The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season continues this weekend with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California. This marks the 11th Verizon IndyCar Series race at Long Beach and the 35th for IndyCars dating back to 1984.
Here’s a quick look at some interesting statistics and tidbits regarding the race.
Verizon IndyCar Series (Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach; 4:40 p.m. ET Sunday, April 15)
IndyCar Racing – Ties to California
- This weekend’s race marks the 31st race for the IndyCar Series in the state of California, and the 11th at Long Beach. The first race in California came March 17, 2002, with Sam Hornish Jr. winning a 400-mile race at California Speedway (known now as Auto Club Speedway) in Fontana.
- California has hosted at least 231 IndyCar races since 1909, in the AAA National Championship, USAC Championship Car Trail, CART, Champ Car World Series and Indy Racing League and IndyCar Series. Harris Hanshue and Bert Dingley each won 202.42-mile road races at Santa Monica on July 10, 1909 in AAA. Jack Fleming also won a 258.16 mile race in San Leandro on October 24, 1909, and Joe Nikrent won a 480-mile jaunt from Los Angeles to Phoenix on November 6, 1909, at a speed of 24.9 mph in a Buick. Each of those counted for points toward the AAA title.
- The first USAC race in California was won by Jud Larson at CalExpo State Fairgrounds in Sacramento in 1956, and the first CART race was won by Bobby Unser at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1979.
- Races on all types of tracks have been contested by IndyCars in California, from the board tracks in Beverly Hills, Fresno, San Carlos, Culver City and Cotati, to dirt track in Sacramento, paved ovals in Fontana and Hanford, and road courses in Long Beach, Monterey, Sonoma, San Diego, Glendale and Riverside.
- In addition to tracks, a number of IndyCar greats have hailed from California, including Indianapolis 500 champions such as Jimmy Murphy, Johnnie Parsons, Bob Sweikert, Jim Rathmann, Bill Vukovich, Pat Flaherty and Alexander Rossi.
Long Beach Grand Prix – Track/Event
- The Long Beach Grand Prix is held on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit lining the streets of Long Beach, including Shore Line Drive that runs adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, just a few hundred yards away.
- The first Long Beach Grand Prix was held in 1975, as a Formula 5000 race. British driver Brian Redman won the event on a 2.02-mile layout, besting 27 other competitors including IndyCar stalwarts Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Gordon Johncock, as well as future Formula 1 champion Jody Scheckter and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Chris Amon.
- Formula 1 made eight appearances at the Long Beach Grand Prix from 1976 to 1983, with Andretti winning in 1977, the only American to win the LBGP. Others included Clay Regazzoni, Gilles Villeneuve, Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones, Niki Lauda and John Watson, who came from 22nd in 1983 to win the race, setting a record for positions gained in a victory (21).
- CART made its debut with the 1984 race, won by Mario Andretti. The race was a staple on the CART/Champ Car World Series scheduled through 2007, before joining the IndyCar Series schedule in 2008 (albeit the first race being sanctioned by Champ Car, following the reunification of the two series).
- There have been multiple different course layouts at Long Beach, with the current configuration having been in place since 2000.
Long Beach Grand Prix – As Part of IndyCar Racing
- The Long Beach Grand Prix has been held 34 previous times during an IndyCar season. Long Beach has hosted more IndyCar races than any temporary street circuit or permanent road course IndyCar/Championship Car history.
- Al Unser Jr. leads all drivers in IndyCar victories in the Long Beach Grand Prix with six: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1995. Paul Tracy is second on the list, with wins in 1993, 2000, 2003 and 2004. Mario Andretti and Sebastien Bourdais are tied for third with three each – Andretti winning three of the first four races between 1984 and 1987 (including the inaugural race in 1984), and Bourdais winning each of the last three (2005, 2006 and 2007) under the Champ Car World Series Banner.
- Will Power and Mike Conway are the only drivers to win the race under the IndyCar Series banner. Power won the 2008 race – sanctioned by Champ Car but paying points in IndyCar Series competition – and 2012, while Conway took two of his four IndyCar wins at Long Beach, in 2011 (his first career win) and 2014.
- A total of 18 drivers have won the race overall, and eight drivers have won in IndyCar Series competition.
- James Hinchcliffe is the defending race winner, having won his fifth and most recent race in 2017. Hinchcliffe led 25 laps in the victory, winning from the fourth starting position. Takuma Sato is the last driver to win an IndyCar race from the fourth starting position, when he won the Indianapolis 500 last year, while Hinchcliffe’s victory was the last from fourth on a road course or street circuit.
- Eight race winners have come from the pole position, though none of those have come in the IndyCar Series. Sebastien Bourdais was the last polesitter to win the Long Beach Grand Prix, in 2007.
