All times Eastern
Practice 3- Noon-12:40
Qualifying- 3:10-4:25
Practice is on NBC Gold
Qualifying is on NBCSN
Look for Quick Thoughts here after qualifying and a full report on Wildfireradiosports.com
Tag: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Practice 2- Dixon Leads
Scott Dixon lead the second practice for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach this afternoon, edging Ryan Hunter-Reay by 0.05 seconds. Honda’s continued to lead the way although the Penske Chevrolets showed more speed than they did in the morning session.
Jarrett Andretti Added to Freedom 100 Field
Jarrett Andretti will become the latest member of one of racing’s most famous families to race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The son of John Andretti will drive an Andretti Autosport Indy Lights car in the Freedom 100 on Carb Day, May 24.
Andretti, 26, has won championships in karts, USAC midgets. an Indiana Sprint Car series. He joins Andretti Indy Lights drivers Oliver Askew, Robert Megnnis, and Ryan Norman in the Andretti Indy Lights Field. Jarrett currently competes for Andretti Autosport in the Pirelli GT4 America program. He has also competed in the Pirelli World Challenge TCR class.
It is always great to have another Indy Lights car in the field, and adding another Andretti is big for the series. No plans for additional Indy Lights races were mentioned at this time, but Michael mentioned this could be first step to more participation in the series. It seems like a logical presumption for someone with his last name.
Hunter-Reay leads Practice 1 Honda Parade
Hondas had the top seven times in this morning’s first practice, led by Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Indycar Friday Long Beach Schedule and Some Notes
LoveToday’s IndyCar schedule forftye Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Eastern Time
1-1:45 pm Practice NBC Gold
5-5:45 pm Practice NBC Gold
Notes
Sebastien Bourdais will do the Long Beach double, also driving for Chip Ganassi Racing’ s Ford GTLM in the IMSA race. Bourdais drives the endurance races for the program. He replaced Joey Hand who is ill. I would like to see more drivers do things like this.
Kyle Kaiser will be at Long Beach, but not in Indycar. He will drive the Juncos DPi in the IMSA race. I have doubts we will see more Indycar entries from Juncos this year.
Michael Andretti has an “Indianapolis driver announcement at 3:30 pm Eastern today. My guess is it’s about an additional Indy Lights car for the Freedom 100.
Long Beach Preview-Another New Winner?
Above: Can Alexander Rossi repeat? A tall order given the event’s history the last six years.
There is no better place for a street race than Long Beach, and no better street course event. It has the feel of the Indianapolis 500. Its rich history includes Formula 1 as well as the NTT Indycar Series and the other Indycar iterations. The city completely embraces the race, one of the key elements for a successful sustainable street race.
There are some noticeable changes for the 2019 event. Acura is the new title sponsor, replacing longtime sponsor Toyota. Jack Harvey’s number 60 will carry Acura decals in place of the Honda markings. No, this is NOT the third OEM
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has seen six different teams and six different drivers win since 2013. If the trend continues we could see another win from one of the smaller teams in the 45th edition of America’s longest running street race. So far this season no one has really stood out. Josef Newgarden has been the most consistent, winning at St. Pete and finishing second at COTA and fourth at Barber. Here are some things to look for this weekend.
Penske Turnaround From Alabama?
Will Power has been frustrated the last two races. He won the pole at COTA and was leading late but was sidelined by a drive shaft problem. At Barber he failed to make the Fast Six, spun early in the race, and fought back to finish 11th. He sits an uncharacteristically low 9th in the standings. Power has won twice here. I see him back in the Fast Six and possibly on the pole again.
Newgarden qualified 17th last weekend but recovered to finish fourth and increase his championship lead. He should return to the front of the grid as he seeks his first victory at Long Beach.
Simon Pagenaud appears ready to move up in the standings. He has two top tens this season and seems to have become comfortable with the new car. This could be the weekend he returns to contention.
Rossi Needs a Repeat Victory
Alexander Rossi has been good, but not great so far this season. He has made the Fast Six every race this season and has two top five finishes but his race pace just seems a little off. Returning to the venue he dominated last year could be where he can begin challenging for the points lead.
Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay is also a past winner at Long Beach. He has made a nice recovery from his engine issue at St. Pete. with a podium at COTA and an eighth at Barber. Hunter-Reay could also figure in the winning equation this weekend
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Momentum
A pole, a front row lockout, and a win was the best the Rahal team could do last weekend. The only blemish was Graham Rahal’s throttle issue which knocked him out of the race. Takuma Sato has won two of the last five races going back to Portland last September. Sato also has won here. Look for another strong showing from both drivers.
The Rookies
This class continues to impress me. Colton Herta had an ignition problem at Barber which prevented another possible top ten finish. Marcus Ericsson finally earned a result without issues last weekend as well.
Felix Rosenqvist was very strong at St. Pete and should be strong again this weekend. He seems to have a knack for street courses, probably due to his time in Formula E. I could see him on the podium Sunday.
This will be the first street race for Pato O’Ward this season. Don’t dismiss his chances because of that. O’Ward has an uncanny talent for being fast around any circuit. I wpould not be surprised to see him in the Fast Six and have a solid finish.
Scott Dixon
His footsteps are getting louder already. Dixon is actually ahead of where he was at this point in the season last year. He led two laps at Barber. In 2018 he didn’t lead a lap until Detroit. He has already had one of the likely two races out of the top ten. Another former Long Beach winner, Dixon will probably finish on the podium this time. He should gain some ground on Newgarden.
Sponsor Moves
GESS has moved to Pato O’Ward’s car for Long Beach. The company is supporting the younger drivers in the series by switching their sponsorship from Colton Herta. Herta, meanwhile, will carry King Taco colors for the race. King Taco usually finds its way onto a car for the race every year. I wonder if Herta’s win at COTA influenced their decision this year.
Totally In(Acura)te Predictions
Pole- Power
Race- Dixon
Top Rookie- Rosenqvist
Back Saturday evening with Qualifying Quick Thoughts. Full qualifying coverage will be on Wildfire Sports Sunday morning.
McLaren Reveals Car for 500; Some News; Barber Photos
McLaren revealed the car Fernando Alonso will drive in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 next month. The mainly papaya orange machine, the traditional McLaren color, has blue accents. While similar to Scott Dixon’s car, I think they are different enough to tell apart. The McLaren has less blue in the middle and is a different shade of orange from the Ganassi PNC Bank entry.
The sidepod sponsor is an e-cigarette company and includes a health warning. Don’t look for tobacco companies to come rushing back to motorsports just because they can add a health warning. This si the second e cigarette company to be on a car. Blu sponsored Sebastien Bourdais a few years ago.
It’s a great looking car and it always adds to the race to have a former F1 champion in the field.
HSR Adds King Taco for Long Beach
Harding Steinbrenner Racing will carry King Taco sponsorship on Colton Herta’s car at Long Beach this weekend. King Taco usually sponsors a car in their local race. GESS, the primary sponsor of the 88 at Barber, is an associate sponsor this coming weekend.
It will be interesting to see if GESS commits further with the program in May.
Rich Energy Sponsors Jordan King
Jordan King, who will drive in the Indianapolis 500 as a third entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, yesterday announced Rich Energy is now a personal sponsor. This might help King, who drove the Ed Carpenter Racing number 20 on the road/street courses last year, get more races. Not sure if Rahal wants to do a third car for more than Indianapolis with the momentum the team has built the last two races.
Frye- Third OEM May Become Necessity
In a media availability at Barber Motorsports Park this past weekend, Indycar President Jay Frye said as more teams enter the field, a third engine manufacturer may “become a necessity rather than a luxury.”
It sounds as if he expects some more teams may be planning to enter the series. I agree. Honda and Chevy are getting stretched a bit already, especially in May.
Frye did not give any hints that a third OEM is imminent though rumors persist that a certain German company may have its name mentioned next month.
Last Look at Barber in Photos
Here are some final photos from Barber. The first two are from my friend Kyle McInnes, a photographer aspiring to become an Indycar photographer. Check out his work at kylemcinnesphoto.com.
Top: Matheus Leist after spinning in practice.
Bottom: Spencer Pigot brings out another red flag Friday’
Photos by Kyle McInnes
Scott Dixon makes his final pit stop.
Sato’s crew celebrates after the checkered flag.
Takuma Sato addresses the media after his convincing victory.
The last three photos are mine.
