IndyCars - Long Beach: The season ends at the Monaco of the West

[MarkyS]

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It is the oldest street course race in North America and the one that every driver wants to WIN. This weekend, the IndyCars close their season and crown a champion at…

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

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The great street slugfest is always well-attended and always a thrill ride for drivers and fans alike and a fitting venue to decide the championship. The 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit encircles the Long Beach Convention Center and runs down scenic Shoreline Drive. It offers numerous overtaking opportunities, including at Turn 1, after the long, curved “straight” that Shoreline Drive becomes. Just after Turn 1 are Turns 2 and 3, circling the famous Dolphin Fountain. Getting the hairpin at Turn 11 just before the frontstretch right is critical.

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Race fans are going to be treated to a whole slate of entertainment, both on and off the track, including concerts, family fun zones and displays. On track they will see the Formula Drift cars, the historic Formula Atlantics cars and the three series we will be watching:

• IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with 1 race on Saturday
• The Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks, with races on Saturday and Sunday

…and, of course, the IndyCars will race on Sunday

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Let’s take a look at that support racing…

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(continued)…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Support racing…(continued)…

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The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - This is the premiere SportsCar series in North America, featuring both prototype and GT racing, usually all competing on the same track at the same time. The drivers are some of the very best in the world, and many of them are recent IndyCar and Road to Indy drivers - some current, when schedules allow. This weekend, the WeatherTech gang will have the prototypes of the DPi class competing, along with the GT cars of the GTLM class and the GTD class.

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Speed Energy Stadium Super Trucks - Take powerful off-road trucks and run them on pavement, over metal ramps, where they jump up to 20 feet high in the air over 200 feet distance and you have former IndyCar / NASCAR / SCORE off-road ace Robby Gordon’s Super Truck series - the most popular support series to be found anywhere - especially with the kids, who are astounded, terrified and delighted by the sight and sound of them. This one has a variety of drivers from different disciplines and that includes a number of IndyCar guys, including Robby himself.

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Friday will be a day of practice for all three series we are watching, and will also include qualifying for the IMSA gang, late in the day. LET’S GET IT GOING!!!

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Long Beach - The WeatherTech gang hold first practice…

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The first guys out on track were all three classes of the WeatherTech Sportscars Championship series and we have the TOP THREE from each class here, starting with the DPi class:

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DPi class - TOPS in class this early afternoon was Felipe Nasr in the # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express, with a time of 1:13.498s for a speed of 96.394mph. Felipe bested Renger van der Zande in the # 01 Cadillac for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing by 0.835 seconds. Third fastest was the # 60 Acura ARX-05 for Meyer Shank Racing, driven by Olivier Pla.

Felipe’s co-driver in the # 31 is IndyCar driver Pipo Derani while Renger’s co-driver in the # 01 Caddy is Kevin Magnussen. Olivier shares the Acura with Dane Cameron.

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The # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express - TOPS in the P-1 practice

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GTLM class - TOPS in class this early afternoon was Nick Tandy in the # 4 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing with a time of 1:19.734s for a speed of 88.855mph. Nick got on top of teammate Antonio Garcia in the # 3 Corvette by a tiny 0.077 seconds. Third fastest was Mathieu Jaminet in the # 79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 for WeatherTech Racing.

Nick shares the # 4 Corvette with Tommy Milner while Antonio shares the # 3 Corvette with Jordan Taylor. Mathieu’s co-driver in the Porsche is Cooper MacNeil.

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The # 4 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing - TOPS in the P-1 session
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GTD class - TOPS in class for the P-1 session was Patrick Long in the # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports with a time of 1:20.544s for a speed of 87.961mph. Patrick beat out Bryan Sellers in the # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Paul Miller Racing by 0.172 seconds. Third fastest was Bill Auberlen in the # 96 BMW M6 GT3 for Turner Motorsport.

Patrick’s co-driver in the Porsche is Trent Hindman while Bryan’s co-driver in the # 1 is Madison Snow. Bill shares the Bimmer with Robby Foley.

