Category: Auto Racing

Race Day at Long Beach

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Can Alexander Rossi become a three time Long Beach winner today?

Today’s Schedule

Sunday, April 10, 2022- All Times Pacific

7:30 AM Spectator Gates Open
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM INDYCAR Warm Up-Peacock
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

NOON- NBC coverage begins
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) NBC; Post race show on Peacock to follow
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM Stadium SUPER Trucks Race #2
4:20 PM – 5:00 PM Porsche Carrera Cup Race #2

Good morning from Long Beach. The weather looks perfect for racing.

Temperature should be 61 degrees for the morning warmup and 65 degrees at the green flag. Cool conditions make for great racing, right?

Race organizers expect a very large crowd today. Yesterday’s attendance was substantial.

The first four starting spots represent four different teams. The race will come down to strategy, depending on how many caution periods occur. I do not expect a caution free race.

Jimmie Johnson still plans to drive today. We’ll see what happens after the warmup.

Bourdais, Ganassi Win IMSA Race

Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van Der Zende won yesterday’s IMSA race in a Chip Ganassi Racing. Cadillac prototype. Bourdais started on the pole, but 30 minutes into the race he went wide trying to pass a GT car exiting the hairpin. The incident put the team last in class, but they came back to win the event.

LBGP- A Community Event

I said since my first trip to Long Beach that one of the reaLBGP- A Community Eventsons this race id the premier street race is the amount of community buy-in. I was reminded of this yesterday.

I decided to try a new place for breakfast. The dry erase board at the door said race crew members can get certain drinks for $1. It is the little things like this that make a street race a success.

Enjoy the race. I will have a brief report after the warmup, and race story will be out very late tonight in the East, possibly not until tomorrow morning.

Long Beach Qualifying Wrap-up

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Photo: Alex Palou will start third Sunday. He had a quiet day, but like 2021, he snuck into the mix.

Just a few more thoughts about qualifying today.

Felix Rosenqvist backed up his pole at Texas by getting into the Fast Six. He has always been a decent qualifier, but he seems to have become a very good qualifier. Rosenqvist needs to get some good race results.

Will Power and Scott McLaughlin have their worst starting positions of the year, seventh and ninth. Power is still in search of four more poles to tie Mario Andretti for career poles. He won just one pole last year.

Keep an eye on Marcus Ericsson. He fell to eighth today. I thought he had a shot at the pole. Ericsson is still on a roll from his two wins in 2021. He may be a factor in the race.

Kyle Kirkwood advanced to round two. Kirkwood has qualified decently and raced very well. He has gotten the most out of the 14 car. A lot of the car’s improvement is a credit to Kirkwood’s talent. I wonder how much of a contribution Sebastien Bourdais made to the team last year. I’m guessing he also has a lot to do with Kirkwood’s performance.

What happened to the Meyer Shank cars? Simon Pagenaud led Friday’s practice and was strong in this morning’s session. Helio Castroneves looked as if he might also be in the mix. Pagenaud will start 10th and Castroneves 14th.

The Andretti team had a very good day, perhaps its best of the season, but still it could have been much better. Romain Grosjean was on track to win the pole until he stuffed into the tires. Alexander Rossi was caught out by the red flag, then had to take the runoff route on the final timed lap. They are still the team to beat and have the potential to have three cars in the top five tomorrow.

Pato O’Ward has been my biggest disappointment this season. Two poor finishes, badly executed pit stops, and mediocre qualifying is not the mark of someone expected to compete for the championship. He can get a decent result from his 11th starting position, and he needs a top 10 finish.

Jimmie Johnson plans to race to race tomorrow in spite of his fractured hand. His incidents today in practice and qualifying seemed to stem from the injury. I assume a final decision will come after the morning warmup. It might be in his best interests to sit out the race, The irony is that Johnson didn’t run ovals last season because he was concerned about injuries. He sustains an injury on a street course.

Eleven drivers beat the old track record which had stood since 2017. Five drivers had laps in the 1:05 range. I believe Romain Grosjean was also in that time frame, but his times were erased with the red flag.

Look for my Sunday preview tomorrow morning. Thanks for following along this weekend.

