Source: Event PR

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Feb. 28, 2023) – All-star rock band Kings of Chaos – with special guests– will headline the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach’s Saturday night, April 15 concert presented by Acura.

The show will take place at approximately 6:30 p.m. on the plaza in front of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center adjacent to the Long Beach Convention Center and is free to Saturday race ticket holders. Space at the plaza is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Kings of Chaos, the brainchild of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum, is an international all-star band with a revolving lineup of top rock-and-roll talent. The lineup for Long Beach is scheduled to include guest vocalists Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour), Corey Glover (Living Colour), Lzzy Hale (Halestorm) and Rome (Sublime) along with guitarists Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses), Billy Duffy (The Cult), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Brent Woods (Taylor Hawkins), bass guitarist James LoMenzo (Megadeth) and drummer Sorum.
Sorum also brought Kings of Chaos to the Grand Prix in 2017, playing 90 minutes of hit songs to a big crowd in front of the plaza stage.

“As Long Beach is my birthplace, this is a very special gig for me,” said Sorum. “Kings of Chaos are excited to join this legendary event and we’re putting together a once-in-a-lifetime show to make it even more memorable for fans of live music. Fast cars and Rock N’ Roll! Does it get any better?”

“I’m so honored to be joining the Kings of Chaos for a night none of us will forget,” said Hale. “And to be surrounded by these lifers of live music for such a legendary event, not only will make this a true moment in time for the fans, but for myself as well! Thank you to all the boys for having me! Let’s get loud!”

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, plus doubleheader action from Robby Gordon’s SPEED/UTV Stadium Super Trucks, Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America and the new-for-2023 Historic F1 Challenge.

Saturday tickets start at $77 for a General Admission ticket that gives access to the concert, Lifestyle Expo, all racing events plus unreserved seating in select grandstands. A three-day ticket that includes prime Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels costs $175. Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages.

Fans can select and pay for their Grand Prix seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333. Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach news and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race week activities.

STATEMENT BY JIM MICHAELIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH: “The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is back! The positive trend in pre-sales continued through race weekend and the preliminary results would indicate that the attendance and gross revenue figures will match or exceed what was achieved at the pre-pandemic race in 2019. That year, the attendance figure was slightly more than 187,000. Final results should be available within the next few days. A big thank you to all of our fans who came out to support us and we’ll be back April 14-16, 2023 for the 48^th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.”

NEWGARDEN WINS ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 10, 2022) — Josef Newgarden, driving the Team Penske Chevrolet, won his second consecutive race of the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, leading 38 laps and leading Roman Grosjean to the checkered flag by 1.28 seconds.

Defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou finished third. 

Newgarden won the previous race at Texas, and the win at Long Beach was his first, and the 21st of his career.  He was the runner-up at Long Beach in the past two consecutive seasons. 

“It’s taken me 11 years to win a race here, so I’m so happy,” Newgarden said in Victory Circle.  “I’m so proud of the efforts of the guys at Team Penske.”

Will Power finished 4^th, with Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi, Helio Castroneves and rookie Kyle Kirkwood rounding out the top ten.

Polesitter and fan favorite Colton Herta, the defending Long Beach  champion, led a total of 28 laps before hitting the Turn 8 wall with just 29 laps to go in the race. 

-AGPLB-

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Jan. 6, 2022) – All-star rock band Royal Machines – with special guests – will headline the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach’s Saturday night, April 9 concert presented by Acura and ASM Global.

The show will take place at approximately 6:00 p.m. on the plaza in front of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center adjacent to the Long Beach Convention Center and is free to Saturday race ticket holders. Space at the plaza is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Royal Machines is self-described as “Rock’s Greatest All-Star Band.” The group includes Mark McGrath (of Sugar Ray), Dave Navarro (of Jane’s Addiction), Billy Morrison (of Billy Idol and The Cult), Chris Chaney (of Jane’s Addiction), Donovan Leitch and Josh Freese (of The Vandals).

“Growing up on the beaches of Southern California, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has always brought an excitement and energy to our surf paradise,” said McGrath. “There’s nothing more exciting than hearing the sound of Indy cars roaring down the city streets and my band looks forward to adding our own cacophonous sound to the after party! Though I was stoked to participate in the Pro/Celebrity Race back in 2015 (8th place, thank you very much!), I’m really looking forward to bringing some of MY rock star friends to rip up the stage in Long Beach!”