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The # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports - TOPS in the P-1 session

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The WeatherTech gang will have a second practice later this day and then qualify late in the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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This afternoon at Long Beach - The Stadium Super Trucks practice and qualify…

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The SSTs held their practice and qualifying session this afternoon and we have the results of the qually here, with the fastest guy on top:

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1. Robby Gordon
2. Jerett Brooks
3. Matt Brabham
4. Robert Stout
5. Jacob Abel
6. Christian Sourapas
7. Max Gordon
8. Jeff Ward
9. Mads Siljehaug
10. Brandon Parrish
11. Zoey Edenholm
12. Bo LeMastus
13. Bill Hynes

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With Stadium Super Trucks the starting grid of a race is the reverse order of qualifying, so this is the grid for Race 1 on Saturday:

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Row 1

Pole - Bill Hynes
P2 - Bo LeMastus

Row 2

P3 - Zoey Edenholm
P4 - Brandon Parrish

Row 3

P5 - Mads Siljehaug
P6 - Jeff Ward

Row 4

P7 - Max Gordon
P8 - Christian Sourapas

Row 5

P9 - Jacob Abel
P10 - Robert Stout

Row 6

P11 - Matt Brabham
P12 - Jerett Brooks

Row 7

P13 - Robby Gordon

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The IndyCar guys here are IndyCar driver Robby Gordon, Road to Indy ace Matthew Brabham, IndyCar driver Jeff Ward and Jacob Abel, who is a current Indy Pro 2000 driver. Also in the race will be 12 year old Max Gordon - Robby’s son - who is already an accomplished UTE and off-road driver, and Zoey Edenholm, an F4 United States veteran and so far, the only female Super Truck driver.

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Zoey Edenholm…

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…and Max Gordon

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The Super Trucks will hold Race 1 on Saturday. Next up, the IMSA guys hold another practice…

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[MarkyS]

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Friday afternoon at Long Beach - The IMSA gang hold a 2nd practice session…

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…in anticipation of qualifying to be held late in the day. Everyone went faster in the P-2 practice, so those results are here to call the fastest times of the day, so far, for each class:

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DPi class - Felipe Nasr in the # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express topped the P-1 session and then topped himself in P-2, this afternoon, with a time of 1:11.983s for a speed of 98.423mph. Felipe beat Loic Duval’s P-2 session time in the # 5 Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports by 0.162 seconds. Third fastest was Kevin Magnussen’s P-2 session time in the # 01 Caddy for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing, so the Caddys rule the practices.

Felipe shares his # 31 with IndyCar driver Pipo Derani while Loic shares the # 5 with IndyCar driver Tristan Vautier. Kevin’s co-driver in the # 01 is Renger van der Zande.

The # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express - TOPS in practice for the day

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Felipe Nasr

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GTLM class - Antonio Garcia in the # 3 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing topped the session and the day with a time of 1:17.516s for a speed of 91.397mph. Antonio topped teammate Tommy Milner in the # 4 Corvette by 0.507 seconds. Third fastest was Mathieu Jaminet in the # 79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 for WeatherTech Racing.

Antonio’s co-driver in the # 3 is Jordan Taylor while Tommy’s co-driver in the # 4 is Nick Tandy. Mathieu shares the Porsche with Cooper MacNeil.

The # 3 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing - TOPS in practice for the day.

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Antonio Garcia

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GTD class - Patrick Long was fastest in P-1 in the # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports and he repeated the feat in the P-2 session, with a time of 1:20.089s for a speed of 88.461mph. Patrick bested Zacharie Robichon in the # 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R for PFAFF Motorsports by a teensy 0.026 seconds. Third fastest was Bryan Sellers in the # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Paul Miller Racing.

Patrick’s co-driver is Trent Hindman while Zacharie shares his Porsche with Laurens Vanthoor and Bryan shares the Lambo with Madison Snow.

The # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for Wright Motorsports - TOPS in practice for the day

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Patrick Long

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The IMSA gang will qualify late in the day. Next up, the IndyCar hold their first practice session of the weekend…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Friday late afternoon at Long Beach - the IndyCars hold their first practice session…

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…and the session was TOPPED by the last race WINNER, Colton Herta, but the Championship leader was close, in 3rd.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-1 session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:09.2680s for a speed of 102.281mph

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2 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 01:09.4334s for a speed of 102.037mph

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3 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:09.4554s for a speed of 102.005mph

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4 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:09.4870s for a speed of 101.959mph

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5 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:09.5154s for a speed of 101.917mph

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6 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
7 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
8 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
9 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
10 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

11 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
12 - Will Power, Team Penske
13 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
14 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
15 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
16 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
17 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
18 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

21 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
22 - Max Chilton, Carlin
23 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
26 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
27 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
28 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

• Herta was the team leader of Andretti Autosport’s great practice, with 2 drivers in the TOP FIVE and all 4 drivers in the TOP TEN.

