{"id":271811,"date":"2026-04-17T02:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271811\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T02:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T02:01:23","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2026-long-beach-grand-prix-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271811\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about the 2026 Long Beach Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The high-powered Indy cars that will be racing in Sunday\u2019s Grand Prix of Long Beach<\/a> will burn about two gallons of fuel on each of their 90 trips around the tight 1.968-mile street course.<\/p>\n

So if all 27 cars that start the race also finish it, the field will use 4,860 gallons of fuel. And that doesn\u2019t include the fuel used in qualifying or in the other five classifications of cars that will be participating in the three days of racing in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s a lot of fuel for drivers who will end up in the same place they started, especially when seven weeks of war in the Middle East has driven the price of gasoline to record highs. However, the fuel the IndyCar series uses differs significantly from what comes out of the pump at the gas station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year marks the fourth season that IndyCar\u00a0has used 100% renewable race fuel for the NTT IndyCar Series\u00a0\u2014 the first motorsport series in North America to utilize this type of fuel,\u201d\u00a0an IndyCar spokesperson wrote in a statement. \u201cDeveloped through a collaboration with Shell, this innovative fuel consists of a blend of second-generation ethanol derived from sugarcane waste and other biofuels mainly derived from animal waste. The use of this renewable race fuel enables a 60% reduction in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: Why Kyle Kirkwood is primed for another Grand Prix of Long Beach win<\/a><\/p>\n

So while driving Indy cars 177 miles in a circle may seem wasteful during a gas crunch, Sunday\u2019s race will have a negligible affect on the price and availability of fuel at service stations. The greater impact will be made by fans driving to Long Beach; last year\u2019s three-day race weekend drew more than 200,000 people.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not how you start, but how you finish<\/p>\n

Although drivers insist qualifying well is important on the narrow 11-turn Long Beach course, winning the pole has rarely guaranteed success on race day: Last spring Kyle Kirkwood<\/a> became just the sixth driver to win after starting No. 1<\/a>; Alexander Rossi also did that in 2018-19.<\/p>\n

Those six drivers \u2014 Kirkwood, Rossi,\u00a0Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Helio Castroneves\u00a0and\u00a0Sebastien Bourdais\u00a0\u2014\u00a0combined for\u00a012 victories after qualifying fastest.<\/p>\n

Read more: Kyle Kirkwood cruises to easy victory in Long Beach Grand Prix<\/a><\/p>\n

Kirkwood comes into the race with a two-point lead over defending champion Alex Palou in the season standings and is the only driver to finish in the top five in all four IndyCar events this season. No active driver has won at Long Beach more often Rossi or Kirkwood, who also took the checkered flag in 2023.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a guide to the weekend:<\/p>\n

Tickets<\/p>\n

General admission, Friday, $58; Saturday, $107; Sunday, $113. General admission tickets come with unreserved seating on Friday and Saturday but not on Sunday. Three-day package, $151.<\/p>\n

Reserved seating, Saturday $116; Sunday prices range from $127\u00a0to $144\u00a0for adults and $96\u00a0to $111\u00a0for juniors. Three-day packages, $165-$228\u00a0for adults and $131-$180 for juniors, depending on seating.<\/p>\n

Tickets are available at\u00a0gplb.com\/tickets<\/a><\/p>\n

Thursday<\/p>\n

Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony,\u00a011 a.m.-noon in front of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center on South Pine Avenue. Rossi, a two-time Grand Prix winner, and former Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster will be honored, free to attend.<\/p>\n

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Thunder Thursday at the Pike Outlets,\u00a0Pike Outlets, 95 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach. 6-10 p.m. \u2014 Freestyle motocross demonstrations and pit-stop competition with cars representing four IndyCar teams, along with a beer garden, live music, race car displays and a classic car show.<\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

7:30 a.m.,\u00a0gates open;\u00a07:45-8:15 a.m., Porsche Carrera Cup practice #1;\u00a08:25-8:45\u00a0a.m., Historic Sports Car practice #1,\u00a09-10 a.m., IMSA practice #1;\u00a010:15-10:45\u00a0a.m.,\u00a0Stadium Super Trucks practice;\u00a011:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Porsche Carrera Cup practice #2;\u00a012:30-12:50\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0Historic Sports Cars practice #2;\u00a01:10-2:40 p.m.., IMSA practice #2;\u00a03-4:30\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0IndyCar practice #1;\u00a04:40-5:10 p.m.,\u00a0Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying;\u00a05:15-6:15\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0IndyCar Series all-driver autograph session, Grand Ballroom, Long Beach Convention Center;\u00a05:25-6\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0IMSA qualifying;\u00a06:30-8:30 p.m.,\u00a0Super Drift Challenge #1;\u00a06:30-8:30 p.m.,\u00a0concert starting Lupe Fiasco at Terrace Theater plaza, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.<\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

7:30 a.m.,\u00a0gates open;\u00a08:30-8:50 a.m.,\u00a0Historic Sports Car Challenge #1;\u00a09:05-9:45\u00a0a.m.,\u00a0Porsche Carrera Cup Race #1;\u00a010:30-noon,\u00a0IndyCar practice #2;\u00a010:30-11 a.m.,\u00a0IMSA autographer session (IMSA paddock);\u00a011:45\u00a0a.m.-12:15\u00a0p.m., Porsche Carrera Cup autograph session, Porsche Carrera Cup paddock, main expo hall;\u00a012:05-1\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0IMSA pre-race;\u00a01-3 p.m.,\u00a0IMSA Sports Car Grand Prix (100 min.);\u00a03:30-5\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0IndyCar qualifying;\u00a05:15-5:45\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0Stadium Super Trucks race #1;\u00a06:30-8:30\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0Super Drift Challenge #2;\u00a06:30-8 p.m., Concert featring Kings of Chaos, Terrace Theater plaza, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.<\/p>\n

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Sunday<\/p>\n

7:30 a.m., gates open;\u00a09:20-9:40 a.m.,\u00a0Historic Sports Car Challenge #2;\u00a010-10:30 a.m.,\u00a0IndyCar warmup;\u00a011:20 a.m.-noon,\u00a0Porsche Carrera Cup race #2;\u00a012:15-12:45\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0Stadium Super Tracks race #2;\u00a012:55-1:10\u00a0p.m.,\u00a0Mornings CARnival car parade;\u00a01:30-2:30 p.m.,\u00a0IndyCar pre-race;\u00a02:45\u00a0p.m.-5 p.m.,\u00a0Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.<\/p>\n

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The high-powered Indy cars that will be racing in Sunday\u2019s Grand Prix of Long Beach will burn about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[116405,117936,116406,131,28942,133,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-271811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-alexander-rossi","9":"tag-indy-cars","10":"tag-kyle-kirkwood","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-grand-prix","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}