Golden Memories: Five Magic Moments at Long Beach
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrates its 50th running during this year's race weekend April 11-13. This year, 27 NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers will attempt to win the prestigious street race on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and in the shadow of the Queen Mary ocean liner.
The 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit is an iconic event rooted in history. Here are five of the most memorable moments of the annual event that began in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, transitioned to a Formula One race weekend from 1976-1983 and then a CART/Champ Car/INDYCAR SERIES race from 1984 to present. Herta Charges From 14th To Win 2021 Race
The first race at Long Beach since 2019 settled the championship, too. The 2020 race was canceled as part of the COVID-19 safety measures. The 2021 return was moved from the traditional early-season slot in April to the Sept. 26 season finale due to pandemic-related precautions still in place.
Colton Herta put on a thrilling show that day, charging from 14th to secure his first and only Long Beach victory so far in his career. Herta's furious charge only took 31 laps to get to the lead.
Alex Palou earned his first championship that day in his first season with Chip Ganassi Racing by finishing fourth. Zanardi Rallies from Lap Down To Win 1998 Race
Alex Zanardi earned a second consecutive Long Beach victory in miraculous fashion in 1998.
Contact early in the race resulted in a bent steering arm and a loss of a lap for Zanardi. A race-record seven caution periods allowed him to get back in contention.
Zanardi charged to third in the closing laps. With five laps to go, the top three were blanketed, and Zanardi passed Dario Franchitti for second. Three laps later, he passed Bryan Herta for the lead and led the final two laps to earn the win. Little Al Holds Off Frustrated Andrettis for 1989 Victory
Al Unser Jr. dominated most of the 1989 race, leading 72 of the opening 74 laps. However, the father-son duo of Mario and Michael Andretti caught Unser, setting up a dramatic fight of Little Al vs. Mario and Michael for the victory.
Mario emerged from the pits as the leader on Lap 78. Unser was the meat in the Andretti sandwich, with Michael third. Approaching the lapped car of Tom Sneva, Unser dove under Mario for the lead, but contact between the two sent the elder Andretti spinning with damage.
Unser also had light cosmetic damage and nursed his car to the victory over Michael Andretti. Unser vs. Sullivan for 1992 Victory
Al Unser Jr. was going for his fifth Long Beach win in a row, but his Galles/KRACO Racing teammate Danny Sullivan had other thoughts. Unser led 54 laps but tangled with Sullivan with four laps to go, sending his car into the tire barriers.
Sullivan escaped without damage and held off Bobby Rahal and Emerson Fittipaldi for his first INDYCAR SERIES victory since 1990. Unser emerged from the tires to finish fourth.
Also, Mario Andretti and Eddie Cheever had an opening-lap collision, sparking a feud. Andretti Battles Unser Jr. For Maiden Victory In 1986
The list of Long Beach winners is an exclusive club reserved for the series best. Still, plenty of legendary drivers earned their first career INDYCAR SERIES victory at Long Beach, including Michael Andretti, who was the first to do so in 1986. Andretti outdueled Al Unser Jr. in a dramatic battle.
Andretti made a pit stop for the final time on Lap 56 while Unser did so 14 laps later. The overcut allowed Unser to remain in the lead, but Andretti was in pursuit. He passed Unser for the lead on Lap 70 but caught Roberto Moreno, eventually lapping him on Lap 80. That allowed Unser to catch up, ensuing an intense fight for the win.
Andretti toped Unser by .380 of a second.
Paul Tracy, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mike Conway, Takuma Sato and Kyle Kirkwood each earned their maiden INDYCAR SERIES victories at Long Beach, too. The event also was the site of Andretti's 42nd and final victory in 2002.
