IndyCar results and points standings after Long Beach

By Sep 26, 2021, 8:00 PM EDT
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IndyCar Long Beach results and points standings: Colton Herta closed the 2021 season with his second consecutive victory, and Alex Palou clinched his first championship Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Unlike his other two victories this season (which came from the pole position at St. Petersburg and Laguna Seca), Herta charged from the 14th starting position after a surprising elimination in first-round qualifying. The native of nearby Santa Clarita, California, said his sixth career victory was his most special in IndyCar.

“This is the biggest race for me outside of (the Indy 500),” Herta said. “This is the first race I ever was able to come to; I was two weeks old when I first came to Long Beach. My father (Bryan, now his strategist) was driving in 2000. It was the only race I could go to because I was so young, and I couldn’t fly yet. Lucky enough that it came around.

“I remember growing up around here, coming to this race every year when I was 5, 6, 7, all the way up until I was racing in IndyCar in 2019. I can’t believe I won it on my second try. I’m super happy. This is a big one for me.”

Palou, who had three victories this season starting with the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park, became the first IndyCar champion from Spain.

“I’m happy to see that,” he said. “I’m happy to see the success here. It’s going to open some eyes in Spain, and more people (are) going to discover IndyCar. They are going to fall in love with it. That’s amazing. Exactly what we needed.”

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach:

RESULTS

Click here for the box score from the 85-lap race on the streets of Long Beach. Click here for the lap leader chart.

Here is the finishing order in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out:

1. (14) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
3. (2) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
4. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
5. (4) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 85, Running
6. (15) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 85, Running
7. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 85, Running
8. (22) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 85, Running
9. (16) Takuma Sato, Honda, 85, Running
10. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
11. (13) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running
12. (9) Ed Jones, Honda, 85, Running
13. (5) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 85, Running
14. (7) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 85, Running
15. (23) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 85, Running
16. (19) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
17. (27) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 85, Running
18. (20) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 85, Running
19. (26) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 85, Running
20. (3) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 85, Running
21. (21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 84, Running
22. (28) Oliver Askew, Honda, 83, Running
23. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 83, Running
24. (6) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 75, Contact
25. (24) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 48, Mechanical
26. (18) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 47, Mechanical
27. (8) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 43, Contact
28. (17) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 25, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 91.935 mph; Time of race: 1:49:10.3764; Margin of victory: 0.5883 seconds; Cautions: 4 for 13 laps; Lead changes: 7 among 7 drivers; Lap leaders: Newgarden 1-18; Castroneves 19-33; Herta 34-54; Dixon 55; Harvey 56; Askew 57-59; Rahal 60-63; Herta 64-85.

POINTS

Click here for the points tally in Sunday’s race.

Through 16 races, here are the final points standings for:

Drivers

Engine manufacturers

Entrants

Top 10 in the standings: Palou 549, Newgarden 511, O’Ward 487, Dixon 481, Herta 455, Ericsson 435, Rahal 389, Pagenaud 383, Power 357, Rossi 332

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).