Tag: NTT Indycar Series

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Fast Facts

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 Race weekend: Friday, April 8 – Sunday, April 10
Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise) in Long Beach, California
Race distance: 85 laps / 167.28 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for Practice 1.
Twitter: @GPLongBeach @INDYCAR, #AGPLB, #INDYCAR
Event website: www.gplb.com
INDYCAR website: www.INDYCAR.com
2021 race winner: Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
2021 NTT P1 Award: Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet), 1:08.2241, 103.846 mph
Qualifying lap record: Helio Castroneves, 1:06.2254, 106.980 mph, April 8, 2017
NBC Sports race telecast: 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday, April 10, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Dave Burns and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters.
Peacock Premium Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product. NBC’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race telecast will be simulcast on the streaming service, while Peacock Premium’s exclusive post-race show – featuring driver interviews, podium ceremonies and post-race analysis – will be streamed following the race.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton and turn announcers Nick Yeoman, Jake Query and Michael Young. Ryan Myrehn and Joel Sebastianelli are the pit reporters. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, April 8
3:15-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 (45-minute session), Peacock Premium (live)
Saturday, April 9
8:45-9:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (45-minute session), Peacock Premium (live)
12:05 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock Premium (live)
Sunday, April 10
9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock Premium (live)
Noon – Driver introductions
Noon – NBC on air
12:38 p.m. – Start engines command
12:45 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles), NBC and Peacock Premium (live)
Race Notes:
This weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark the 38th INDYCAR SERIES event on the historic Long Beach street circuit. Mario Andretti won the first INDYCAR SERIES race there in 1984. Colton Herta won the race in 2021.
There have been two winners in two races in 2022 – Scott McLaughlin (St. Petersburg) and Josef Newgarden (Texas). The last time Team Penske won the first three races of an INDYCAR SERIES season was in 2012 when Helio Castroneves (St. Petersburg) and Will Power (Barber, Long Beach and Sao Paulo) claimed wins in the first four races. Since 2012, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has averaged just under nine different race winners per season, including a record-tying 11 winners in 2014. There were nine different winners in the 16 races of 2021, with equally tight competition projected for this season.
There have been seven different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Marcus Ericsson, Pato O’Ward, Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin). The only repeat winners in that stretch are Newgarden (Mid-Ohio and WWT Raceway in 2021 and Texas in 2022), Palou (Road America and Portland in 2021) and Herta (Laguna Seca and Long Beach in 2021).
Three California natives are entered: 2021 Long Beach race winner Colton Herta hails from Valencia while Andretti Autosport teammate and 2018 and 2019 Long Beach race winner Alexander Rossi is a native of Nevada City. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jimmie Johnson is from El Cajon.
Herta has won the last three INDYCAR SERIES races held in the Golden State (Laguna Seca 2019, Laguna Seca 2021 and Long Beach 2021).
Al Unser Jr. has won the most times at Long Beach (six). Will Power and Alexander Rossi are the only entered drivers with multiple wins. Power won in 2008 and 2012, and Rossi won in 2018 and 2019. Other former race winners scheduled to compete are Helio Castroneves (2001), Takuma Sato (2013), Scott Dixon (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Colton Herta (2021).
Five drivers have won the race from the pole – Mario Andretti (1984, 1985 and 1987), Al Unser Jr. (1989-90), Helio Castroneves (2001), Sebastien Bourdais (2006-07) and Alexander Rossi (2018-19).
Twenty-one of the 26 drivers entered have competed in INDYCAR SERIES races at Long Beach. Will Power has 15 starts, most among all entered drivers.
Ten entered drivers have led laps: Helio Castroneves 194, Power 170, Alexander Rossi 151, Scott Dixon 104, Takuma Sato 67, Simon Pagenaud 54, Colton Herta 43, Josef Newgarden 22, Graham Rahal 4 and Jack Harvey 1.
Six NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookies – Tatiana Calderon, Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas – are expected to compete. All but Ilott will be making their first INDYCAR SERIES start on the Streets of Long Beach.
Milestones: Alexander Rossi will attempt to make his 100th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start … Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 291st consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Long Beach 2008- Champ Car’s Final Race

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My friend Sally, who gave me the three Hulman glasses, also gave me a box of old Long Beach programs. I have a couple of Indianapolis 500 programs, and I find the programs from other races fascinating.

