway that Roger Penske built is a reminder of bygone days, a cousin—or maybe the younger brother—of the legendary Ontario Motor Speedway.

Ontario was a facility ahead of its time. The oval layout was the same as Indianapolis. The amenities from 1970—even by today’s standards—would make it an outstanding venue in 2015.

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ICS: Penske Dominates, But Not Like People Thought

Posted in Column, IndyCar on June 16, 2015 by Martin Henderson

After Roger Penske’s drivers dominated the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the Verizon IndyCar Series, speculation turned to a sweep of the series.

It may  not have been the most insightful thing to consider—a single team winning all 16 rounds of racing—but when Penske’s team of four drivers finished in the top 5, it was certainly relevant if for no other reason than a storyline. This was not KV Racing Technology taking the opener and wondering if the two-car team of Sebastien Bourdais and Stefano Coletti would sweep. This was the all-star Penske powerhouse with the early lead in the series and everyone else playing catch-up from then onward.

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ICS: Rahal Beginning to Live Up to His Name

Posted in Column, IndyCar on June 2, 2015 by Martin Henderson

He needs a victory in the worst way. Graham Rahal knows how to drive. He knows how to interview. He knows how to raise money and give it away to the needy. He knows how to win, too. He just needs to actually do it.

Without question, if Rahal’s ride was powered by a Chevrolet engine and the accompanying aero kit, he would be a contender for the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship. How could he not be?

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ICS: Paul Newman’s Influence Makes Rahal His Own Man

Posted in Column, IndyCar on May 13, 2015 by Martin Henderson

The presence of Paul Newman can still be felt around motor racing, particularly Indy cars. Newman, an actor by trade but a racer at heart, co-owned a team that won 107 races and eight championships. It employed champion drivers Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Michael Andretti, Christiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais, who won four titles.

Newman/Haas Racing is no longer in the series. Newman died in 2008 at age 83, but it was not before he saw Graham Rahal win the second race of the unified IndyCar Series earlier that year. In his first start and driving a car carrying the livery of Newman’s Hole In the Wall Camp charity, Rahal became the youngest winner in the history of major open wheel racing at 19.

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ICS: For Newgarden, the Green Flag Drops Now

Posted in Column, IndyCar on April 27, 2015 by Martin Henderson

It is suggested to Josef Newgarden that his career might go a little better, at least marketing-wise, if he dropped the European spelling of his first name. Joe Newgarden is definitely American. Or at the very least Canadian, which is good enough for most people. Lacking any sort of Canadian accent, America would be happy to claim him, just like Martin Short, Michael J. Fox and Alex Trebek. Well, mostly Alex Trebek.

Yet Newgarden’s accent hails from Tennessee, and his name is “the one my parents gave me, so that’s what I’m sticking with,” he answers. And so the name, the brand and the career must go it the hard way, with casual fans of the Verizon IndyCar Series wondering about the background of Josef Nicolai Newgarden.

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Posted in Column on March 23, 2012 by Martin Henderson

racescribe

I find myself looking at the results.

It may not be Saturday night after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. It might be Sunday, or Monday, or maybe even later in the week depending on how busy I am with my day job.

But I look at the results. Usually start in the lower half the top 10 and scroll down until I see the name.

“Danica Patrick.”

I never jumped on the Danica bandwagon. Always thought the attention she received was far greater than her talent commanded. Felt bad for better drivers who were lesser personalities.

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NASCAR: Danica succeeds even when she doesn’t

Posted in Column, IRL, NASCAR with tags , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2012 by Martin Henderson

I find myself looking at the results.

It may not be Saturday night after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. It might be Sunday, or Monday, or maybe even later in the week depending on how busy I am with my day job.

But I look at the results. Usually start in the lower half the top 10 and scroll down until I see the name.

“Danica Patrick.”

I never jumped on the Danica bandwagon. Always thought the attention she received was far greater than her talent commanded. Felt bad for better drivers who were lesser personalities.

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IRL: Sarah Fisher makes the right call

Posted in Article, IRL with tags , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2010 by Martin Henderson

Sarah Fisher laughed. “I had my big-girl pants on that day,” she said.

“That day” was the one when owner/driver Fisher decided to give up her seat and put a more competitive driver in it for the first two American road/street courses of the Izod IndyCar Series season.

Fisher called on one of the series’ rising stars, American Graham Rahal, who finished 10th in his debut for Sarah Fisher Racing in St. Petersburg and gave the young program its best finish in 11 races.

“Big time, big-time decision,” perennial contender Helio Castroneves said this past weekend in Long Beach,

If you would like to read racescribe author Martin Henderson’s story for ESPNLosAngeles.com on Fisher’s defining moment as a team owner, click here.

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IRL: RHR gets a special win at Long Beach

Posted in Article, IRL with tags , , , , , on April 18, 2010 by Martin Henderson

Fans of open-wheel racing have been clamoring for American drivers, and an American star who could back it up on track. Ryan Hunter-Reay may have answered the call.

The former Dana Point resident won the 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, the marquee event in the IZOD IndyCar Series that isn’t the Indianapolis 500. He is guaranteed only another three races in the series, but he’s going to make it difficult for team owner Michael Andretti to park him should funding run dry.

If you would like to read racescribe author Martin Henderson’s story for ESPNLosAngeles.com on Hunter-Reay’s victory at the 2010 Grand Prix of Los Angeles, click here.

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IRL: Sweet opportunity for diabetic Kimball

Posted in Article, IRL with tags , , , on April 17, 2010 by Martin Henderson

He bypassed Stanford so that he could race cars, only to discover he had diabetes. That’s when Charlie Kimball’s education really began.

Taking a small page from the Magic Johnson playbook, Kimball has shown that a chronic disease doesn’t have to be a death sentence to one’s dream.

Kimball will race this weekend in Long Beach for AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series, a step down from the Indy cars that will highlight race action Sunday. But after two races, including second place last week, he is second in the championship and hopeful that he will one day be racing in the marquee event at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

If you would like to read racescribe author Martin Henderson’s story for ESPNLosAngeles.com on Kimball and his drive to beat the competition and diabetes, click here.

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