IMSA Long Beach start times: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will hold its shortest race of the season Saturday with a 100-minute sprint around the streets of Southern California in the Acura Grand Prix.
It’s the first IMSA race at the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course in more than two years after the 2020 race was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There will be 26 cars featured over three divisions as the GTD class returns for the first time at Long Beach since 2017.
With two races remaining in the 2021 DPi season (which will conclude Nov. 13 with the Petit Le Mans), the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque has a 98-point lead on the No. 31 Action Express Whelen Engineering Cadillac of Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani.
The GT cars have three races left with the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GTE of Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley leading by 27 points on the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R of Zach Robichon and Laurens Vanthoor.
Colin Braun, who races full time in LMP3, will making his first GT start since 2017 when he shares the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 with Daniel Mancinelli at Long Beach
Here are the start times, starting lineup, schedule and TV info for the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (all times are ET):
IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach start times, schedule, TV info
When: Saturday, 5:05 p.m. ET
Race distance: One hour, 40 minutes on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course
Forecast: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 77 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the green flag.
Entry list: Click here to see the 26-car field over three divisions for the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
RACE BROADCAST IMSA LONG BEACH
TV: 5 p.m. ET, NBCSN.
TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold Coverage: Live flag to flag beginning at 5 p.m. ET. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and Calvin Fish and pit reporters Kevin Lee and Marty Snider.
Race streaming: NBC Sports App, NBCSports.com and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold
IMSA.com live qualifying stream: Friday, Sept. 24, 7:45 p.m. ET.
IMSA Radio: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage will begin Saturday at 5 p.m. (Sirius 216, XM 202, Internet 992).
DAILY SCHEDULE IMSA LONG BEACH
Here’s a rundown of the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach(all times ET):
Friday, Sept. 24
Noon-12:20 p.m.: Historic Formula Atlanta Challenge practice
12:45-1:45 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
2:10-2:30 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks practice
3:35-4 p.m.: Global Time Attack practice
4:20-5:35 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
6:15-6:45 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice
7-7:20 p.m.: Historic Formula Atlanta Challenge qualifying
7:45-8:55 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying
9:15-9:35 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge practice
9:45-11:15 p.m.: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 1
Saturday, Sept. 25
Noon-12:45 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice
1:05-1:35 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 1
2:05-2:20 p.m.: Global Time Attack, Race 1
3:05-4:20 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying
5:05-6:45 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race
7:30-7:50 p.m.: Historic Formula Atlanta Challenge, Race 1
8:30-8:50 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge practice
9-10:30 p.m.:Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 2