The programs provide a glimpse of local culture and lets fans see how other races are run. The better programs also provide some history of the race. I find that part of a program invaluable, especially for the races that have run for the longest time. The King Beach programs don’t disappoint in that area.

The program for the 2008 race caught my eye. The race was to be Champ Car’s last race, and coincide with the Champ Car drivers’ first IRL points paying race. IRL and Champ Car had agreed to merge in February 2008, and the Long Beach weekend would have the last separate races for the two series. The IRL raced Motegi, Japan on Saturday, April 19, and Champ Car’s last race took place the following afternoon. Drivers could only race in one of the races.

Champ Car Tribute

The program pays tribute to Champ Car with the feature “Champ Car’s Last Hurrah. CART began racing at Long Beach in 1984. Formula 1 had become too expensive for the Grand Prix Association.

Jim Michaelian, Long Beach Grand Prix President, concludes that

“Just like back in 1984, we’re not going to miss a beat. There will be more world -class racing in store when the Indy racing League(IRL)-which includes many drivers who battled it out on our streets-makes its debut…next year.”

Sebastian Bourdais winning the 2007 Long Beach Grand Prix

The weekend included Formula Atlantics and ALMS. The Atlantics race had Jonathan Bomarito on pole with Simona De Silvestro also on the front row. James Hinchcliffe started 10th, and Dane Cameron started 11th.

IN ALMS, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta teamed up in an LMP2 Acura.

All series seem to get equal coverage in the program. The Champ Car driver features are divided by teams, which makes it easy to find a favorite driver.

Starting Lineup

A bonus I love finding in an old program is the starting grid sheet. This one is a treasure as it marks the end of a series. Most of the drivers did drive in the IRL at some point in their career. Will Power and Graham Rahal are the only two drivers still active in Indycar.

Power won the race. His photo from the 2008 program:

I am glad I have this program. It is arguably one of the four most important programs in Long Beach Grand Prix history. The others are the first F1 race, the CART race, and the first IRL race.

This weekend marks the 38th Indycar race at Long Beach, the longest running Indycar outside of the Indianapolis 500.

New Engine Gets Some Running; Testing Cancelled; Notes

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Weather was the big story at IMS last week, as the test planned for Thursday and postponed until Friday never happened. There were cars on track earlier int he week, however, as the new 2.4 liter engines from Honda and Chevy got its first track test.

Both OEMs said they were pleased with the test despite the limited test time. I lijke the sound of the new engine. It is a very deep tone. The video is of the Chevy.

Andretti Autosport and Team Penske will test at barber tomorrow before heading to Long Beach.

I understand a test on the IMS road course is scheduled for June.

Harvey Cleared to Drive

Jack Harvey is now clear to drive at the Acura Grand prix of Long Beach. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver had a hard crash during final practice for the EXPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway last month and was held out of the race.

Santino Ferrucci replaced Harvey in the race. Ferrucci started last and finished ninth.

Music City Presale

The Music City Presale begins at noon tomorrow for last year’s ticket holders. General public sales can’t be too far away.

I’m interested in seeing what improvements, if any the event has made after its first year. I hope they have made tickets easier to access and have employed a more fan friendly security company.

500 Festival Cars Debut

Tomorrow morning the 500 festival event cars will appear on the front stretch of IMS as we will be just 55 days away from the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500.

While I am at the track tomorrow I will check out the new exhibit at the IMS Museum, Roadsters 2 Records, 1960-1972. The display covers the transition from front engine cars to rear engine machines and the golden age of driving talent and technology in the time period.

Test Postponed to Friday, Roster Shrinks

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Weather caused the Indycar road test at IMS to move to Friday, April 1. Seven drivers are scheduled Rd filed to test, down from the ten slated to appear Thursday.

Teams and drivers still in:

Andretti Autosport: Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi
Juncos Hollinger Racing: Callum Ilott
Meyer Shank Racing: Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud
Fans may still watch from the turn 2 mounds.

Ten Drivers Testing at IMS Thursday

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Weather permitting, nine full time Indycar drivers and one May only driver will test on the IMS road course tomorrow. Fans may watch from the turn 2 mounds.

