Grand Prix in Long Beach: 50 Years at full speed
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach roared to life for the 50th time on April 11—13. According to the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, more than 200,000 fans attended the three-day event. The Grand Prix gave fans an opportunity to spectate diverse styles of motorsports on one track, from standard GT3 racing to sideways drifting with Formula DRIFT.
The Grand Prix weekend began early on Thursday, April 10, with a fan exhibition of the Walk of Fame featuring many famous drivers’ faces cemented into the sidewalk. This year there were three new faces added to the Walk of Fame, including racing driver Chip Ganassi, driver Scott Dixon, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach president Jim Michaelian, and the 26th mayor of Long Beach, Beverly O’Neill. All of those recognized shaped the Grand Prix into what it is today.
Following the Walk of Fame was a Driver Meet-and-Greet at the historic Pike Outlet, featuring many International Motorsports Association (IMSA) drivers and their cars, each of which would later compete in the 100-minute sprint event. During the drivers’ meetup, there was a pit stop competition for the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) IndyCar Series. Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) driver Graham Rahal and his No. 15 pitstop crew managed to have the fastest pit crew, beating Chip Ganassi Racing’s (CGR) No. 10 pit crew with Álex Palou.
Friday opened with GT America starting their first practice session, James Sofronas of GMG Racing finishing first in his Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. IMSA began their first practice session an hour later and allowed fans a new look at the newest addition to the IMSA paddock. The No. 23 Aston Martin Heart Of Racing Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) Vantage roared to life with their naturally-aspirated 6.5 V12, echoing through the streets of Long Beach.
Nevertheless, it was the No. 25 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 that took the fastest in Practice 1 for the GTP Class. The fan-favorite racing team, AO Racing, with their No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) named “Rexy” adorned with a dinosaur livery, took the fastest time for the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class with their one-time appearance. They usually run in the GTD Pro class with higher-ranking drivers.
After GT’s first practice session, the old Formula cars revved their engines to give the spectators a show of the race vehicles from Formula 5000 No. 48 All-American Racers Gurney Eagle from 1975, to Formula 1’s 1977 race winning No. 5 John Player Lotus 77, and 2005 Long Beach winning car, No. 1 Ford Lola 05/00. As the second practice of GT America finished up, Stadium Super Trucks began their first practice and showed how different their driving style is, with the drivers taming their trucks through the corners while pulling one tire off the pavement.
IMSA returned for their second practice session with No. 24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8, which topped the timing sheets in the GTP class. For GTD, Robert Wickens’ No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R took the fastest time before qualifying.
Wickens was an IndyCar Driver until August 2018, when he lost control of his car at Pocono Raceway while going over 200 MPH and crashed. Wickens injured his spinal cord, causing him to become paralyzed from the waist down.
“It's truly amazing that we're able to have the technology to allow (people with)physical disabilities to (be) able to, you know, pursue their dream and … compete with other drivers… I think it's really cool that they're able to do that… Anyone (with) physical disabilities… There's a way to … hop out on the track and compete against other drivers,” said former Santa Monica College (SMC) student Shane Agopian, who watched Wickens race during the Grand Prix.
Once the final practice of IMSA finished, IndyCar began their first practice with their new hybrid system. Will Power, No. 12 for Team Penske, topped the time charts as Penske prepared for their qualifying run on Saturday.
Qualifying sessions started for the GT cars. GT America pushed their cars through the streets of Long Beach with James Softonas’ No. 14 GMG Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II taking the fastest time of the weekend for their series. After GT America, IMSA started their qualifying session. GTP took their turn first, with Philipp Eng’s No. 24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 taking the fastest time. GTD took to the street with Parker Thompson’s No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 finishing fastest in the race.
Formula Drift took over the rest of the night with their challenge event. Rome Charpentier took the win with his Vitour Tires E82 BMW after he maintained the most control over his car during the drift event, officially ending the first official day of the Grand Prix.