Based in Los Angeles, Royal Machines performs a selection of well-known rock covers, while also bringing iconic rock stars as special guests at each performance. The result is a unique experience for every audience.

            The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, plus doubleheader action from Robby Gordon’s SPEED/UTV Stadium Super Trucks, the new-for-2022 Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Historic GTP Challenge.

Saturday tickets start at $74 for a General Admission ticket that gives access to the concert, Lifestyle Expo, all racing events plus unreserved seating in select grandstands. A three-day ticket that includes prime Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels costs $168.  Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages.

Fans can select and pay for their Grand Prix seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach news and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race week activities.

Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Jan. 4, 2022) – On Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved a new agreement with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach that will allow the company to continue running the annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach through 2028, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach officials announced.

The new agreement, which will start with the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, sustains a relationship between the City and the Grand Prix Association which has spanned the last 46 years.

“The Grand Prix extension that has been approved by the City Council is the result of extensive discussions with City leadership that we believe has resulted in benefits to all parties concerned,” said Jim Michaelian, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO.   “The Grand Prix has always been a very strong community event and this agreement just amplifies the unique relationship with the City of Long Beach going forward. Our thanks to all those who assisted in getting this done.”

The 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, scheduled for April 8-10, will be headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights plus doubleheader action from Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks and the new-for-2022 Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

Fans can select and pay for their Grand Prix seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com or by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach news and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race week activities.

Ticket prices range from $37 for a Friday General Admission ticket to $168 for a three-day ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels.  Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages.

Fans can also follow the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach.

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STATEMENT BY JIM MICHAELIAN, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE GRAND PRIX ASSOCIATION OF LONG BEACH: “We are very pleased with the weekend attendance. Walkup sales were much stronger than we had anticipated and we ended up with just over 180,000 over the three days, which represents a slight decrease over the 187,500 we did in 2019. A big thank you to all of our fans who came out to support us and we’re going to do it all again next April 8-10 for the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES RACE SUMMARY

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 26, 2021) — There were two winners in the featured NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at the 46^th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The race winner was Colton Herta, who led a race-high 43 laps for his third victory of the season driving the Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian Honda

But the bigger winner was Alex Palou, who captured the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season championship, finishing 4th behind Herta in the race. In his second year driving a Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, Palou won three races this season. He is from Barcelona, Spain, making him the first-ever Spanish INDYCAR champion. 

Josef Newgarden, driving the Team Penske Chevrolet, entered the race with a chance at the title, led 18 laps early in the race, but ultimately finished second to Herta in the race and runner-up to Palou in the championship.  The third contender for the season crown, Pato O’Ward, was taken out of the title competition early in the race after a collision involving Ed Jones.

Rounding out the 46th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach top ten:  Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske Chevrolet), Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport Honda), Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank Racing Honda), Sebastian Bourdais (A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet), Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) and Will Power (Team Penske Chevrolet).

VINCE NEIL TO HEADLINE SATURDAY NIGHT CONCERT AT ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (August 10, 2021) — The legendary front man of Mötley Crüe, Vince Neil, will rock the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach when he headlines the event’s Saturday night, Sept. 25 concert presented by Acura, ELS and ASM Global.

The show will take place at approximately 5:30 p.m. on the plaza in front of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center adjacent to the Long Beach Convention Center and is free to Saturday race ticket holders. Space at the plaza is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Neil’s unmistakable voice leads some of the greatest rock songs of a generation including “Wild Side,” “Shout at the Devil,” “Home Sweet Home,” “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Kickstart My Heart,” “Same Ol’ Situation” and many others.  

“I am very excited to be returning to perform at the Grand Prix of Long Beach,” said Neil. “I had an awesome experience last time in 2015 and I’m honored to be invited back. As it is well-known to many, I have been involved in the racing world my whole life. So when you mix racing and rock-and-roll into one event, I’m in heaven!  My band and I are looking forward to an energetic and exciting show performing all the hits. I am certain a good time will be had by all. See you there!”

Raised in Southern California, Neil fell in love with music as a child, and as a teenager began performing with local bands. He fronted the popular band Rock Candy before reuniting with high school buddy Tommy Lee in 1981, establishing his spot in rock-and-roll history with the formation of Mötley Crüe.

