Long Beach Grand Prix is rescheduled for Sept. 26 as 2021 IndyCar season finale

By Dec 17, 2020, 1:00 PM EST
IndyCar Long Beach finale
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The NTT IndyCar Series will move the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to its season finale, marking the second consecutive year the schedule will end on a street course because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Long Beach race has been rescheduled to Sept. 26 from its traditional April date. IndyCar will conclude the season with a three-race West Coast stretch of Long Beach, Portland International Raceway (Sept. 12) and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (whose Sept. 19 race originally was intended as the finale). St. Petersburg closed the 2020 season after being slated as the season opener before it was postponed March 13.

Long Beach has been an IndyCar fixture for more than three decades; the cancellation of the 2020 event because of COVID-19 marked the first time the crown jewel (which was a Formula One race from 1976-83 prior to IndyCar) wasn’t held in 44 years.

“It is important to have Long Beach rescheduled to continue the history and tradition for one of the series’ hallmark events in one of the nation’s premier media markets,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said in an IndyCar release Thursday.

“Further, it’s a tremendous opportunity to wrap up the season with three straight iconic venues for what we believe will be our most exciting season yet. As we did during the 2020 season, we will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and maintain flexibility across our schedule. We are committed to an action-packed and exhilarating 2021 NTT IndyCar SERIES.”

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series also announced its Long Beach race would be moved to Sept. 25, along with the rescheduling of its race weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to Sept. 10-12.

This will be the first time a Long Beach race weekend is held in September during its history and will be the 37th time that IndyCar has raced the street circuit in Southern California. Alexander Rossi won the most recent two races in 2018-19, driving the No. 27 Dallara-Honda for Andretti Autosport.

“I want to thank all of the officials at IndyCar for their assistance in rescheduling the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to September,” Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Michaelian said in a release. “We believe that this move will afford us the best opportunity to provide our guests with a fun and exciting experience in a safe and unrestricted environment. It will be a welcome sight to see the NTT IndyCar Series cars and stars back on the downtown streets of Long Beach in the fall.”

Long Beach initially had been scheduled for April 18 on the 2021 IndyCar schedule that was released Oct. 1. With its move, IndyCar now will have four events ahead of the 105th Indianapolis 500: the March 7 season opener at St. Pete, Barber Motorsports Park (April 11), a doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway (May 1-2) and the Indianapolis Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (May 15).

IndyCar said it will update green flag times for its 2021 schedule in the future.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”