• Points leader Alex Palou has never raced here but it didn’t seem to matter much. It was also true for Oliver Askew, but he managed to find the walls, twice. There are 8 guys here that are rookies at the track, including Jimmie Johnson, Romain Grosjean, Scott McLaughlin and Callum Illott.

• It’s clear that experience means a lot as Helio Castroneves

• Lots of guys - really good guys - were sliding all over the place and going up run-off lanes. A lot of that is due to Firestone, which brought a tire that deliberately has less grip than last year’s tire. That will make engineer’s heads explode but the racing will be better. Everyone will have to adjust their set-ups.

Oliver Askew - two bites.

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The IndyCars will hold a 2nd practice session first thing in the morning, when a lot of adjustment overnight will hopefully make things better for many. Next up, the IMSA boys qualify for their Saturday race. …

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[MarkyS]

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Friday late afternoon at Long Beach - The IMSA gang qualify…

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…for Saturday’s late afternoon IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix of Long Beach. We have the TOP THREE qualifiers for each class, here:

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DPI class - On the pole will be Felipe Nasr in the # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express with a time of 1:11.620s for a speed of 98.922mph. Felipe bested Kevin Magnussen in the # 01 Cadillac for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing by 0.104 seconds. Third on the grid will be Loic Duval in the # 5 Caddy for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Felipe shares the # 31 Caddy with IndyCar driver Pipo Derani while Kevin Shares the # 01 Caddy with Renger van der Zande. Loic shares his Caddy with IndyCar driver Tristan Vautier.

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The # 31 Whelen Cadillac DPi V.R for Action Express - on the pole

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Felipe Nasr

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GTLM class - On the pole will be Jordan Taylor in the # 3 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing with a time of 1:16.801s for a speed of 92.248mph. Jordan bested teammate Tommy Milner in the # 4 Corvette by 0.297 seconds. Third on the grid will be Cooper MacNeil in the # 79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 for WeatherTech Racing.

Jordan’s co-driver in the # 3 Corvette is Antonio Garcia while Tommy’s co-driver in the # 4 Corvette is Nick Tandy. Cooper shares the Porsche with Mathieu Jaminet.

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The # 3 Corvette C8.R for Corvette Racing - on the pole

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Jordan Taylor

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GTD class, Position - On the pole will be Madison Snow in the # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Paul Miller Racing, with a time of 1:19.475s for a speed of 89.145mph. Madison beat out Robby Foley in the # 96 BMW M6 GT3 for Turner Motorsports by 0.134 seconds. Third on the grid will be Richard Heistand in the # 39 Audi R8 LMS GT3 for CarBahn w/ Peregrine Racing.

Madison shares the Lambo with Bryan Sellers while Robby shares the Bimmer with Bill Auberlen. Richard’s co-driver in the Audi is Jeff Westphal.
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The # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Paul Miller Racing - On the pole

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Madison Snow

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GTD class, Points - Taking maximum points was Laurens Vanthoor in the # 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R for PFAFF Motorsports, with a time of 1:18.957s for a speed of 89.729mph. Laurens took it to Bryan Sellers in the # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Paul Miller Racing by 0.148 seconds. Third fastest was IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth in the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan.

Laurens’ co-driver in the Porsche is Zacharie Robichon while Bryan’s co-driver in the Lambo is Madison Snow. Jack shares the Lexus with fellow IndyCar driver Aaron Telitz.

