While I don’t put a lot of stock in Friday practice, it5 appears that supremacy by the seas may come down to Penske versus Andretti. Will Power grabbed the top spot on his final lap, nipping Marcus Ericsson, who was just 0.002 seconds ahead of his teammate Kyle Kirkwood. Power’s stablemate Josef Newgarden finished sixth overall, but he led part of the 45 minute portion of the split practice.

Points leader Alex Palou was seventh quick, the fastest of the Ganassi cars.

Meyer Shank racing had a strong showing, with Marcus Armstrong fourth and Felix Rosenqvist fifth.

Notes

The grandstands in turns nine and 10 were nearly at capacity for practice. I haven’t been to Long Beach in three years, but I don’t remember the seats this full for the first practice.

The Grand Prix organization has gone all out to mark the 50th anniversary of a race on the streets. Their merchandise booth has very nice commemorative shirts and outerwear.

For the Golden Anniversary, even the event cars are gold.

IndyCar practice 2 is at 8:30 am Pacific, and qualifying is at 11:30 PT.

IMSA note– Robert Wickens just qualified eighth for tomorrow’s race.

Results