The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Long Beach for the Long Beach Grand Prix this weekend in sunny California. Action kicks off tomorrow April 14th 2023 with free practice 1. This weekend is a co-sponsored event between the NTT IndyCar Series and the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. You can find the full weekend schedule below.
ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH WEEKEND START TIMES
(All times are Pacific Time)
Friday, April 14
7:45-8:15 am: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
9-10am: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
10:15-10:35am: Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) practice
11:15am-11:55am: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
12:10-12:30 pm: Stadium Super Trucks practice
12:45-2:30 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
3-4:15 pm: NTT IndyCar Series practice
4:30-5 pm: Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying
5:10-6 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying
6:30-6:50 pm: Super Drift Challenge practice
7-8:30 pm: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 1
Saturday, April 15
7:45-8:05 am: HMSA practice
8:45 a.m.-9:45 pm: NTT IndyCar Series practice
11:20-11:40 pm: HMSA, Race 1
12:05-1:20 pm: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying
2-4 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race
4:30-5 pm: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 1
5:15-5:55 pm: Porsche Carrera Cup, Race 1
6:30-6:50 pm: Super Drift Challenge practice
7:00-8:30 pm: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 2
Sunday, April 16
9am-9:30 pm: IndyCar warmup
10:45-11:05 pm: HMSA, Race 2
Noon: Driver introductions
12:38 p.m. – Command to start engines
12:45 p.m. – Green flag for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles)
For more information on tickets and news visit IndyCar or IMSA for their respective information.
The NTT Indy Car season started off in Florida this past weekend for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race started off catastrophically as the cars didn’t make it past turn 3 before a massive pile up involving over 25% of the field brought the race to a halt. You can see the event unfold in this clip posted by NBC.
NBC Sports Coverage of the IndyCar series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The events unfolded when 6 time IndyCar champion made incidental contact with Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist causing a chain reaction that involved 8 cars. The drivers involved were Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud, Santino Ferrucci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Sting Ray Robb and Benjamin Pedersen. Felix commented on the incident, “It felt like he didn’t see I was there,” Rosenqvist said. “I never expected him to swerve out. I just tried to get out on the first couple of turns. I was just hanging there and he didn’t know I was there. It sucks. I thought we had a really good chance today. I’m really bummed about it. That’s just not the way you want to start.”
Amongst the carnage the Benjamin Pedersen flew into ran square into the side of No. 29 DeFrancesco and sent him airborne and spinning down the track. Helio Castroneves exited his car with a very obvious limp suggesting he was seriously injured. However after receiving xrays it was found that he did not break any bones. Kyle Kirkwood also was sent airborne after making contact with Jack Harvey. Harvey had complained about wrist pains but passed a medical examination.
Ericsson was able to avoid the on track drama and secured his 4th win.
February is here which means it is almost time for the start of the NTT IndyCar Series season opener. Bona fide preseason test sessions haven’t been a topic of focus since 2020 but this week IndyCar will have its first full-field open test of the preseason at Thermal Club. Thermal Club is a motorsports country club that provides 200+ wealthy car enthusiasts a professional grade race track experience to test out the limits of their cars. Membership fees start at $5 million making this club exclusive to the most wealthy in the culture.
The course features 17 turns in a 2.9 mile layout and will be a combination configuration of the North and South Palm circuits. It sits on a 470 acre lot and features some of the most luxurious homes in the area. Thermal is the first of three full field open testing events for the preseason.
Driver Colton Herta tried doing some YouTube research on Thermal recently but gave up stating, “It’s difficult to watch some of the onboards because it’s not really professional drivers, and they have like the cones set out on the track, where to turn in and where to get on the brakes, so it’s kind of irrelevant,” Herta said. “Yeah, I watched a little bit before I got too bored and turned away. But the track walk will be important. That’s going to be the biggest thing.”
Herta also said his main concern was having enough runoff area as drivers knock off the offseason rust because “you do tend to drop a wheel here and there, have a spin if you’re getting back in the car for the first time in a few months.”
Other drivers had mixed feelings with some saying the testing session wasn’t really relevant to the series while other expressed excitement with just getting back in the car. IndyCar limits the amount of pre season testing that can be conducted so for many this was just an opportunity to get out and get a feel in for the car as a baseline. Time will tell if this track develops into a driver favorite for testing and potentially racing one day but for now it will remain and idea with room for growth.
NTT IndyCar: This press release was not authored by Speed Trap Magazine Staff
Verizon has renewed a multi-year extension of the company’s partnership with Team Penske in the NTT IndyCar Series. The sponsorship will extend for all 17 races in the series for the 2023 campaign which will be vital as Will power fights to earn his third NTT IndyCar Series title. The Verizon colors first adorned the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet in 2009 during Power’s initial, part-time season. The technology, communications, information and entertainment leader has remained the primary sponsor of Power throughout his 15-year career with Team Penske, with this new agreement extending the relationship into the future.
“Verizon has been a true partner of Team Penske since our first season together in 2009,” team owner Roger Penske said. “They have been an integral part of our success in INDYCAR competition. Verizon is a terrific fit for our INDYCAR team and the INDYCAR SERIES as one the world’s technological leaders. Their cutting-edge approach means a bright future for our partnership.”
Power cemented his place in INDYCAR SERIES lore in 2022. A consistent season was transformed into a historic one as he passed Mario Andretti for the most pole positions in series history in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. A third-place finish in that race lifted Power to his second career title in a season in which he completed all 2,268 laps of competition. Throughout the partnership between Verizon and Penske, Power has raced to 41 wins and 68 pole positions, ranking fifth and second in team history, respectively.
“Very few drivers are lucky enough to have the support of one partner for as long as I’ve had the opportunity to work with Verizon,” Power said. “They have been instrumental in my career, a career that would likely have looked much different without them. I still have things I want to accomplish, and I look forward to representing them and having my number 12 car with the Verizon logo in the winner’s circle.”
Verizon and Team Penske have a longstanding innovation history. From using Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband to analyze the performance of cars coming in and out of the first turn at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the Indy 500 and being able to analyze performance data in near real time, to race fans being able to share, stream and tweet race moments via Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband at the Penske-owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway, innovation is at the forefront of this partnership.