Back Thursday with a Long Beach preview.
Acura Sponsors Long Beach Grand Prix
Today Acura became the official title sponsor of the Long Beach Grand Prix, Indycar’s second longest running event behind the Indianapolis 500. The Honda brand replaces Toyota, which had sponsored the race for 44 years. Toyota’s tenure was the longest event entitlement in history. The race will be called the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Racing in Long Beach began with a Formula 5000 race in 1975. From 1976-1983 Formula 1 took to the streets. Beginning in 1984, CART began racing. The event has been an Indycar race since then.
Per Adam Stern, this is a multi year deal in the low seven figures annually. It is Acura’s single largest motorsports marketing expenditure
The Honda name serves as sponsor of races at barber Motorsports Park, Toronto, and Mid Ohio.
Iowa is the only race which had a title sponsor last year still seeking a replacement. The Indycar Grand Prix at IMS lost its sponsor two years ago and has not yet found a new one.
The full press release below. I will return tomorrow with thoughts on today’s Indy 500 qualifying schedule release and a few other tidbits.
Acura Announced as Title Sponsor!
The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach announced today that it has reached a multi-year agreement with Acura to become title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Long Beach starting in 2019.
The 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place April 12-14, 2019.
Launched in 1986 as the first Japanese luxury automotive brand, Acura is a leading nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to evocative styling, high performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. Both Acura and its American Honda parent have their U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California.
Last year, Acura made a successful return to the top level of sports car racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, fielding two entries in the Prototype class with Team Penske. The driver combinations of Juan Pablo Montoya/Dane Cameron and Helio Castroneves/Ricky Taylor finished fifth and seventh overall in the championship, with Montoya recording the first pole for the new Acura ARX-05 at Long Beach. Acura also continues to have entries in the series’ GTD class with the NSX GT3 Evo, and has accomplishments at all levels of sports car racing.
Honda has a long, winning history with Indy cars at Long Beach. Honda-powered drivers have won six of the last 10 Grands Prix – and 13 times in 19 appearances – including last year with Alexander Rossi. Native Californian Jimmy Vasser scored Honda’s first Long Beach victory in 1996, with other Honda-powered winners including Alex Zanardi (1997-98), Michael Andretti (2002), Dario Franchitti (2009), Takuma Sato (2013) and James Hinchcliffe (2017).
“With our U.S. headquarters nearby in Torrance, this is a true ‘home’ event for the Acura brand,” said Jon Ikeda, Acura vice president and general manager. “The Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of North America’s premier motorsports events, and an institution in Southern California. Acura is delighted and proud to be associated with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
“This is truly the start of a new era in the history of the Grand Prix,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “As we enter our 45th year of conducting America’s #1 street race, we are looking forward with great enthusiasm to this new partnership with a premium luxury brand like Acura. Together we will explore new ways to elevate the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to greater heights in the coming years.”
Featuring a wide variety of on- and off-track activities for the entire family, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the NTT IndyCar Series, as well as the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix, featuring the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will feature the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Trucks, the powerful sports cars of the Pirelli GT4 America series and the Historic IMSA GTO Challenge.
Fans can select and pay for their Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach tickets, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com, or place orders by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333. A printed ticket brochure that includes a circuit map, ticket prices, order form and other information is also available.
Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @GPLongBeach and Instagram at GPLongBeach.
About Acura
Acura is a leading automotive luxury nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance – a commitment to evocative styling, high performance and innovative engineering, all built on a foundation of quality and reliability. The Acura lineup features six distinctive models – the RLX premium luxury sedan, the TLX performance luxury sedan, the ILX sport sedan, the five-passenger RDX luxury crossover SUV, the seven-passenger Acura MDX, America’s all-time best-selling three-row luxury SUV, and the next-generation, electrified NSX supercar.
Five of the six models in the Acura lineup are made in central Ohio, using domestic and globally-sourced parts, including the ILX and TLX luxury sports sedans (Marysville Auto Plant), the RDX and MDX luxury SUVs (East Liberty Auto Plant) and the Acura NSX supercar, which is built to order at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio.
Additional media information including pricing, features & specifications and high-resolution photography is available at AcuraNews.com. Consumer information is available at Acura.com. Follow Acura on social media at Acura.us/SocialChannels.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 