Colton Herta continues his dominance of California, leading the second practice for the Acura Grand prix of Long Beach. Herta was the only driver to turn a lap in less than 68 seconds on the track that has been a skating rink so far this weekend, with cars sliding towards the wall, locking up brakes, and making varying degrees of contact.

Romain Grosjean had at least three incidents of locking up and missing the turn. he had had contact with the wall near the end of the session. In the final minute of practice, Rinus VeeKay and Scott Dixon spun stalled on track.

Points leader Alex Palou worked on race setup most of the session, ending with the 16th fastest time. His closest competition, Pato O’Ward, was eighth. Josef Newgarden, with a very slight chance at the the title, was fourth. The previous two weeks saw Newgarden strong in practice, but fade to the back in qualifying.

The top 12:

Notes

Mark Miles said that despite Penske taking control of Indy Lights, the Freedom 100 will not return to Carb Day. It was always a fun race with several close finishes, one of which was four wide, but there was always some first time drivers who weren’t ready for that level. It did not end well for them, and I always felt that part of it was very dangerous.

Team Penske put all four of their drivers in the top 10. They will be a factor in qualifying.

Qualifying begins at 3 pm Eastern and is on both Peacock and NBCSN.