Note: This is a new feature series in which Eric Smith of INDYCAR.com takes a fun look before each NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at drivers who enter the weekend with an inside line to victory lane and drivers who could surprise with a strong result for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Alexander Rossi is the only repeat winner at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in the last 10 races around the 1.968-mile street circuit, winning in 2018 and 2019.
Rossi’s former team, Andretti Global, has won four of the last five years with three different drivers. Last year, the organization produced three of the top four finishers. Honda as a manufacturer swept the top five finishing positions of that 85-lap race.
Chevrolet may counter this weekend.
The bowties finished 1-2-3-4 in the lone street circuit event this year, the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 10.
Which manufacturer has the leg up this weekend? And what about drivers?
Favorites
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet)
Newgarden fired off the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with an NTT P1 Award and a dominating victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. The Team Penske driver stomped the field, leading 92 of 100 laps, and crossed the finish line 7.9121-seconds ahead of second place finisher Pato O’Ward. Can that carry over to this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach? Newgarden, making his 200th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES start, is a former Long Beach winner (2022) who has four podium finishes on the 1.968-mile street circuit in his last six tries, including a top-10 result on eight consecutive occasions.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Over Dixon’s last 11 street course starts, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has two wins and eight top-six results. The six-time series champion started the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season on the streets of St. Petersburg with a ninth-place finish. A year ago at Long Beach, Dixon was second and seventh in the prequalifying practice sessions and qualified fifth. A run-in with O’Ward while battling for a spot well inside of the top 10 on Lap 20 ruined Dixon’s day with a 27th-place finish. He’s out for revenge this weekend.
Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Palou has shown rapid growth on street circuits. His eighth-place finish in the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding is worst finish among his last 11 street course tries. The two-time and defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion finished sixth on the St. Petersburg streets last month. In three Long Beach starts, Palou has finished fourth, third and fifth, respectively. On all tracks, Palou has 19 consecutive top-eight finishes, including six wins, 11 podiums and 14 top-fives. He enters on the heels of a commanding victory in The Thermal Club $1 Million on March 24.
Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
Herta stormed from a 14th-place starting position in the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to reach victory lane. He led a race-high 43 of 85 laps that afternoon, becoming the only driver in the last eight years to win from a starting position outside of the top two rows. A year later, Herta qualified on pole and dominated the early portions of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach before making a costly error coming to his second pit stop. Last season, he qualified seventh and finished fourth. For the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, Herta was eighth and first in the pair of prequalifying practice sessions, qualified fourth and finished fifth.
Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 AutoNation Honda)
Coming into last year’s race, a 10th-place Long Beach finish as a rookie with AJ Foyt Racing in 2022 was Kirkwood’s best NTT INDYCAR SERIES finish. He then scored his maiden NTT P1 Award and first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory on this very track with Andretti Global last April. Kirkwood led 53 of 85 laps in his Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach triumph a year ago. The Florida native won his second career race on the streets of Nashville last August. Despite a disappointing season-opening weekend in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where he was 15th and seventh, respectively, in the pair of prequalifying practice sessions, qualified 18th and finished 12th, I’m not overlooking the Andretti Global driver Sunday.
Sleepers
Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
The Mexican driver is quietly flying under the radar. Newgarden’s season-opening win and Palou’s victory at The Thermal Club stole the headlines. What about O’Ward? The Arrow McLaren driver finished fifth on these same streets in 2022, was quickest in both prequalifying practice sessions a year ago and qualified sixth. If not for being overly aggressive on a multitude of occasions in last year’s race, he had a top-five finish coming. O’Ward was runner-up on the St. Petersburg streets last month after starting third. That came after being second and fourth, respectively, in prequalifying practice.
Alexander Rossi (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Rossi finished eighth in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. While he finished 22nd in last year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Rossi qualified 11th. The Arrow McLaren driver is a two-time Long Beach winner and would love to win another in his home Golden State.
Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda)
Three of Ericsson’s four career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories have come on street circuits. All three came at a different venues (St. Petersburg, Nashville, Belle Isle). While he hasn’t won at Long Beach, he’s been close. Ericsson was fourth and eighth, respectively, in practice a season ago, qualified second and finished third. Granted, that was for his former team, Chip Ganassi Racing. For his new team, Andretti Global, Ericsson has maintained that street course speed. For the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, Ericsson qualified sixth and, if not for bad luck via a mechanical issue during the race, was destined for a top 10 result. Ericsson was also quickest in the preseason test at Sebring International Raceway, which closely resembles a street circuit.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda)
Watch out for the Swede this weekend. Rosenqvist has four top-10 finishes in his last five street course events dating back to last year. That includes a strong season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, where the Swede was quickest in Friday’s practice session, qualified second Saturday and finished seventh. His four Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach finishes are 10th, 13th, 11th and seventh, respectively.
Romain Grosjean (No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet)
Grosjean’s 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding pace with Andretti Global spilled over to the season-opening weekend on the same city streets last month with his new team, Juncos Hollinger Racing. Grosjean was seventh and fifth, respectively, in the pair of prequalifying practice sessions and qualified fifth. That bodes well for this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Grosjean qualified sixth and finished runner-up on the 1.968-mile Long Beach street circuit in 2022, then qualified third and finished runner-up last season – all with Andretti Global.
Sunday’s 85-lap race comes on the air at 3 ET on USA, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network, with audio available on SiriusXM Channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.