TEAM CHEVY LOOKS TO GO BACK-TO-BACK IN LONG BEACH 

The demanding 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the Streets of Long Beach hosts the NTT INDYCAR Series for the third event of the 2023 season. Capturing five victories at the southern California event since 2012, Chevrolet enters the race this year looking to go back-to-back. Team Penske and driver Josef Newgarden raced to the checkered flag in 2022, leading 34 of 80 laps and notching another victory for the Bowtie brand. Additionally, Chevrolet has 300 laps led as well as 15 podiums at Long Beach, controlling the 2015 and 2016 events with 76 and all 80 laps led in each, respectively.

Making his 100th INDYCAR start, Conor Daly looks forward to Long Beach this weekend saying, “I am obviously super excited to get to Long Beach and make my 100th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start! It is a track that I have many great memories at, from going to the race as a kid to winning in Indy Lights to racing there in an Indy car. Last year, we had a very strong race and made some great improvements,” noted Daly. “We were challenging for a Top 10 before I had to make a massive save near the end of the race. This year, we are in a position to make race number 100 be a great one!”

Alexander Rossi, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, has won twice at Long Beach previously back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. “I’ve been fortunate to have good cars there and it’s a track that suits my driving style,” noted Rossi. “It’s pretty medium- to high-speed corners. There’s only one and the fountain that are slow-speed corners, so you can make time up from that standpoint. (…) We’re still learning as we go at this point. Yeah, I mean, I think based on St. Pete, I think based on the fact that I think Felix (Rosenqvist) was in the top six in qualifying last year, their cars are good. Certainly, there is a step we need to make to be as strong as Andretti or Penske on the street courses in general. But I think we’re close. I think we have just as good of a shot as anyone this weekend.”

”As we head to Long Beach for the second street course of the season, our Chevrolet engineers working with our teams understand the challenge of the track is significantly different than the Streets of St. Petersburg,” said Rob Buckner, IndyCar Program Manager at General Motors. “At Long Beach the track layout creates difficulty for drivers to overtake and creates multiple levels of contact between cars and cars and cars and walls. The track surface goes from mostly concrete to a few asphalt sections which creates differences in speed that tasks engineers with working to discover the optimum car setup and engine calibration.

“We are fortunate to have several drivers with successful records on the street courses and understand the nuances of the track, and the finesse needed to turn consistent fast laps,” noted Buckner. “At Long Beach, there is the measure of risk versus reward so if we can put all those components together and give our drivers the tools they need to compete, it will be another great weekend for Team Chevy.” 

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach kicks off with Practice 1 on Friday, April 14 at 6 p.m. ET, with Practice two starting Saturday, April 15 at 11:45 a.m. ET. Qualifications then start at 3:05 p.m. ET on Saturday. A final warm-up will start race day on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 85-lap, 167.28-mile race Sunday, April 16 will take the green flag at 3 p.m. ET live on NBC.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES)

Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:

“I am very ready to go to Long Beach and excited for the West Coast, always! Such a cool event, lots of celebrities, just a really special race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. I haven’t had the results I was looking for at Long Beach yet, I am looking to make it happen on this one! I know the team is working very hard to get every bit of speed out of the BITNILE.COM cars. I am ready to race in the sunshine!”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“Long Beach is a massive market for Latinos, and every time I go back I get to see more and more Pato jerseys. I love the town and atmosphere, and I can’t wait to give everyone a great show. Historically, this hasn’t been our best track, so we need to keep pushing to find that little extra bit we need.”

Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

“It’s awesome to get back to the West Coast again. Long Beach is one of the highlights of the season, and we’re curious as a team to see if we have made the same improvements there as we did in St. Petersburg.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:

”It’s always a special feeling racing in Long Beach. The atmosphere, the fans and the history make this event one of the highlights of the season. We’ve been working hard on our setup and strategy for this race, and I’m confident that our team can deliver a strong performance. We’ll be pushing to bounce back from the Texas disappointment, and I can’t wait to get out there and put on a show for our fans.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Looking forward to Long Beach. I haven’t raced there since 2019, so I’m rather excited to be back. Hopefully the track hasn’t changed too much. As long as we don’t make any mistakes this weekend, I think the team will be in really good shape, and we will keep building on what we learned in St. Pete.”

Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:

“Long Beach race weekend, I’m very excited. It’s my first time racing at Long Beach. I’ll be learning a new track. Very excited. It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere event. Historically, the team has done pretty well there. Just getting caught up to speed as quickly as I can, and pushing as hard as I can, and see if I can deliver a strong result.”

CHEVROLET ON THE STREETS OF LONG BEACH

Wins at Long Beach (since 2012): 5

2012 – Will Power
2014 – Mike Conway
2015 – Scott Dixon
2016 – Simon Pagenaud
2022 – Josef Newgarden

Number of Team Chevy Pole Awards at Long Beach (since 2012): 5 (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021)

Chevrolet Driver with the Most Long Beach Pole Awards (since 2012): Helio Castroneves – 3 (2015, 2016, 2017)

Number of Team Chevy Podiums at Long Beach (since 2012): 15

Number of laps led by Team Chevy at Long Beach (since 2012): 300

2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS

• 184: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR. 
• 107: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012. 
• 121: Earned poles since 2012. 
• 5: Chevrolet drivers have won five of the 12 races since 2012 on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California.
• 7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012. 
• 7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012. 
• 26: Wins by Will Power since 2012 – all with Chevrolet power – most of any driver with same manufacturer. 
• 14: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 11 with Chevrolet power. 
• 9: Wins from pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver. 
• 44: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver.

*Will Power’s career total of 68 poles makes him the all-time pole winner in INDYCAR.