Herta on Pole as Andretti Continues Long Beach Mastery

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Tomorrow’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will begin just where the 2021 race stopped-Colton Herta will lead the field to green flag followed by Josef Newgarden. In a qualifying session which the previous track record shredded to bits, Herta set the new mark of 1:05.3.

Herta and his Andretti Autosport teammates asserted the perennial dominance the team has has had since 2018. Alexander Rossi won the race in 2018 and 2019 from the pole. Herta won here last fall and now has added the pole.

Newgarden did not lead Team Penske in either of the practices, but came on strong during qualifying. Neither Will Power nor Scott McLaughlin advanced to the Fast Six. McLaughlin will be absent from the first row for the first time this season.

Meyer Shank Racing.lookred very strong in practice, but neither Simon Pagenaud nor Helio Castroneves advanced to the final round.

Romain Grosjean led the final practice and appeared to be on his way to the pole. He ran his car into the tire barrier, bringing out a red flag with just two seconds left in the session. The incident moved him to sixth place. The five remaining cars had an opportunity for one more timed lap

Only Felix Rosenqvist and Rosdi took advantage of the time. Rossi’s attempt ended as needed to use the runoff area. Rosenqvisy did not improve.

Qualifying results. Note-Devlin DeFrancesco will start 23rd tomorrow as he serves a six grid place penalty. I will have more thoughts on the day later this evening.

Herta on Pole as Andretti Continues Long Beach Mastery

thepitwindow

Tomorrow’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will begin just where the 2021 race stopped-Colton Herta will lead the field to green flag followed by Josef Newgarden. In a qualifying session which the previous track record shredded to bits, Herta set the new mark of 1:05.3.

Herta and his Andretti Autosport teammates asserted the perennial dominance the team has has had since 2018. Alexander Rossi won the race in 2018 and 2019 from the pole. Herta won here last fall and now has added the pole.

Newgarden did not lead Team Penske in either of the practices, but came on strong during qualifying. Neither Will Power nor Scott McLaughlin advanced to the Fast Six. McLaughlin will be absent from the first row for the first time this season.

Meyer Shank Racing.lookred very strong in practice, but neither Simon Pagenaud nor Helio Castroneves advanced to the final round.

Romain Grosjean led the final practice and appeared to be on his way to the pole. He ran his car into the tire barrier, bringing out a red flag with just two seconds left in the session. The incident moved him to sixth place. The five remaining cars had an opportunity for one more timed lap

Only Felix Rosenqvist and Rosdi took advantage of the time. Rossi’s attempt ended as needed to use the runoff area. Rosenqvisy did not improve.

Qualifying results. Note-Devlin DeFrancesco will start 23rd tomorrow as he serves a six grid place penalty. I will have more thoughts on the day later this evening.

Grosjean Leads Practice as Track Record Demolished- Update with Time Sheet

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Romain Grosjean led an Andretti/Meyer Shank attack on the track record in morning practice for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The top six were below the track record.

Andretti Autosport cars took three of the top four spots. Meyer Shank Racing has a technical alliance with Andretti.

I would still not discount pole chances for Will Power or Marcus Ericsson.

The session ran clean for the first 30 minutes. Jimmie Johnson had another wall contact bringing out the red flag. Johnson was3 cleared to drive this morning and is still eligible to qualify.

Graham Rahal brought out a red flag for contact. With six minutes remaining, David Malukas hD contact with the outer wall just past the fountain.

This morning ‘s session was the first instance of Indycar’s new practice policy. The schedule allowed 60 min for the 45 minute practice. The clock stopped on the red flags and drivers had the full 45 minutes of green flag running.

Qualifying will be interesting. I will have qualifying groups up in a bit

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Saturday at Long Beach

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Today’s Schedule:

Saturday, April 9, 2022-All Times Pacific

7:30 AM Spectator Gates Open
8:45 AM – 9:45 AM INDYCAR Practice #2-Peacock
9:55 AM – 10:15 AM HMSA Qualifying
10:20 AM – 10:35 AM IMSA Series Pit Set Up
10:45 AM – 11:25 AM Porsche Carrera Cup Race #1
11:00 AM – 11:30 AM IMSA WeatherTech Championship Autograph Session (IMSA Paddock – free to all spectators)
12:05 PM – 1:20 PM INDYCAR Qualifying & FIRESTONE FAST 6– Peacock
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 ELS 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

Three news items from Friday.

