IndyCar Long Beach start times: It’s been barely six months since the last Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, but IndyCar drivers hardly can wait to return to the Southern California street race this weekend.
After crowning Alex Palou as champion in the 2021 finale last September, Long Beach’s marquee event will return to its traditional springtime date for the first time in three years -- reclaiming its mantle as a premier early season stop on the schedule.
“Long Beach is a huge race weekend for us,” said Graham Rahal, whose wife, Courtney, is from nearby Orange County. “Outside of the Indy 500, it’s likely the second largest race of the entire season. Lot of history, always a beautiful place to race, and IndyCar racing and the Long Beach Grand Prix is a huge part of the fabric of Southern California and particularly that city to get it back on track.
“We’re excited to go. It’s become a second home race for me with my wife being from 20 minutes down the road. Lot of family, lot of friends (will attend).”
It’s special as well for Jimmie Johnson, who attended the race often as a kid and had key meetings that helped launch his racing career.
“I’m so excited to get back,” said the El Cajon, California, native, who had an entourage of 80 on hand to watch his 17th in last year’s race. “I had a great experience in the fall, a great run and one of my more competitive races. Hopeful that my progression allows me to qualify higher and run higher in the the race.”
Colton Herta, another Southern California native (from Valencia), is the defending winner at Long Beach, will play host to its 38th IndyCar race.
“It’s always the race that I look forward to the most outside of running the Indy 500,” Herta said. “Long Beach is the race I grew up coming to; it sparked my love for IndyCar racing. Last year I was lucky enough to win, which was just a dream come true. We want to replicate that performance. I think our street course cars were on point at St. Pete and hopefully, that continues this weekend.”
Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi, who hails from northern California in Nevada City, won at Long Beach in 2018-19.
“I’m super stoked to get to Long Beach this weekend,” said Rossi, who will be making his 100th start in the NTT IndyCar Series. “It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite races as it is always nice to be able to race in front of a home crowd. The support that we have there each year is crazy, and it will certainly be pushing us forward to have a great weekend.”
Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):
ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH INDYCAR START TIMES
TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2022.
Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:38 p.m. ET
GREEN FLAG: 3:45 p.m. ET
POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.
Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying Saturday. The race also will be streamed on Peacock (in addition to the NBC Sports App/NBCSports.com streams and the NBC broadcast).
PRACTICE: Friday, 6:15 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 11:45 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, noon (Peacock Premium)
PRACTICE SPEEDS: Session I l Session II l Race-day warmup l Combined
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 3:05 p.m. (Peacock Premium)
RACE DISTANCE: The race is 85 laps (167.28 miles) on a 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course in Long Beach, California.
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.
PUSH TO PASS: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 68 degrees with a 1% chance of rain at the green flag.
STARTING LINEUP: Click here to see how the field will lineup for the green flag
ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 26 drivers racing Sunday at Long Beach
ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH WEEKEND START TIMES
(All times are Eastern)
Friday, April 8
10:45-11:25 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
12:15-1:15 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
1:30-1:50 p.m.: Historic IMSA GTP Challenge (GTP) practice
2:05-2:35 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
3:40-4 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks practice
4:15-6 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
6:15-7:15 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock Premium)
7:30-8 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying
8:10-8:55 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying
9:30-9:50 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge practice
10-11:30 p.m.: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 1
Saturday, April 9
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock Premium)
12:55-1:15 p.m.: Historic IMSA GTP Challenge qualifying
1:45-2:25 p.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup, Race 1
3:05-4:20 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying (Peacock Premium)
5-7 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race (USA, Peacock)
7:30-8 p.m.: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 1
8:15-8:35 p.m.: Historic IMSA GTP Challenge, Race 1
9-9:20 p.m.: Super Drift Challenge practice
9:30-11 p.m.: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 2
Sunday, April 10
Noon: IndyCar warmup (Peacock Premium)
3 p.m.: Driver introductions
3:38 p.m. – Command to start engines
3:45 p.m. – Green flag for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles), NBC and Peacock Premium (live)
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