- The highest starting position for a driver in IndyCar Series competition was second, by Dario Franchitti (2009) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2010).
- Paul Tracy won the IndyCar race at Long Beach in 2000 from the 17th position, the furthest back any driver has started and won from in the previous 34 races. In total, five winners have come from outside the top 10.
- Nine drivers have won the Long Beach Grand Prix and the series championship in the same season: Mario Andretti (1984), Al Unser Jr. (1990 and 1994), Alex Zanardi (1997 and 1998), Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Paul Tracy (2003), Sebastien Bourdais (2005, 2006 and 2007), Dario Franchitti (2009), Scott Dixon (2015) and Simon Pagenaud (2016).
- The last driver to win back-to-back races at Long Beach was Sebastien Bourdais, who won three straight from 2005 to 2007. Al Unser Jr. won four straight from 1988 to 1991 and back-to-back races in 1994 and 1995. Others with consecutive victories include Mario Andretti (1984-1985); Alex Zanardi (1997-1998); and Paul Tracy (2003-2004).
- Consecutive victories by teams have been a trend in IndyCar racing at Long Beach, at least in CART. Newman-Haas Racing won three of the first four races, with Mario Andretti in 1984, 1985 and 1987, three more with Sebastien Bourdais between 2005-2007. Galles Racing won five straight with Al Unser Jr. and Danny Sullivan between 1988 and 1992, before Team Penske rattled off three straight. Chip Ganassi Racing also won four straight between 1996 and 1999.
- Scott Dixon has led each of the last four races at Long Beach, dating back to 2014.
- The 1998 and 2005 CART/Champ Car races at Long Beach featured a race-record 11 lead changes each.
- Honda leads all manufacturers with 12 victories at Long Beach, followed by Chevrolet’s 11. Cosworth has five, Ford has four and Mercedes and Ilmor have one each. Honda took the lead outright with James Hinchcliffe’s victory in 2017, breaking its first-place tie with Chevy.
- Of the 10 IndyCar Series races at Long Beach, five have been won by the driver that led the most laps (most recently by Scott Dixon in 2015). Since 2008, the most laps led by a race winner was in 2008, by Will Power (81).
- Mike Conway led the fewest laps of a race winner, three in 2014. In the same race, Ryan Hunter-Reay led 51 laps, the most laps led by a driver to not win the race under the IndyCar Series banner.
- The largest field in an IndyCar race at Long Beach is 30 cars, in 1994, while the smallest field was 17 in 2007. The largest for an IndyCar Series race was 27 twice (2011 and 2013), while the smallest was 20 (2008 race, sanctioned by Champ Car; 21 in the last two races sanctioned by INDYCAR).
- Simon Pagenaud averaged a race record 100.592 mph in his 2016 victory, the only race which averaged more than 100 mph.
- The pole speed record was 111.313 mph, set by Gil de Ferran for the 1997 race. On the current configuration, the record stands at 106.980 mph, set in 2017 by Helio Castroneves.
2018 Season
- Two drivers have won races in the first two races this season: Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg, Florida) and Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway).
- Alexander Rossi is the only driver to finish on the podium in each of the first two races of the season, and one of two drivers to finish in the top five in each race (Ryan Hunter-Reay is the other).
- Robert Wickens has led laps in each of his first two career IndyCar races, and has led a season-high 113 laps. He led a race-high 69 laps at St. Petersburg, the most of any driver on a temporary street circuit so far.
Long Beach Grand Prix – 2018 Entry List
- Ten countries/nationalities are represented in this weekend’s race: United States (9), Canada (3), United Kingdom (3), Brazil (2), France (2), New Zealand (1), Australia (1), United Arab Emirates (1), Japan (1), and Colombia (1).
IndyCar Series Random Statistics – Current Drivers
- Tony Kanaan has gone 162 consecutive races without a pole position. His last pole position was at Richmond International Raceway in 2008.
- Josef Newgarden is the last driver to win back-to-back races in the IndyCar Series, having won last year’s events at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. Newgarden is the defending series champion and the only driver to go for two straight victories, as he won the most recent race at ISM Raceway.
Upcoming Milestones
- Scott Dixon is 44 laps in the lead away from leading 5,000 laps in IndyCar Series competition (between CART and ICS, has led 5,030) and one victory behind Michael Andretti for third all-time in IndyCar victories (has 41 to Andretti’s 42).
- Helio Castroneves is 58 laps away from completing 40,000 laps in Verizon IndyCar Series competition.
- Tony Kanaan is five races away from competing in 350 IndyCar races. He has 252 starts in the Verizon IndyCar Series and 93 races in CART for a total of 345 races.
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