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Indianapolis Star
4 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Despite looming IndyCar title battle, Alex Palou, Pato O'Ward focused on themselves at Portland
PORTLAND – Though talk around IndyCar's race weekend at Portland International Raceway revolves around the two remaining championship contenders, runaway points leader Alex Palou and Pato O'Ward insist their own focus remains inward. It's almost a product of that sweet spot where Palou's title cushion lies – presently 121 points with three races remaining and a maximum of 162 points (or 54 per race weekend) – where Palou can hunt another victory to tack onto the eight he's amassed in 2025, and O'Ward has nothing left to do but aim for the best weekend possible and find out once the checkered flag falls if his title hopes remain viable heading to Milwaukee. 'It's been a phenomenal year, and I want to close it out super strong. We've got three races left, and anything can happen – it's racing, and weirder things have happened, so don't count us out yet. But I think it really depends on them screwing up, rather than us having a magnificent weekend,' O'Ward said Friday ahead of Practice No. 1 at Portland. 'Because even if we win here and win at Milwaukee and win at Nashville, (Palou) has got to not finish here and not finish at Milwaukee for us to have a shot at Nashville.' What the Arrow McLaren driver is referencing is the 41 points – at most – that the two-time defending series champ needs over the final three races to secure his three-peat by the checkered flag at Nashville, if not before. And even if O'Ward were to pull off back-to-back perfect points weekends at Portland and The Mile, presuming Palou merely starts both events and finishes 25th or worse, Palou would still hold a 23-point edge going into the finale at Nashville Superspeedway. But the initial task for O'Ward involves just surviving to see another weekend – a goal that only comes by out-scoring Palou by at least 14 points at a track where he's twice finished 4th but started 22nd and only climbed to 15th a year ago, compared to his championship challenger's pair of wins, one runner-up finish and in all four starts lining up on the starting grid 5th or better. This weekend, the Arrow McLaren crew eyes a rebound after what O'Ward deemed 'the hardest road course (weekend) we've had as a team,' where no driver qualified better than 18th or finished inside the top-10. O'Ward himself lacked nearly six-tenths of a second to polesitter Santino Ferrucci, and it was that speed deficiency, no matter what the team otherwise did to the car, that had them operating off their backfoot all weekend. O'Ward best compared Portland to a combination of the IMS road course, with its relatively flat profile and pair of fast straights, crossed with the uber-abrasive pavement of The Thermal Club – both races where the young Mexican driver finished runner-up at in 2025. The winner in both, of course … Palou. Doing the math: How Alex Palou can clinch fourth IndyCar championship at Portland 'I'm happy with how our year has gone. We didn't have as much of a rocket of a start, but we've gotten better as the year has gone on, and we've pretty much been the best of the rest,' O'Ward said. 'As you see someone like Alex have his insane year, we quote-unquote are having a 'championship season', but just sadly the guy leading is having an unreal, unexpected championship year.' And so wherever they find themselves qualifying, O'Ward said, his No. 5 crew will run its own race, and only if Palou suffers some sort of calamity will they discuss rolling the dice on some hyper-risky strategy to go for a win. 'It'll depend on where (Palou's) at, but really we just need to focus on us,' he said. 'We had a great month of July (with two wins and five top-5s in five races), and he still out-scored us. So at this point in time, I'm really just focused on securing 2nd-place. 'But if that means in doing so we keep cutting down (Palou's lead) and keep (title hopes) alive, then that's extra gravy on those mashed potatoes. It doesn't really depend on what we do. It depends on if he's lucky or not.' IndyCar at Portland: Race start time, weekend schedule, TV tune-in For Palou, the prospect of clinching this weekend at Portland – something he did two years ago when it was the second-to-last stop on the calendar – holds no bearing on how he and his No. 10 crew approach Sunday's race. Neither, the three-time champ said, has the team discussed making in-race decisions based upon what O'Ward does. 'I think we're in a position where we don't really need to do that. If you win the race, you don't even need to think about it,' he said. 'If you're 17th, and he's 14th, and (finishing just where you sit) means you can win (the title), then yeah, maybe we might talk about it, but it also depends on qualifying and where you start. 'Then, you'll have an idea whether you're fighting directly (against each other) like Laguna Seca (where Palou and O'Ward shared the front row), or you're separated and you can't see what your opponent is doing on strategy and stuff. Again, I think we're in a lucky position where we don't need to focus on that.' Insider: Why is Team Penske considering replacing Will Power when he's been its best driver this year? Palou acknowledges that title fights like 2021 and 2024, where even though his challengers faced fairly long odds, there was still something very much on the line at the season-finale, felt much different at the races where he ultimately clinched the Astor Cup, when compared to two years ago at Portland and the emotions he comes into this weekend feeling. Title-clinching talks, as well as the prospect of holding onto the slim chances of taking a run at AJ Foyt and Al Unser Sr.'s all-time wins mark of 10 – which Palou could topple with wins in the last three races – have put no added weight on the shoulders of the 28-year-old Spaniard, who has said repeatedly that the spoils of 2025 have been more than he could've ever imagined. Eight wins, an Indy 500 victory and another oval win to boot – it's all gravy after winning just twice in 2024 and coming away with a title anyways. 'Things feel very special, obviously, because you know (this weekend) can be a very different one at the end, but at the same time, it's still early-on. It's not the last race of the season, where everything is ready and it's the last chance and you know either way that one driver is going to win (the title),' he said. 'Here it's, 'We have a chance,' and there's good odds that if we do the job we know we can do that we can try and win the championship this weekend, but as long as I win it this yar, I'll be happy. 'A championship finale like Nashville last year, where that's all the attention and everybody's looking at that, and you're only looking at that, you're only looking at that car to see what he does (to determine) what you do and how you can come out the best, it's not that. Now, I think we're in a very good position of just being able to focus on the race. If (clinching the title) happens, it's amazing, but if it doesn't, that's okay.'
14 hours ago
Alex Palou's unstoppable season: Will he clinch his fourth IndyCar title at Portland?