The original roster for the test had virtually the entire Indycar grid participating, A. J. Foyt Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and his partners, Chip Ganassi Racing, ad Team Penske opted not to attend.

The lineup for Thursday’s test:

Andretti Autosport: Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean, Colton Herta, Alexander Rossi

Arrow McLaren SP: Juan Pablo Montoya, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist

Juncos Hollinger Racing: Callum Ilott

Meyer Shank Racing: Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud

Racing at the Pleasure of the King; Weather Delay at IMS?

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F1 was caught in a difficult situation this weekend. A missile strike 10 miles from the track had the series and some drivers doubting if the race should go on. Eventually, the weekend proceeded normally, after what sounded like veiled threats from the Saudi government.

To complicate things, F1 and Saudi Arabia have a 15 year contract for this race. It is a race that probably pays one of the highest sanctioning fees in F1. Still, I don’t think a series should be racing in a war zone. I can’t believe there isn’t a Force Majeure clause in their contract.

For those who want Indycar to stage international races, this weekend is Exhibit A as to why staying in North America is a good idea.

Weather May Hinder Engine Test

Indycar’s test of the new 2.4 liter engine at IMS may not happen this week. At 11:25 Eastern time, the current Indianapolis temperature is 34 degrees with a predicted high of 42, which will come after 3 PM. Tomorrow is just slightly warmer with a high of 46. Wednesday looks like the best day of the week with a high of 77 degrees with wind gusts of 20-30 mph. Thursday the high is predicted to be 50 degrees with a chance of rain. A 20 car test on he road course is on Thursday’s schedule.

With teams heading to Long beach next week, a postponement this week could result in at least a two week delay in the test. As of now there is no official word from Indycar or IMS on contingency plans.

Heading North

The Pit Window begins the move to Summer Headquarters tomorrow. It doesn’t sound like we will be greeted by summer or even spring like conditions. Anyway, unless something huge happens the next two days (very likely since it seems to when I’m unavailable to report) I won’t have anything up until late Thursday or early Friday.

Thanks for following along this winter.

New Engine Test Moves to IMS Next Week; 20 Cars Test Next Thursday

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Scott Dixon will be one of the first drivers to try out the new 2.4 liter Honda engine

The new 2.4 liter twin turbo V 6 engine will have its first on track test next Monday and Tuesday on the IMS road course. Team Penske and Chip Ganassi racing will test one Chevrolet and one Honda respectively. Josef Newgarden will drive the Penske car Monday and Will Power will test the new powerplant Tuesday. Scott Dixon will be the lone driver for Honda both days.

The engine was originally schedule for march 30 and 31 at Sebring.

The engines get their initial workouts on the old Formula 1 course to prevent either team from gaining an information advantage on the layout that Indycar uses for the GMR Grand Prix and the race on the NASCAR weekend.

The new engines will not have the hybrid components on board due to supply issues. The 2.4 liter engine and hybrid package will debut in the series in 2024. The hybrid components may be available by early summer.

On Thursday, March 31 the traditional IMS road course layout will host 20 cars from the NTT Indycar Series in a private test.

All full time drivers from A. J. Foyt Racing, Andretti Autosport, Juncos Hollinger racing, Meyer Shank Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and Arrow McLaren SP will participate. AMSP will also have Juan Pablo Montoya in a car. Montoya will drive in both the GMR Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 for the team.

Jack Harvey, injured in a practice crash at Texas last Saturday, will drive in the test if he is cleared to drive by then.

The IMS Museum parking lot is open to the public. Track facilities are closed during the test days.

Track 17

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Image: A great race in front of nearly empty stands is not a good look for Indycar.

There is no official word about the status of Texas Motor Speedway returning to the Indycar schedule in 2023, but I think Sunday’s woeful attendance was its own statement. After the great show Indycar had Sunday, it will be sad to see this track leave the circuit. I liked the track a lot, and if what we saw during the race can be replicated, rthis track needs to stay.

Without Texas, Indycar’s schedule would be reduced to 16 races. Roger Penske says 16-17 races is ideal for the series, but I think sticking to 17 is in Indycar’s best interests. The track which replaces TMS has to be an oval for several reasons.