“That was the coolest … car event that I've ever been to,” said Agopian when talking about the Formula Drift challenge. “It was so sick, you know, I love drifting. I love … that kind of stuff and it's just so crazy to me how these cars are able to stay within inches of each other … going 30, 40 miles per hour sideways… It's so crazy to me… It was a fun event.”
Saturday started with the second Historic Formula practice, to prepare their cars for the first race exhibition later in the day. After the Historic practice, IndyCar took to the streets once more as Nolan Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren took the fastest time as they prepared for qualifying. Historic Formula returned after IndyCar’s practice, and Jordan Roddy in his 2005 Lola IndyCar with a McDonald’s livery took the checkered flag first out of anyone.
IndyCar qualifying began right after with the No. 27 Andretti Global of Kyle Kirkwood being the fastest and finishing first in the race. During the race, however, No. 6 of Nolan Seigel crashed out in the second session of qualifying. This caused both of his teammates, No. 5 Patricio (Pato) O’Ward and No. 7 Christian Lundgaard, to be knocked from the race – leaving them unable to fight for a higher starting position.
After IndyCar’s qualifying rounds, IMSA started their pre-race celebrations and revved their engines for the 100-minutes sprint race event of the Grand Prix. In the GTP class, No. 7 Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 with drivers Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy won their race class as their strategy allowed them to be ahead after everyone’s pit stops.
For GTD, the No. 117 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 (992) with drivers Jonny Edgar and Laurens Vanthoor won in their class, as they were able to defend their position from the rest of the GTD grid. The No. 34 of Conquest Racing and their Ferrari 296 GT3 crashed out on lap 15 after making contact with the wall at the first turn and causing severe damage, forcing them to retire their car.
Once the IMSA race concluded, the Stadium Super Trucks held their first race. Max Gordon won the first heat, pushing through the jumps and protecting his truck from unnecessary damage.
GT America came after their heat to start their first race, with Justin Rothberg in his No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Turn Motorsports taking the first win for the weekend.
Everyone started moving during turns nine through 11 to watch the second challenge round of Formula Drift. Daniel Stuke, with his MspeK Performance Nissan Silvia surpassed his competition, as he was able to take advantage of a mistake by Rome Charpenter during their final run. After the Drift Challenge ended, the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Foreigner, held a mini concert before day two concluded.
Sunday, the final day, started with IndyCar’s final warm up, during which RLL No. 15 Graham Rahal finished with the fastest time. After the warmup, teams went back to their truck hallers to finish preparing their setup.
During that time GT America rolled out to compete in their last race for the weekend. Turner Motorsports swept that weekend for a double victory with Justin Rothberg’s No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
With GT America finishing their weekend at Long Beach, parades began with the Mothers Exotic Cars Paddock, followed by the NTT IndyCar Series Pre-Race Show beginning right afterwards. All drivers were seen in their race suits as their cars sat in the pit lane, all coming out in the order they qualified. After the Pre-Race Show, all drivers retreated to their cars to prepare for the command they had been waiting for: “Start your engines!”
When the command was given, the 27 2.2 liter twin turbo-charged V6 engines roared to life as the tires began to warm up. When the green flag was waved, all 27 drivers raced down Shoreline Drive and dove into turn one of the 90-lap race. With no caution flag waved, they drove at full speed for the entire race. Pole sitter No. 27 Adretti Global Kyle Kirkwood won, able to defend his position for the entire race from three-time champion Chip Ganassi Racing #10 Alex Palou.
With the IndyCar race over, there was one more race left for the weekend, the Stadium Super Trucks. Myles Cheek took victory in the last race of the weekend, with all drivers pushing their trucks to the absolute limit to get to victory.
“I had such a great time… There's so many cars out there and you know, there's smaller cars on a smaller track and that's, it's super cool being able to see them fight for position. There's a lot of room for overtakes. You know, there's a lot of room for improvement. It's super super cool seeing that… The IndyCar racing was honestly super cool as well. I had a great time watching that,” said Agopian.
The Grand Prix will officially return to Long Beach on April 17—19, 2026, for its 51st year.