First, Indycar has assessed a six place grid penalty to Devlin DeFrancesco for avoidable contact during the EXPEL 375 at Texas. DeFrancesco was deemed to be at fault in all three caution periods.

Devlin DeFrancesco

I’m glad Indycar has taken this step. This action sets a good example of the conduct expected of drivers.

DeFrancesco was 25th in Friday’s practice. If he qualifies there, it won’t be much of a penalty. I have not known Indycar to carry over grid penalties to the following race.

Following yesterday’s practice, Jimmie Johnson did not appear at the autograph session. He posted the following video to Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JimmieJohnson/status/1512598067366678529?t=gCxjMo4bjwUSsBNVAL0oog&s=19

Johnson apparently suffered the injury when he hit the tire barrier during practice. It sounds like Johnson will be reevaluated in the morning before practice. If he is not cleared to drive, Ganassi has a pretty good substitute who is in Long Beach for IMSA.-some guy named Bourdais.

NBC announced that Peacock will again have an untimed post-race show on Sunday immediately after the NBC broadcast ends. I could get used to this.

Track Record in Jeopardy?

Simon Pagenaud’s time was within one second of the track record, set by Helio Castroneves in 2017. Today’s cooler temperatures and using the red alternate tires could result in a new speed mark for the Long Beach track.

A sleeper pick for pole is Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson led much of the first half of practice yesterday.

Friday Report

Attendance was big at the first day of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. I’m sure empty grandstands were noticeable on Peacock. Most people spent the day inside the convention center to avoid the near 100 degree temperatures. Today the high should be around 72 degrees and for race we are looking at 68 degrees for a high.

The numerous displays in the convention center range from auto manufacturers to car accessories to home and health products. The center is a massive building. It was nice to have the option of being inside to avoid the extreme heat.

I stumbled upon a fan Q& A with the drivers from A. J. Foyt Racing.

From left: Dalton Kellett, Tatiana Calderon, Kyle Kirkwood

The line for the autograph session stretched around the corner. I wonder how big it would have been had fans known Jimmie Johnson would not be htere.

I had forgotten how much walking is required at this track. I am enjoying being back here, and I hope to get back one more time. If you live in the East, this is not a race you would want to do annually.

I will close with a few shots of on track action. the cars are entering turn 9.

Alexander Rossi leads Romain Grosjean and Dalton Kellett
Marcus Ericsson could be in contention for the pole today.
Pato O’Ward, Helio Castroneves

Back later with reports on morning practice and qualifying.

Pagenaud Tops Disjointed Practice

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Simon Pagenaud led the first practice for the Acura Grand prix of Long Beach this afternoon with a lap 1:07.1991edging Alexander Rossi by 0,402 seconds. Scott McLaughlin, looking to keep his run of front row starts for 2021 intact, was third, just seven hundredths behind Rossi. Pagenaud’s time is less than a second slower than the track record of 1:05.2254.

Drivers were surprised at the grip level.

“We were all surprised by the level of grip we had already,” 2021 series champion Alex Palou said. “On the first timing lap, we were doing 69 (1:09), 68 (1:08). It was really grippy. I don’t know if it’s all the rubber from the tires from the other series or just the heat, but it’s super nice to drive. We’re enjoying every lap.”

The temperature was in the upper 90s for the session, and the temperature tomorrow is expected to be in the low 70s. The speed will probably be there, but we might see different cars up front.

Jimmie Johnson brought out the first of two red flags when he bottomed while crossing a curb on the inside of Turn 5, launching his car nose-first into the tire barrier.

Dalton Kellett spun in his No. 4 K-LINE/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet with about 15 minutes left in the session in Turn 5 and backed lightly into the tire barrier.

Pato O’Ward clipped the wall and limped back to the pits. He returned late in the session.

The time sheet:

I will have more about the day at Long Beach in my Saturday preview tomorrow morning.