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The # 9 Porsche 911 GT3 R for PFAFF Motorsports - TOPS in points

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Laurens Vanthoor

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The IMSA race will be the last event of the day on Saturday. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday morning at Long Beach - The IndyCars hold their 2nd practice…

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This is the last chance to get a great qualifying set-up and as the P-1 session had two red flags, which took away precious time, eveyone will be scrambling to get information, this morning. One guy who had seemingly no problem getting a great set-up yesterday repeated that apparent ease of effort again, today, as Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport TOPPED this session, too.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-2 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:07.9783s for a speed of 104.221mph

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2 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:08.1277s for a speed of 103.993mph

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3 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner - time of 01:08.2250s for a speed of 103.845mph

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4 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:08.2922s for a speed of 103.742mph

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5 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of - time of 01:08.4297s for a speed of 103.534mph

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6 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
7 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
9 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
10 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

11 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
12 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
14 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
15 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
16 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
17 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
18 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
19 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
20 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
22 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
23 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
24 - Max Chilton, Carlin
25 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
26 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
27 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
28 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

• Herta was the only guy to dip into the 1:07s on time but he wasn’t the only fast Andretti guy. James Hinchcliffe is likely in his olast race with the team, and he’s trying to make it a good one, whereas his podcast buddy, two-time Long Beach WINNER Alexander Rossi, is struggling in P14.

• Team Penske has this dicked, with all four drivers in the TOP SIX. This is the first time rookie Scott McLaughlin has ever seen the track but it isn’t bothering him.

• Yesterday title contender Pato O’Ward was hopelessly lost, but today he has found at least the same speed that his teammate Felix Rosenqvist has. Qualifying will be critical, today.

• Title points-leader Alex Palou never got a decent lap in this morning, just due to circumstances, so he goes into qualifying a little blind, but he was fast yesterday.

• It is so strange to see superb veterans like Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais struggle here, but it’s all relative. Scott’s hard-charging teammate Marcus Ericsson didn’t get in a good session, either. A lot of this is due to trying to practice in the heavy traffic that 28 entries creates.

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Scott Dixon (left) Sebastien Bourdais and Marcus Ericsson (right)

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The IndyCars will qualify later today at about Noon, local time. This will be broadcast on NBC-SN. Next up, the Stadium Super Trucks hold Race 1 of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 4…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Long Beach - The SSTs hold Race 1 of the weekend…

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One of the best things about the Stadium Super Trucks is they put out a Youtube of their races immediately, so we don’t have to tell you about Race 1, held today. We can bring it to you, instead:

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Enjoy!

2021 Long Beach Race 1 Stadium Super Trucks

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The SSTs will hold Race 2 right after the end of the IndtyCar race, on Sunday, giving the faithful something great to watch while they wait for the big crowd to disperse. Problem is, the SSTs are so popular, a lot of folks will not disperse, anyway. Next up, the IndyCars qualify for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach…

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[MarkyS]

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Saturday afternoon at Long Beach - The IndyCars are qualified!..

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…and in the end the least likely championship scenario is suddenly a lot more likely than it was yesterday, as third-in-points Josef Newgarden for Team Penske sticks his Chevy on pole.

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Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 16, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:08.2241s for a speed of 103.846mph

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P2 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:08.4422s for a speed of 103.515mph

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Row 2

P3 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing - time of 01:08.4827s for a speed of 103.454mph

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P4 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 01:08.6514s for a speed of 103.200mph

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Row 3

P5 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:08.7461s for a speed of 103.057mph

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P6 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing - time of 01:08.7577s for a speed of 103.040mph

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Row 4

P7 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
P8 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 5

P9 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P10 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Row 6

P11 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P12 - Will Power, Team Penske

Row 7

P13 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
P14 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
P16 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 9

P17 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
P18 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing

Row 10

P19 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 11

P21 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
P22 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 12

P23 - Max Chilton, Carlin
P24 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 13

P25 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P26 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 14

P27 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
P28 - Oliver Askew, Arrow McLaren SP

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Notable:

• Newgarden needs to WIN the race and Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward need to get in serious trouble in order for Josef to take his 3rd IndyCar title. Starting from pole is all he could do on his part, so far. O’Ward and Palou will be starting in the dangerous spots of P8 and P10 and could easily get into serious trouble on lap 1, Turn 1. The possibilities tease.

• Scott Dixon said he had a great car, but just hadn’t been able to prove it with a few solid laps strung together in practice. Looks like he knew what he was talking about.

• Colton Herta set the fastest time on primary tires and stayed out an extra two laps hoping to save a set of reds until the Firestone Fast Six, but during the extra laps he brushed the wall and broke his tow link in the left rear, and so he fell to seventh, and didn’t advance.

