IndyCar makes its way to sunny California for the iconic Grand Prix of Long Beach. Gear up for the race on Sunday before the green flag waves.
IndyCar Round 3: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Preview
Long Beach, the most famous IndyCar race outside the Indianapolis 500, is back this weekend, celebrating a huge milestone. This year’s event marks the 50th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Driving the streets of Long Beach gets very technical with the big braking zones and strategy, so top performance from both driver and team is needed on a track like this.
Sunday’s race will include 90 laps, compared to the last few years, where the races were limited to 85 laps. No matter how much time has passed since the event began, it always guarantees an exciting race with nonstop action that will leave you glued to your seat.
The Track: Streets of Long Beach
Long Beach is a 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit that is both challenging and exciting. The track features a long start-finish straight where cars get up to speeds of nearly 180 mph. After a difficult turn-one, they are met with a complex roundabout (Turn 2-3) that is highlighted by a dolphin statue. The third sector also leads into the iconic and incredibly tight hairpin (turn 11) that is set to cause drama.
The Long Beach track also allows for many overtaking opportunities, which is hard to find on a street circuit. The opportunities are in hard braking zones in turns 8 and 9, curves into the hairpin, and the long straight.
Drivers to Watch
With Alex Palou looking to extend his win streak to three with a victory in Long Beach, which he has never done before, drivers will be chomping at the bit to get in the win column and take a chunk out of Palou’s championship lead.
Here are the drivers to watch out for:
Scott Dixon
Dixon looks to head back to the top step at Long Beach for a second year in a row. Last year, the Kiwi proved why he is one of the best to do it. After qualifying eighth, he was able to put himself at the top for the final stage of the race.
Despite a tough fuel mileage strategy and having Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta, and Palou on his tail, Dixon was able to cross the checkered flag in first to earn his second Long Beach victory.
Alexander Rossi
Another driver to look out for is Rossi. The California native, currently driving Ed Carpenter Racing, has consistently been fast at this track. He was the last driver to earn back-to-back wins at Long Beach, winning in 2018 and 2019 both from pole.
His 2019 performance was particularly impressive as he led all but five of the 85 laps from pole and crossed the finish line 20.2359 seconds ahead of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. It was the largest margin of victory at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Pruett by more than 23 seconds in 1995.
While he might not be in the most dominant car, his performances this year with two top 10s, best believe he will be in the fight for a top five or even top three finish.
Kyle Kirkwood
Kirkwood has had a quiet impressive start to the season with one top 5 and 2 top 10s placing as the top Andretti Driver in the Championship standings. He looks to continue his strong start with a potential second win at Long Beach. The Florida native earned his first-ever IndyCar victory from pole on the iconic temporary circuit in 2023.
How To Watch The Long Beach Grand Prix:
The First Practice will take place on Friday, April 11, at 6:00 PM Eastern. Saturday will see the drivers take to the track for second practice and qualifying. Practice session 2 is set for 11:00 AM Eastern, and qualifying is at 2:30 PM Eastern. The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix takes place on Sunday, April 13th, at 4:30 pm Eastern. The coverage will be on Fox. All practice sessions, qualifying, and the Sunday warm-up will be aired on FS1.
Stay tuned to Last Word on Motorsports for all the news from the second round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series.
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