Indycar needs some oval races, ideally 25% of the schedule. A mix of short tracks and another superspeedway besides the Indianapolis 500 would be fine. The main reason I favored the IRL during the split is because they ran ovals while the majority of CART’s races were road and street courses.

I am hearing a strong push for Milwaukee to replace Texas. I like Milwaukee, and I think Milwaukee/Road America on back to back weekends would be great. Perhaps the track could work out a combo ticket at a discount for both events.

Some fans want Homestead to return to the schedule. I have never been to Homestead, and I don’t remember much about the races there. I do recall that attendance wasn’t good at the last few races. I wonder if the F1 Miami Grand Prix would overshadow an Indycar race there. At least a race at Homestead would be affordable for the average fan.

Richmond had a spot on the schedule for 2020 but lost out to the pandemic. The fact that it wasn’t given another chance tells me there wasn’t much fan interest in it. I think that would have been a nice venue for the series.

Whichever oval replaces Texas needs to have more than just Indycar. A support series is necessary so that the track is not idle for long stretches of time. Concerts and a festival atmosphere, like Iowa has planned for July might help. Indy Lights is also running at Iowa.

World Wide Technology Raceway has always run two support races, usually Indy Lights and a lower NASCAR series. Iowa has had an ARCA series race on Indycar weekend in the past. Many fans came just for ARCA and didn’t attend the Indycar portion of the program.

There are few options for ovals with Texas off the table. A track has to show interest and heavily promote the event, a concert or some other attraction has to be lined up, and the mainly Midwest fan base has to decide if a particular track is worth the trip.

Quick Thoughts- Expel 375

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After a processional beginning the race came alive on lap 148 after the last caution period. Staring on lap 150 the lead changed hands four times in 15 laps.

A last turn pass for the win always makes a race better. Josef Newgarden said in the post race press conference that he had conceded the win, but saw an opportunity when he got to turn 3 of the final lap.

The start

There was more passing than I expected. Newgarden said the headwind down the front stretch helped and that the special session yesterday did clean up the high line a bit.

Team Penske has come out of the gate strong this season after a lackluster 2021. In the two races this young season, they have two wins and four of the six podium positions.

Scott McLaughlin is setting himself up for a strong championship run. Two front row starts, a win and a second place finish leaves with a 28 point lead over Will Power.

Great Drives

Jimmie Johnson will get the bulk of the praise for his sixth place finish after starting 18th. He steadily and quietly moved up the field.

But my driver of the day is Santino Ferrucci. Ferrucci replaced Jack Harvey this morning when Harvey was not cleared to drive after his crash in practice yesterday afternoon. Indycar allowed him 15 minutes to shake down the car, which was moved to the back of the grid. For Ferrucci to finish ninth under the circumstances is amazing.

Marcus Ericsson finished third from 14th and being in contention near the end. All four Ganassi cars finished in the top 10.

The season is shaping up to be a shootout between Penske and Ganassi drivers.

Andretti Woes Continue

Andretti Autosport had another forgettable day with three cars finishing in the bottom four positions. Alexander Rossi completed just 11 laps before retiring with mechanical issues. Romain Grosjean went out next with a water pressure problem on lap 103.

Devlin DeFrancesco was involved in a three car crash also involving Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves. It appeared that he had a hand in all three yellows. I’m anxious to see the replay.

Colton Herta came home 12th one lap down.

AMSP Title Hopes Fading Fast

Felix Rosenqvist did not lead a lap despite starting on pole. Her eventually retired and finished 21st after a bad pit stop. Pato O’Ward hit a crewman on a stop and finished 15th. O’ward is 13th in points and he needs a really good result at Long Beach to get in contention. He is also going to need some help.

More Oval Training for Indy Lights?

Two accidents today involved Indy Lights rookies. Kyle Kirkwood spun and hit the wall in turn 4. Devlin DeFrancesco was involved in a three car accident in between turns three and four.

Texas was the first high speed oval for the rookies. The question is, should Indy Lights run more ovals, especially high speed tracks? The absence of the Freedom 100 at IMS took away the one fast oval for the junior series.

I understand that budget concerns about equipment damage is a factor in the schedule structure, but are they really helping the drivers who come to Indycar without any experience on a track like Texas?