• Alexander Rossi has WON the last two of these things, but will need great luck to get a third in a row from P15.

• IndyCar rookie Callum Illottt for Juncos Hollinger Racing put in a very respectable P18, given this was only his 3rd race and his first time at Long Beach.

Callum Illott - impressive LB qually

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The IndyCars will have a warm-up at 9:00am local time, Noon EASTERN time on Sunday. Next up, the IMSA guys hold their race. The TOP THREE qualifiers in each class are shown in post # 7…
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M

[MarkyS]

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Saturday at Long Beach - The WeatherTech gang hold their race…

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…and, no surprise, the # 31 Whelen Cadillac WON DPi class and overall from pole with Felipe Nasr starting and IndyCar guy Pipo Derani closing. Coming in P2 was the # 01 Casddy for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing with Kevin Magnussen starting and Renger van der Zande closing while P3 went to a third Cadillac, the # 5 for JDC-Miller Motorsports quallied by Loic Duval and closed by former Indy Lights Champion and IndyCar Rookie of the Year Tristan Vautier. In the last 4 events Cadillac has WON at Long Beach.

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Nasr (left) and Derani

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The only serious challenger to the Whelen boys all weekend was Kevin Magnussen, who early in the race made a charge past Felipe Nasr, only to get hung up enough by traffic to clip the wall coming into Turn 1, damaging some bodywork and bringing out the only full-course caution of the race.

Filipe Albuquerque in the # 10 Acura ARX-05 for WTR made a very good start, going from P5 to P3 in a few turns and looking very racy doing it. but Loic Duval was soon back by him to reclaim P3 and the Acura boys for Wayne Taylor had to settle for P4 at the end - enough to keep them in the points lead, but now by only 19, with two races left to do.

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In GTLM class the WINNERS were closer Nick Tandy and starter Tommy Milner in the # 4 Corvette C8.R, beating out closer Jordan Taylor and starter Antonio Garcia in the # 3 Corvette C8.R after Milner passed Taylor just before the mid-point driver exchange. The # 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 of starter Cooper MacNeil and closer Mathieu Jaminet finished P3 while not a factor in the battle for the WIN.

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Nick Tandy (left) and Tommy Milner

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Starter Madison Snow and closer Bryan Sellers dominated the 17-car GTD-class field, with the # 1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo for Paul Miller Racing finishing 11.080 seconds ahead of the # 9 PFAFF Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of closer Laurens Vanthoor and starter Zacharie Robichon in P2. IndyCar driver Jack Hawksworth was holding onto P2 in the # 14 Lexus RCF GT3 for Vasser Sullivan, after a stellar drive by co-driver and IndyCar guy Aaron Telitz brought the car up from a P7 start, but Hawksworth had to fade late in the race to P4 due to fuel issues. He was passed by Vanthoor and then Patrick Long in the Wright Motorsports # 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R, qualified by Trent Hindman.

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Bryan Sellers (left) and Madison Snow - Dominating GTD class.

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With the WIN Sellers and Snow suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves 2nd in the series points, behind Laurens Vanthoor and Zacharie Robichon. The # 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley, which entered the race with a 20-point lead, finished four laps behind after ABS failure triggered an accident for Robby early on. They are now in 4th, behind Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn.

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The next outings for the IMSA gang are at the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, October 8-10, where only the GTLM class and the GTD class will race. They will be joined by the Michelin Pilot Challenge series, the IMSA Prototype Challenge series and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America guys.

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This was the last ontrack activity of the day.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Your happy podium from that terrific Stadium Super Truck Race 1…

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…is Matthew Brabham in P2 on the left, Jerett Brooks in P1 in the middle and Robert Stout in P3 on the right:

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The line-up for Race 2 hasn’t been posted yet. We will try to get it before the race, on Sunday afternoon.

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday morning at Long Beach - the IndyCar warm-up session…

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It’s always iffy to judge what one sees during a post-qualifying practice session, and the IndyCar warm-up is no different. It’s impossible to know what the cars or the teams are trying to accomplish. All we know is they are NOT trying to find a qualifying set-up. That is behind everyone. They MAY be trying to get a better race set-up or they MAY be trying to confirm their race set-up or they MAY be tring to check out tire and mileage assumptions, given the track condition. We can say that fast guys in the warm-up are going to likely be fast guys in the race, but we cannot say they are going to be the ONLY fast guys in the race.

