IndyCar Preview: Grand Prix of Long Beach
- Dan Jones
- 7 minutes ago
- 8 min read
After three weeks of waiting following four races in five weeks to kick off 2026, IndyCar is back on track! After IndyCar's own 'March Madness' began a frenetic 2026, this weekend's action on the Streets of Long Beach marks the series' only race in April as all 27 drivers head to the California coast for the most prestigious race on the calendar outside that of the Indianapolis 500. With an early championship battle brewing and drivers looking to build momentum into May, the Grand Prix of Long Beach is one not to be missed, as it marks Race 5 of 18 on the 2026 calendar.
What happened at Barber?
On paper, the script of events at Barber Motorsports Park looks rather familiar. Álex Palou took pole on a road course, led nearly every lap and romped home to a 13 second victory like he had done throughout 2025.
That does not tell the full story though. Palou had looked comfortable from the start, but had been unable to build a substantial gap from the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Graham Rahal. When Rahal started to struggle at the end of his stint, Christian Lundgaard came into play, and once Palou had come out of his final stop in traffic, the opportunity was there for Lundgaard to execute the overcut and take a long-awaited first victory at Arrow McLaren.
That all came undone when an error on his rear-right tyre during his final stop cost Lundgaard valuable time, as he not only lost out to Palou but also dropped behind Rahal. Palou had a clear path from that point onward to take a second victory of the year, whilst Lundgaard overtook Rahal with three laps to go to take second. Rahal finished third to earn his first podium since 2023. Like in 2025, the race went caution-free.
FOX Sports averaged 906,000 viewers throughout the action at Barber, marginally less than what the network achieved at the race last year. It marked the lowest-viewed race thus far in 2026 but average ratings remain at their best since 2009.
You can read the full race report here, the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast's race review here and my gradebook here.
Although Palou took the headlines, a fifth-place finish for Kyle Kirkwood at Barber means he maintains the championship lead heading into Long Beach, as Palou still pays the price for his collision at Phoenix. Top 10 in points are as follows:
Kirkwood - 156
Palou - 154
Lundgaard - 121
Malukas - 116
Newgarden - 113
O'Ward - 106
McLaughlin - 99
Ericsson - 99
Armstrong - 98
Dixon - 85
All you need to know about Long Beach
A track that has long been a staple of the IndyCar calendar, Long Beach is the longest-running street race in North America, having hosted single-seaters since Formula One visited in 1975. Famed for its picturesque scenery, tight and bumpy nature, overtaking opportunities and perilous walls, Long Beach has all the makings of an elite street circuit, even 51 years later.
It marks maybe the most poignant Long Beach race though, being the first after the passing of Jim Michaelian, one of the original founding members of the race. Michaelian had been the president & CEO of the race since 2001 and had a significant impact on both fans and drivers alike and was instrumental into developing Long Beach into one of the elite weekends of the motorsport calendar.
The circuit measures 1.968 miles (3.167 km) and features 11 turns, six to the right and five to the left. Cars will start Sunday's race down Shoreline Drive and race into the left-hander at Turn 1 which marks the best overtaking opportunity on the track before navigating into the tight, single-file section around the Fountain. Two tricky right-handers at Turns 4 and 5 follow before two overtaking opportunities at the left-hander at Turn 6 and the right-hander at Turn 7.
The run down East Seaside Way into Turn 8 provides the second-best overtaking opportunity on the track into a tricky right-hander, a corner that many have got wrong in recent years. The lap ends with a double-apexed left-hander at Turn 10 before the famous hairpin at Turn 11 ends the lap.
Kirkwood is the defending winner at the track, having dominated proceedings in 2025 from pole position to add to his maiden IndyCar victory which was earned at the circuit in 2023. He will be the favourite heading into this weekend based on his current form, but more on that later.
Scott Dixon is another two-time Long Beach winner having found Victory Lane after a remarkable economy run in 2024 in addition to his success in 2015. Alexander Rossi also finds his way on the two-time winners list having gone back-to-back at Long Beach in 2018 and 2019 when he raced for Andretti. Will Power is the fourth and final driver to have two Long Beach victories having won in 2008 and 2012. Josef Newgarden is the other active winner, having done so in 2022.
The notable absentee on the active winners list is Palou, with Long Beach marking the only road/street venue that the Spaniard hasn't previously won at, barring those that were added onto the schedule this season.
This weekend will also see the return of the single-car qualifying in the Fast Six that was debuted on the Streets of Arlington. The format had mixed reviews previously, notably for Marcus Ericsson taking pole position having had the benefit of running first in the Fast Six with a warmer engine and tyres (after transferring to the Fast Six in sixth), in a format that was seen as one that could punish the faster qualifiers in the Fast 12.