It's not a question of if Alex Palou will win his fourth IndyCar championship this season, only a matter of when. His first opportunity at clinching a third consecutive title and fourth in five years comes Sunday at Portland International Raceway, Round 15 of the 17-race schedule. A run of utter dominance not seen since Scott Dixon in 2006 has put Palou in need of leaving Portland with a 108-point lead over Pato O'Ward, the only driver still mathematically eligible to beat him for the title. Palou is a comfortable 121 points ahead of O'Ward headed into the race. Even so, Palou is adamant a fourth Astor Cup does not yet belong to him. 'Everybody here is saying we've already won,' Palou said. 'Although we have a lot of points, we still need to win it. If somebody else is mathematically alive, it's still alive, so we don't want anybody to be mathematically alive for the points.' Whatever you say, Alex. O'Ward is already resigned that it will take a total collapse from Palou over the final three races of the season for him to have even an outside chance at snatching the championship away from the most dominant driver of the last five years. Although no one besides Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dixon has had a season so strong in nearly two decades, Palou has easily surpassed all of his peers' previous domination. It started with back-to-back wins to start the IndyCar season — remember, Josef Newgarden bristled when asked what it would take to dethrone Palou with a curt, 'It's Round 1, dude. Let's see how it goes.' Well, here's how it went: Palou won five of the first six races, which included the Indianapolis 500 that had eluded him in five previous tries. That win at the Brickyard cemented his path to another championship and he's been untouchable since. Palou goes into Portland with a series-high eight wins, five poles, 11 top-five finishes in 14 races, 563 laps led and a 1.2 average finish. Dixon, a six-time IndyCar champion considered the best driver of his generation and one of open-wheel's all-time greats, has only one win this season and no answer as to why he can't keep pace with teammate Palou. 'I don't know — sometimes you just have years like that and it just flows and it's not even a confidence thing,' Dixon said. So now Palou controls his own fate and it starts at the Portland track where he has two wins and finished second last season. If O'Ward wins Sunday and picks up the maximum points, Palou would still win the championship by finishing second and leading a single lap. Palou can clinch the title by finishing fourth or better, maybe even eighth depending on various factors involving O'Ward and bonus points. So history basically awaits starting this weekend, when Palou will attempt to join Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Ted Horn as the only drivers in series history to win three consecutive titles. But, the more impressive mark is that Palou, with two wins in the final three races, can tie the IndyCar record for victories in a season set at 10 by A.J. Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970. A sweep of the rest of the schedule would make him IndyCar's winningest driver in a season. Ironically, Palou entered the season with 11 career wins and can now double that mark in 2025. 'I cannot really comprehend everything that's happening, not only this year, but if I look back at ever since I started in IndyCar, my dream was just to be a professional race car driver, and I never thought about records or anything like that,' Palou said. "I never thought that I would be around those names, and I think obviously this season in particular has been a little bit crazy. 'I almost matched the wins that I had in three years, or in four years actually. It's amazing to be there,' he continued. 'I owe everything to my team and everybody that is behind me, like my personal team and my racing team. It's not that I'm not conscious about what's going on. It's just that I cannot really believe it, and I'm just riding the wave and enjoying every single second of it and having fun.'
USA Today
16 hours ago
- USA Today
Report: NBC Sports, USA, Golf Channel expected to keep U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open
Despite a serious bid from Netflix, it appears the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open will stay on the same group of TV networks, according to reporting done by John Ourand of Puck. The U.S. Golf Association's contract with NBCUniversal runs through Dec. 31, 2026, but the two sides are working to re-sign for a longer term, which would keep the two major championships (among others) on NBC, USA Network and the Golf Channel. Back in 2020, the USGA moved its media rights from Fox Sports to NBCUniversal, a move that ended a 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth about $1 billion. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the USGA to move the dates of the U.S. Open from June to September, Fox Sports struggled to find the broadcast hours needed for the championship, USGA officials noted, given their additional commitments to the NFL, MLB and college football. Talks that began looking into how Fox Sports and NBC/Golf Channel might work together ultimately ended in NBC taking over entirely. But with the contract due to expire at the end of next year, and NBC Universal taking a different look, talks are on to extend the deal with the same partners. According to a story from CNBC back in May, Comcast spun off most of its cable network stations into a new company named Versant. Versant, which had been called SpinCo until a permanent name was chosen, will own cable networks including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel. It will also house digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass and SportsEngine. The rest of Comcast's NBCUniversal portfolio, including the broadcast network, Peacock streaming service, Universal Studios, the theme parks and Bravo, will remain with Comcast. The new name isn't meant to be consumer-facing. Lazarus said he wants Versant to be viewed as a house of brands, with each asset interacting with users rather than the corporate holding entity. This would mark Versant's first major sports rights deal and it's expected to net the USGA roughly the same as the original Fox deal did in 2013. This time around, Netflix had bid for the rights, after ESPN, CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery inquired, but the NBCUniversal extension appears to be the most likely scenario.