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Here is the order of speed for the IndyCar P-3 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:08.4762s for a speed of .
103.464mph

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2 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:08.6507s for a speed of .
103.201mph

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3 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske - time of 01:08.8029s for a speed of .
102.972mph

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4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:08.8612s for a speed of .
102.885mph

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5 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:09.2465s for a speed of .
102.313mph

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6 - Will Power, Team Penske
7 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
8 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
9 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing

11 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Steinbrenner
12 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
13 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
14 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
15 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
16 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
17 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18 - Max Chilton, Carlin
19 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
20 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
22 - Callum Illott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
23 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
24 - Charlie Kimball, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
26 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
27 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
28 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing

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Notable:

• Herta to the top, as if to say, “Don’t be fooled by our qually screw-up. I’m the top dawg in this race”. And he’s probably not wrong.

• There were a number of brushes of the walls and running up escape lanes, but the biggest event was when Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi entered the fountain complex at the same time. Helio hit Rossi’s left rear and tagged the wall with his left front, doing damage. Rossi escaped damage. Both drivers blamed the other and both were livid about it. This could be an eventful day of racing!

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Colton Herta - statement made.

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The grid for the race is in post # 10. The race will be broadcast on NBC-SN with pre-race starting at 3:00pm EASTERN time, 12:00 Noon local time…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday at Long Beach - The IndyCar race…

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…ended the way we expected it might, with Colton Herta for Andretti Autosport charging from his P14 starting spot to WIN his first Long Beach Grand Prix and with Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing taking the 2021 series title from his P4 result. Josef Newgarden did all he could to keep Herta at Bay, but the Team Penske driver had to settle for 2nd in the race and 2nd in the title. P3 in the race went to Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou becomes the first Spaniard ever to WIN the IndyCar title.

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The 2021 IndyCar Champion Alex Palou

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Palou’s main threat, Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP, was taken out of the race on the 2nd lap, when Ed Jones for Dale Coyne made a poorly-judged lunge on the inside of Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Turn 11 hairpin, tagged the rear of Pato’s Arrow McLaren SP Chevy, and pitched it into a spin that dumped the Mexican all the way to the rear of the field. O’Ward soldiered on for 16 more laps but the hit to his rear right tire eventually had the half-shaft failing. He ended the day 3rd in the points, just a few ahead of Scott Dixon.

There were many great battles on track but the run from P-14 to P1 for Herta was simply a bold statement of complete ownershp of the race.

Said Herta, “This feels amazing. Great car, great team, and this has been on the bucket list for so long. So happy. What a way to cap off the year. We had a great car: reds or blacks, we seemed to have the pace. I can’t believe it. Just lost for words.”

Romain Grosjean for Dale Coyne advanced greatly and was alligning himself to take Rookie of the Year, but late in the race he lightly clipped a wall and did enough damage to sideline himself for the rest of the race. That left Team Penske’s Scott Mcaughlin to earn a well-deserved Rookie of the Year title for 2021.

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Here are the race highlights:

2021 RACE HIGHLIGHTS // ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH

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Your happy podium - That’s Josef Newgarden in P2 on the left, Colton Herta in P1 in the middle and Scott Dixon in P3 on the right - A perfect composition of the IndyCar field at the moment, with a mixture of old guard, middle guard and young lions, all competitive:

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Next up, the Stadium Super Trucks close out their weekend with Race 2…

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M

[MarkyS]

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Sunday afternoon at Long Beach - the SSTs hold Race 2 of the weekend…

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The Stadium Super Trucks were the last guys on track today, following the IndyCar race with a little more excitement to send the crowd home with. We have the video of the race here.

First, here was the starting line-up:

Row1
P1. Mads Siljehaug
P2. Brandon Parrish

Row2
P3. Zoey Edenholm
P4. Bo LeMastus

Row3
P5. Christian Sourapas
P6. Bill Hynes

Row4
P7. Jeff Ward
P8. Max Gordon

Row5
P9. Robert Stout
P10. Robby Gordon

Row6
P11. Matt Brabham
P12. Jerett Brooks

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And here is the race:
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2021 Long Beach Race 2 Stadium Super Trucks

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This was the final event of the race weekend.

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