IndyCar have since made procedural changes to the format, with the fastest qualifier from the Fast 12 now able to choose in which position they run in, followed by the second-fastest taking their pick before all positions are filled.
Once the order is determined, teams will make their tyre selection and line up in single file in the order of their qualifying run as they await their qualifying attempt. The format will be continue to be in use for other street course events later in the year at Detroit, Markham and Washington.
Sunday's race will comprise of 90 laps and drivers will have 200 seconds of push-to-pass available with a maximum of 20 seconds per deployment. As usual, Firestone will provide five sets of primary tyres and five sets of alternates with rookies provided an additional set of primary tyres. As per the updated street course tyre rules for 2026, teams will have to run two sets of alternate tyres in the race as well as one set of primaries.
What to look out for at Long Beach
It feels incredibly rare that we preview an IndyCar road/street weekend without Palou being the favourite, but Kirkwood's Long Beach record combined with his recent form puts him as the man to beat this weekend.
Kirkwood remains the only driver this season to finish in the top five in every race and for the first time in his career, leads the championship standings. Kirkwood has never finished outside the top 10 in Long Beach in four attempts (including his rookie year at AJ Foyt Racing where Long Beach was his only top 10 finish), and has not finished outside the top 10 on a street course since 2023. What may give Kirkwood even more confidence is that he hunted down Palou for victory on the Streets of Arlington on a circuit with characteristics comparable to that of Long Beach.
That does not mean Palou can be counted out though. He has finished either first or second in every road/street course race this season and lies just two points from the championship lead. He may be winless, but in five visits to Long Beach, Palou has never finished outside the top five and has three podiums to his name at the venue and will be looking to finally tick it off his winless list.
Andretti Global's street course form is certainly not exclusive to Kirkwood though. Power may not have won at Long Beach in 14 years, but his third-place run at Arlington was certainly his best in Andretti colours this year, and the team showed competitively across all three cars in the Lone Star State (as well as generally stronger pace at St. Pete and Barber).
Marcus Ericsson has already beaten his total top 10 finishes for 2025 after a ninth-place finish at Barber, and Long Beach has always been a favourable track for the Swede, particularly when it comes to qualifying. Ericsson has qualified on the front row in both street courses so far this season.
Team Penske have generally lacked the pace of both Andretti and Ganassi on road/street courses in recent times and haven't been in victory contention at Long Beach since Newgarden's triumph in 2022. David Malukas has been impressive so far this season, being only an unfortunate tyre delamination away from finishing in the top 10 in every race this season. However, Malukas' best Long Beach finish is just 17th, and he will be looking to improve upon such results this weekend.
A big weekend is also needed for Scott McLaughlin after costly crashes in Arlington and Barber have put him on the back foot compared to his teammates early doors in 2026. Long Beach has not traditionally been a good venue for McLaughlin though, with a best finish of sixth place.
Long Beach has never been a strong venue for Arrow McLaren, but Lundgaard claimed a hard-fought podium after crashing in qualifying last year. Lundgaard has generally had the upper hand on road/street courses over Pato O'Ward, who has traditionally struggled at Long Beach and will be looking to bounce back after a difficult Barber race.
Keep an eye out for Meyer Shank Racing who have showed very well on the California streets in recent seasons. Felix Rosenqvist took pole in 2024 and finished fourth last season and has had an exemplary Long Beach qualifying record throughout his IndyCar career and will be looking to finally claim a top 10 finish this season. Although not one of his best tracks, don't count out Marcus Armstrong for a strong result either.
Look out for Rahal this weekend too after his podium at Barber. RLL's form has been very hit-and-miss to begin 2026, could Long Beach finally start to provide the consistency they are looking for?
But you can always expect the unexpected at Long Beach! Even a caution-free race last year, both Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb earned top 10 finishes if you can get on the right strategy at the right time.
Looking at the Rookie of the Year battle, Dennis Hauger to continues to maintain the lead he has held since St. Petersburg, but has since seen his gap shrink to just six points over Caio Collet. Mick Schumacher lies 20 points off Collet in the points standings.
Timings
IndyCar Practice 1: 15:05 PT (23:05 GMT) Friday
IndyCar Practice 2: 10:35 PT (18:05 GMT) Saturday
IndyCar Qualifying: 15:30 PT (23:30 GMT) Saturday
Warm-up: 10:10 PT (18:10 BST) Sunday
Grand Prix of Long Beach: 14:57 PT (22:57 BST) Sunday
It may come either side of a three week break, but there's no opportunity to rest at the perilous streets of Long Beach. Can anybody topple Kirkwood on the Long Beach streets? Can Palou finally break his Long Beach duck? Will the updated qualifying format prove a success? There's plenty to look out for heading into the weekend.
DIVEBOMB will bring you all the news and updates throughout the weekend as well as post-race analysis. The final question that remains is who will come out on top on the California coast?
