This weekend I’ll be reporting on my 15th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which will be running for an incredible 50th time. I’ve been an NBA writer, an MLB beat writer, an NHL beat writer as well as a 25-year boxing columnist.
Yet this is my all-time favorite event. I have found it fascinating. A real gas.
As have the competitors. I’ve spoken to many over the years and to a driver, they’ve all said this event is the NTT IndyCar series’ No. 2 crown jewel behind the Indianapolis 500.
Scott Dixon has won twice on the streets of Long Beach — last year and in 2015. He gives perhaps the best synopsis as to what makes it so special.
“I think first you look at the history of the race, whether it’s Grand Prix or Formula One or IndyCar to sports car racing, you know, the people that have won there,” said Dixon, who in 2024 was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. “Then you look at this year, they’re celebrating the 50th anniversary.
“Very few events have that criteria.”
It’s more than that.
“And then it’s just the party atmosphere and, like, everybody there is having fun whether they’re into the racing or not,” said Dixon, of New Zealand. “Then just the sheer size of it, almost 200,000 people. Like, it’s just a cool event that is going to stand the test of time.
“Hopefully, in 50 years they’ll be celebrating the 100th. But, yeah, I think it’s what they’ve made this event into. It’s almost indestructible, you know?”
Indeed, from Mario Andretti to Al Unser Jr. to Helio Castroneves to Paul Tracy to Sebastien Bourdais to Dario Franchitti to Will Power to Dixon — and so many more — the biggest names in the sport have won on the streets of Long Beach.
COVID-19 threw a wrench into the 2020 race, which was canceled because of the pandemic. That also affected the 2021 race, which was run as the season finale instead of early in the season.
That led to Spain’s Alex Palou winning the series title in Long Beach with a fourth-place finish to become the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title. It was cool to see that history.
Somehow, some way, there always seems to be a bewitching element to the race.
I ran into a story on the IndyCar website this week about the memories of Long Beach from drivers, and team owners such as Chip Ganassi. His driver, Alex Zanardi, won the 1998 race for his second consecutive Long Beach victory.
“My favorite iconic moment of the race is 1998,” Ganassi said in the story by Eric Smith. “(Alex) Zanardi was running dead last. He was so far back that our sponsors were starting to leave already because they didn’t think we had any chance, but he came back and won the race. … It was a magical moment, a magical moment of his career in our team’s history — a magical moment I’ll never forget.”
Neither will Jim Michaelian, longtime CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.
“I can’t remember if he was dead last or whatever, but he came up entirely through the field and that was his victory,” Michaelian said. “To make your way all the way through the field and emerging as the winner is a very rare feat. The only other time of a similar nature was when John Watson, in the last Formula One race here in ’83, was literally in the back, last row of the race, and came through and won the race. Those are two very remarkable achievements.”
Alexander Rossi, of Auburn, Calif., won this race in 2018 and in 2019.
“Long Beach is one of the events I look forward to the most each year,” Rossi said. “It is an awesome track to drive with an amazing atmosphere and some of the most knowledgeable fans on the calendar.”
It’s hard to pinpoint my own favorite element in the event. The drivers have all been super cool to deal with and when you’ve dealt with some of the tough nuts in the major team sports I’ve covered, that’s refreshing.
I love that Mike Conway won the 2011 race just 11 months after suffering serious injuries in a scary wreck at the Indy 500 he was lucky to survive. When I spoke to him about that near-death experience, the details gave me goosebumps.
The week of this event is like being in Manhattan in New York City. It’s that electric.
One last thing: You figure with 200,000 fans coming through the turnstiles over the three racing days, there would be a hassle or two between fans. I’ve never seen that. Folks are too busy having a great time.
Now that is magical.