Mötley Crüe’s epic 34‐year run included countless multi‐platinum releases, more than 22 hit singles, 100 million albums sold and dozens of global tours with sold-out arenas. The band completed “The Final Tour” on New Year’s Eve 2015.  

However, Neil continues to carry on with the unending “The Legacy Continues Tour,” performing all the classic Mötley Crüe hits with select cuts from his three solo albums. Neil is also an accomplished businessman, owning several restaurants and his own brand of tequila and vodka, and is a heartfelt philanthropist. His efforts have rallied millions of dollars for the non‐profit Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation, in tribute to the unfortunate loss of his daughter to cancer in 1995.

            The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the season finale of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, the SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks, and the new-for-2021 Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge and Global Time Attack.

Saturday tickets start at $68 for a General Admission ticket that gives access to the concert, Lifestyle Expo, all racing events plus unreserved seating in select grandstands. A three-day ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels costs $155.  Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages.

Fans can select and pay for their Grand Prix seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  Also featured on gplb.com is the latest Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach news and racetrack information, photos and ongoing announcements of special race week activities.

Fans can also follow the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach.

Two long-time veterans of racing on the streets of Long Beach—Willy T. Ribbs and Oriol Servia—will be honored by induction into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame on Thursday, April 16.

“Willy T. Ribbs and Oriol Servia both made history as drivers, and it is a privilege to welcome them back to Long Beach and honor them on the Motorsports Walk of Fame,” said Mayor Robert Garcia.

The 15th annual ceremony, open to the public, will take place at 11 a.m. on South Pine Avenue in front of the Convention Center as part of the festivities surrounding the 2020 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Ribbs, a native of San Jose, made his American racing debut at Long Beach in the Formula Atlantic Series in 1978 and won the Atlantic pole in 1982. Ribbs also competed at Long Beach twice in Indy Cars. In 1991, he was the first African-American driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. His racing career also includes such accolades as being named Rookie of the Year in the 1983 Trans-Am Series, a series in which he won 17 races during his career. Ribbs also was named the IMSA GTO Series Driver of the Year in 1987 and 1988, and he has raced in NASCAR and the Craftsman Truck Series.

Born in Spain, Servia came to the U.S. for the 1998 Indy Lights series, finishing 19th in his first race at Long Beach, then going on to win the series title in 1999.  He has competed in Indy Cars 13 times on the local city streets, with a best-finish second place in 2007, and also has raced in the American Le Mans, Rolex Grand-Am and Formula E series.

The Motorsports Walk of Fame is a collaborative celebration with the City of Long Beach and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, and both drivers will be presented with commemorative medallions by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. 

“Both drivers have exhibited extraordinary racing talent and their contributions to motorsports here and around the world are undeniable,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. “It is an honor for us to acknowledge their outstanding careers with membership in the Motorsports Walk of Fame.”

The Walk of Fame medallions include renditions of the racers’ iconic cars, as well as descriptions of their major achievements in motorsports. For more information, visit www.lbmotorsportswof.com.

The induction ceremony kicks off the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend, which brings more than 187,000 people to Downtown Long Beach. For more information, visit gplb.com, call (888) 827-7333, or follow the race on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @GPLongBeach, Instagram @GPLongBeach and YouTube @GPLongBeach. 

About the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach

The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach owns and operates the annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar race, which attracts more than 187,000 attendees over its three-day weekend. The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach also owns GPALB Special Events, offering high-quality structures, bleacher rentals, event operation management and design. For more information, visit gplb.com.  

About the City of Long Beach

Home to approximately 470,000 people, the multiple award-winning and innovative City of Long Beach offers all the world-class amenities of a large metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods nestled together along the California coast. As a full-service charter city, Long Beach is home to the Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, several museums and theaters, a highly-rated school district, Long Beach Airport, the Port of Long Beach, as well as many award-winning City departments such as Health, Parks, Recreation and Marine, Development Services and more. The City also has a highly-respected university and city college, two historic ranchos, five hospitals, five golf courses, 171 parks, miles of beaches, marinas, bike paths, and a Bike Share program.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit http://longbeach.gov/. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.