FAST FACTS: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, Sept. 24 – Sunday, Sept. 26
Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise) in Long Beach, California
Race distance: 85 laps / 167.28 miles
Media Links: Entry List (PDF) | Driver Video Quotes | Trackside Media Guide (PDF)
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Seven 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
2019 race winner (most recent): Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda)
2019 NTT P1 Award winner (most recent): Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda), 1:06.4811, 106.569 mph
Qualifying lap record: Helio Castroneves, 1:06.2254, 106.980 mph, April 8, 2017
NBCSN telecasts: Qualifying, Saturday, Sept. 25 (3 p.m. ET, live); Race, Sunday, Sept. 26 (3 p.m. ET, live). Leigh Diffey will be the play-by-play announcer for NBCSN’s telecast of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.
Peacock Premium Live Streaming: This weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and NTT P1 Award qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes will be the lead announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query, Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Ryan Myrehn and Alex Wolff will report from the pits. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205 and 211, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Sept. 24
3-3:45 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, Peacock Premium (live)
Saturday, Sept. 25
- 9-9:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2, Peacock Premium (live)
- 12:05 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), NBCSN/Peacock Premium (live)
Sunday, Sept. 19
- 9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock Premium (live)
- Noon – Driver introductions
- Noon – NBCSN on air
- 12:38 p.m. – Start engines command
- 12:45 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles), NBCSN (live)
Championship Facts:
- Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with one race to go for the first time in his career. Palou has led the point standings after 10 of the 15 races this season.
- There are three drivers mathematically eligible for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship: Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden. Neither Palou nor O’Ward has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. Newgarden has won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship twice in the last four seasons (2017 and 2019).
- This is the 37th INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of Long Beach and the first time that the INDYCAR SERIES championship will be decided at the track. The temporary street circuit routinely hosts an April race.
- The winner at Long Beach has gone on to win the championship in the same season 14 times: Mario Andretti (1984), Al Unser Jr. (1990 and 1994), Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997 and 1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Paul Tracy (2003), Sebastien Bourdais (2005, 2006 and 2007), Dario Franchitti (2009), Scott Dixon (2015) and Simon Pagenaud (2016).
KEY CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STATISTIC: This is the 16th consecutive year that the NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion will be determined at the final race of the season.
CHAMPIONSHIP WITH ONE TO GO (2008-2021)
| YEAR | LEADER | SECOND | LEAD | CHAMPION |
| 2008 | Scott Dixon | Helio Castroneves | 30 | Scott Dixon |
| 2009 | Scott Dixon | Dario Franchitti | 5 | Dario Franchitti |
| 2010 | Will Power | Dario Franchitti | 12 | Dario Franchitti |
| 2011 | Will Power | Dario Franchitti | 11 | Dario Franchitti |
| 2012 | Will Power | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 17 | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
| 2013 | Scott Dixon | Helio Castroneves | 25 | Scott Dixon |
| 2014 | Will Power | Helio Castroneves | 51 | Will Power |
| 2015 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Graham Rahal | 34 | Scott Dixon |
| 2016 | Simon Pagenaud | Will Power | 43 | Simon Pagenaud |
| 2017 | Josef Newgarden | Scott Dixon | 3 | Josef Newgarden |
| 2018 | Scott Dixon | Alexander Rossi | 29 | Scott Dixon |
| 2019 | Josef Newgarden | Alexander Rossi | 41 | Josef Newgarden |
| 2020 | Scott Dixon | Josef Newgarden | 32 | Scott Dixon |
| 2021 | Alex Palou | Pato O’Ward | 35 | ? |
Race Notes:
- There have been nine different winners in 15 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park, Road America, Portland International Raceway), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500), Marcus Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1, Streets of Nashville), Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, World Wide Technology Raceway) and Will Power (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-2) have all won in 2021. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
- There have been seven different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Helio Castroneves, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Colton Herta). The only repeat winners in that stretch are, Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1 and Streets of Nashville), Newgarden (Mid-Ohio and WWT Raceway) and Palou (Road America and Portland).
- This weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark the 37th INDYCAR SERIES event on the historic street circuit. Mario Andretti won the first INDYCAR race there in 1984. Alexander Rossi won the race in 2018 and 2019. No race was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sebastien Bourdais (2005-2007) was the last back-to-back-to-back winner at Long Beach.
- Al Unser Jr. has won the most times at Long Beach (six), while Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power and Alexander Rossi are the only entered drivers with multiple wins. Bourdais won three straight races from 2005-2007. Power won in 2008 and 2012, and Rossi won in 2018 and 2019. Other former race winners scheduled to compete are Helio Castroneves (2001), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2010), Takuma Sato (2013), Scott Dixon (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and James Hinchcliffe (2017).
- 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 of the 28 drivers entered have competed in INDYCAR SERIES races at Long Beach. Sebastien Bourdais, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power each have 14 starts, most among all entered drivers. Eleven entered drivers have led laps: Helio Castroneves 179, Bourdais 173, Power 170, Hunter-Reay 151, Alexander Rossi 151, Scott Dixon 103, Takuma Sato 67, Simon Pagenaud 54, James Hinchcliffe 25 and Josef Newgarden 4.
- Four California natives are entered: 2018 and 2019 race winner Alexander Rossi is a native of Nevada City, while Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta hails from Valencia. Charlie Kimball is from Camarillo, and NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Jimmie Johnson is from El Cajon.
- Four NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookies – Romain Grosjean, Callum Ilott, Jimmie Johnson and Scott McLaughlin – are expected to compete. The four rookies, along with veteran drivers Oliver Askew, Dalton Kellett, Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay, will all make their first INDYCAR SERIES start on the Streets of Long Beach.