IndyCar at Long Beach: Start time, how to watch, entry list, etc.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be the 39th Indy car race at an event that started with a Formula 5000 race as the headliner in 1975, and then hosted eight Formula 1 races before switching to CART Indy car in 1984.

Last year, Josef Newgarden of Team Penske outmaneuvered the faster Andretti Autosport car of Romain Grosjean to claim his first Long Beach win. Other former Long Beach winners in the field include Will Power (2008 and ’12), Alexander Rossi (2018 and ’19), Helio Castroneves (2001), Takuma Sato (2013), Scott Dixon (2015), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Colton Herta (2021).

The most number of wins at the venue is six, held by Al Unser Jr., yet while it is often said that qualifying is hugely important at Long Beach, the pole-winner has gone on to win the race just 10 times in the 38 Indy car races here.

This will be the third race for the Firestone Firehawks made with sustainable, domestically sourced guayule rubber. For all of IndyCar’s street races in the 2023 season, Firestone supply tires using a sidewall material made exclusively with rubber derived from the guayule woody desert shrub grown on the company’s own farm in Eloy, AZ. These tires made their debut in last August’s Nashville race, and were used again for this year’s season-opener at St. Petersburg.

When is the IndyCar race at Long Beach?

Date: Friday, April 14 – Sunday, April 16

Start time: Sunday, 12.45pm Pacific Time

How can I watch the IndyCar race at Long Beach?

NBC’s coverage of the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will begin on Sunday, 12.00pm (PT). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC's coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. All IndyCar practice sessions, qualifying and races will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s livestreaming product.

IndyCar broadcast schedule (Pacific Time)

Friday, April 14

3.00-4.15pm – IndyCar practice 1 – Peacock

Saturday, April 15

8.45-9.45am – IndyCar practice 2 – Peacock
12.05-1.20pm – IndyCar qualifying – Peacock

Sunday, April 16

9.00-9.30am – IndyCar warm-up – Peacock
12.00 – NBC Broadcast begins
12.38 – “Drivers, start your engines”
12.45 – Green flag for Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, NTT IndyCar Series RACE (85 laps) – NBC and Peacock

Will the IndyCar race at Long Beach be on the radio?

Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman, Jake Query and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Ryan Myrehn, Alex Wollf and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. All IndyCar practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM IndyCar Nation 160 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85 (Race only), racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar App powered by NTT DATA.

Race Notes

How many laps is the IndyCar race at Long Beach? 85 laps (167.28 miles)

Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course in Long Beach, CA.

Firestone tire allotment: Six primary sets, five alternate sets, with rookies permitted one extra primary set for the Friday afternoon practice session.

Push-to-pass parameters: 200sec total time, with a maximum time of 20sec 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.

2022 GP of Long Beach winner: Josef Newgarden, Team Penske-Chevrolet.

2022 GP of Long Beach pole-winner: Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport-Honda, 1m05.3095s, 108.480mph. This is the qualifying lap record.

Entry list