2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Race Notes

• The 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was 85 laps on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach temporary circuit. The pit road speed limit was 45 mph and the race started the third time past the start-line flag stand. Pole sitter Kyle Kirkwood gridded drivers' left.
• The fuel window was approximately 26–29 laps under green-flag conditions, assuming all teams employed a two-stop strategy.
• All cars but those of Pato O'Ward, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, Jack Harvey, Helio Castroneves, Sting Ray Robb, Benjamin Pedersen, Graham Rahal and Conor Daly started on green-sidewalled Firestone alternate tires. Each car was required to use one set of new alternate tires and one set of primary tires during the race.
• At 12:30 p.m. PDT, 15 minutes before the scheduled green-flag time, the ambient temperature in Long Beach was 61 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 98 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 12:38 p.m., Adam Henrique of the Anaheim Ducks gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All engines fired and all cars rolled on the grid.
• Pole sitter Kirkwood led the field into Turn 1 on Lap 1. In Turn 2, the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Helio Castroneves made contact with the wall. The incident brought out the race's first full-course caution. Needing a new front wing assembly, Castroneves took service in a closed pit and was subsequently issued a penalty and was forced to take the restart from the back of the field.
• The race restarted at the conclusion of Lap 3 with Kirkwood leading Marcus Ericsson. Kirkwood's lead grew to 1.6301 seconds by Lap 18.
• On Lap 20, the race's second and final full-course caution period began when wheel-to-wheel contact between the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Scott Dixon and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of O'Ward drove Dixon's car into the tires in Turn 5. The damage sustained eventually forced Dixon to withdraw from the race, relegating him to a finish of 27th.
• Since the second caution period was close to the first pit-stop window for a two-stop strategy, the leaders pitted on Lap 22. Kirkwood won the race off pit road followed by Newgarden and Ericsson.
• The No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Agustín Canapino, which did not pit during the caution, assumed the race lead and led the field on the restart at the conclusion of Lap 25.
• On Lap 26, Newgarden took the race lead and remained ahead of Kirkwood until green-flag pit stops which began on Lap 52.
• Newgarden's Lap 52 stop returned to race lead to Kirkwood, who led until his own pit stop on Lap 54. At the conclusion of the green-flag pit stops, which served as the final stops of the race, Kirkwood regained the race lead on Lap 56 ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean.
• Kirkwood went on to lead the remainder of the race and took the white flag with a 0.9305-second advantage over Grosjean.
• Kirkwood crossed the finish line 0.9907 seconds ahead of Grosjean, securing his first NTT IndyCar Series victory.
• Grosjean, Ericsson, Colton Herta and Alex Palou completed the top five. Marcus Armstrong, who finished eighth, had the best rookie result. Newgarden, who was strong early, dropped back in the final third of the race while saving fuel and ended the day in the ninth position.
• Championship points after the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach:
  1. Ericsson 110
  2. O'Ward 95
  3. Palou 91
  4. Newgarden 89
  5. Kirkwood 74
  6. Dixon 72
  7. Grosjean 71
  8. Herta 69
  9. McLaughlin 68
  10. Power 68
      

Session Notes

• Morning warm-up for the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach started on time at 9 a.m. PDT and was 30 minutes in duration.
• The session ran without incident.
• At the conclusion of warm-up, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden was fastest with a 1:06.5611.
  

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time with the clock starting when the first car hits the alternate start-finish line at the exit of Turn 11. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six cars advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• Qualifying in Long Beach began on time at 12:05 p.m. PDT.
• Five minutes prior to the start time, the ambient temperature at the temporary street circuit was 63 degrees with fair skies. The track temperature was 104 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• Group 1 qualifying was stopped with six minutes and 25 seconds remaining for the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of David Malukas after contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4. Malukas lost his two fastest laps and the ability to advance.
• Round 2 saw a penalty for Colton Herta who was judged to have affected another competitor after causing a local yellow and a red flag for the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Marcus Armstrong after contact with the tire barrier in Turn 9. An extended red flag for track cleanup followed with 53 seconds remaining on the clock. Armstrong was penalized his two fastest laps and the ability to advance.
• After one final timed lap for all cars that chose to participate, the following drivers advanced to the Firestone Fast Six: Romain Grosjean, Pato O'Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou and Scott Dixon.
• At the conclusion of Round 3, Kirkwood had the fastest lap and secured his first NTT P1 Award.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 started on time at 8:45 a.m. PDT with a guaranteed 45 minutes of green-flag time in a one-hour window.
• Three minutes into the session, the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Callum Ilott made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 5. The resulting red flag was eight minutes in duration.
• Three minutes after returning to green, the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay had an almost identical incident to that of Ilott when it made contact with the tires in Turn 5. The resulting red flag was six minutes in duration.
• It was later confirmed by INDYCAR that a piece of curbing in Turn 5 had been damaged during an IMSA session and was removed for Friday’s Practice 1, but replaced ahead of Practice 2.
• The session ended with O’Ward repeating his Practice 1 performance with the fastest lap, a 1:05.9982 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
  

Session Notes

• The first practice for the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach started at 3:05 p.m. PDT and ran for its full scheduled 75 minutes until 4:20 p.m.
• The session was marred by two penalties:
  • Scott Dixon served a drive-through penalty for exceeding track limits at drivers’ right in Turn 1, which invalidated Dixon’s 10th lap.
  • Hello Castroneves was penalized five minutes for causing a red flag when his No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda stopped in Turn 11.
• Pato O’Ward was the fastest of the session, while Dixon’s earlier penalty wasn’t able to keep him from turning the second-fastest lap.