After what seemed a long layoff, the NTT IndyCar Series season will resume with its second points race of 2024 with the 49th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Though its been nearly six weeks since the season opened with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, IndyCar teams actually have been staying busy with the inaugural $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club, the Indy 500 Open Test as well as test sessions for the new hybrid engine and on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
And while the points have remained unchanged since Josef Newgarden led a Chevrolet assault at St. Pete, several storylines are looming on the streets of Southern California:
—Can Honda get back on track after Chevy (in a points race) after Chevy swept the top four at St. Pete? Long Beach historically has been a good track for Andretti Global, which has won four of the past five races there — including Kyle Kirkwood’s first career win last year. The team’s next victory at Long Beach will tie Team Penske for the track record (seven).
—Who will be driving the No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren in place of injured David Malukas? (An announcement is expected Thursday morning with F2 champion Théo Pourchaire a leading candidate.)
—IndyCar also will be rolling out a lighter aeroscreen that will provide better cooling system while helping drivers avoid hand injuries. With an 11.1-pound reduction, downforce will be decreased by 35 pounds.
—Long Beach also will begin a grueling stretch for IndyCar, which will be turning competitive laps in seven of the next eight weekends while criss-crossing the country (Long Beach to Barber to Indy).
Aside from a breather on the first week of May, the next weekend off for IndyCar is June 16 after Road America (and then it’s back to Laguna Seca the week after that).
Here are the details for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):
ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH START TIMES
TV: Sunday, April 21, 3 p.m. ET on USA Network and streaming on Peacock. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch are the pit reporters. Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying and Indy NXT races. (Click here for information on how to sign up for Peacock.)
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:38 p.m. ET
GREEN FLAG: 3:45 p.m. ET
POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after the race ends.
INDYCAR RADIO NETWORK: The IndyCar and Indy Lights races and all practices and qualifying sessions will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app.
PRACTICE: Friday, 5:50 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday, 11:25 a.m. (Peacock), Sunday warmup, noon (Peacock)
PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Session III l Combined
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 2:25 p.m. (Peacock)
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the 27-car grid
RACE DISTANCE: The race is 85 laps (167.28 miles) on an 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course in Long Beach, California
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires in the first practice. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
PUSH TO PASS: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum single duration of 20 seconds. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 72 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the green flag.
ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 27 cars entered at Long Beach
GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH WEEKEND SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, APRIL 18
5-7 p.m.: Track walk
FRIDAY, APRIL 19
10:45-11:15 a.m.: GT America practice
Noon-1 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
1:15-1:35 p.m.: Historic Motor Sports Association practice
2:30-3 p.m.: GT America practice
3:15-3:35 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks practice/qualifying
3:50-5:20 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
5:50-7:05 p.m.: IndyCar practice (Peacock)
7:25-7:40 p.m.: GT America qualifying
8-8:50 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying
9:30-9:50: p.m.: Super Drift practice
10-11:30 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge Race 1
SATURDAY, APRIL 20
10:40-11 a.m.: Historic Motor Sports Association practice
11:25 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: IndyCar practice (Peacock)
1:40-2 p.m.: Historic Motor Sports Association Race 1
2:25-3:55 p.m.: IndyCar qualifying (Peacock)
4:35 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (100 minutes, USA and Peacock)
7-7:30 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks Race 1
7:45-8;25 p.m.: GT America Race 1
9:30-9:50 p.m.: Super Drift practice
10-11:30 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge Race 2
SUNDAY, APRIL 21
Noon-12:30 p.m.: IndyCar practice (Peacock)
1:45-2:05 p.m.: Historic Motor Sports Association Race 2
3:45 p.m.: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps, 167.28 miles, NBC and Peacock)
6:30-7 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks Race 2
7:20-8 p.m.: GT America Race 2
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