Postcards from the Paddock - Long Beach
Suffice it to say my weekend at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach did not go as planned! After arriving late Thursday night, Friday was progressing as usual until my voice started to desert me during the lone IndyCar practice broadcast that afternoon. By the time I finished dinner Friday night, I couldn't produce an audible word. That put me in a bit of a panic which only multiplied when I woke up on Saturday morning and found there had been no improvement overnight.
Unfortunately the was no recourse but to sit out Saturday's IndyCar Radio broadcasts and hope that a combination of rest and a myriad of home remedies supplied by helpful folks on Twitter would be enough to coax my voice back to life by the time we came on air for the race on Sunday. This is where I have to offer a great deal of thanks to my co-workers for their understanding and willingness to cover for me on Saturday, in particular Alex Wollf who suddenly found himself as the lone pit reporter covering 27 cars on the least navigable pit lane in IndyCar.
Fortunately a combination of rest, tea, honey, apple cider vinegar, and lots of H2O proved adequate to restore enough of my voice by Sunday that I was able to jump back in for the race broadcast. It was not without apprehension that I gave my first report but to my great relief it held up then and throughout the day. As usual at Long Beach, pit lane proved decisive in the race with good stops and clever strategy ultimately playing a decisive role in Kyle Kirkwood securing his first career win.
Up next for me will be the IndyCar open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this week. We expect 33 of the 34 cars that will be attempting to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 to be there and IndyCar Radio will have coverage for you for the all-skate session from 3-6PM ET on Thursday and all day on Friday. Hope you join us!
Now for some observations from the weekend in racing at large:
The win for Kirkwood should quiet his critics that seemingly had become quite vocal but ultimately very shortsighted. Kyle couldn't help but chuckle when I asked him on Friday if he was tired of talking about his pit lane run-in with Alexander Rossi at Texas, the IndyCar controversy de jour leading in to Long Beach. This win should put an end to that and hopefully stem the tide of criticism that has been levied on him. While it's true that Kirkwood has had his fair share of accidents in his short career (seven crash-related DNFs in his rookie season alone), his junior-category career was nothing short of sterling. In 50 Road to Indy starts, he won no less than 31 times. Yes, the transition to IndyCar had not gone as smoothly as many, myself included, had anticipated but to malign Kirkwood as crash-prone and nothing more always seemed a myopic perspective. In many ways his first season mirrored those of Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta. He's taken his lumps and now looks poised to be a consistent threat for podiums and wins.
Scott Dixon saw a streak of 22 consecutive races without a DNF come to an end on Sunday with an engine-related issue. His was a remarkable streak that dated back to the August 21st, 2021 race at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside of St. Louis. You have to go back all the way to August 24th, 2019 to find the next most recent race that he failed to finish, coincidentally also at WWTR. Incredibly, Dixon has failed to finish just two times in his last 52 starts. Put another way, dating back to the start of the 2020 season Dixon has completed 6,320 of a possible 6,526 laps which works out to just under 97%. That speaks volumes not just for the six-time champ's consistency and acumen but also the level preparation exhibited by his Chip Ganassi Racing team to avoid race-ending calamity.
Quietly, one of the most impressive drives of the day belonged to AJ Foyt Racing's Santino Ferrucci who drove to 11th from 18th on the starting grid. Remarkably, Ferrucci had only made one previous start at Long Beach and that was all the way back in his first full-time season in 2019! His second full season the following year saw Long Beach fall off the schedule due to COVID restrictions in California and despite regular fill-in or part time appearances in IndyCar he had not returned to Long Beach as a driver since making his debut. He had, however, been back as a fan! Ferrucci told me on Friday that he attended the race in 2021 and gave rave reviews of the event from a fan's perspective. “Honestly, this is a great event to spectate. What they do with the fans, where you can watch from, you can actually see a lot for a street course.” If you're thinking about attending the race in the future, he suggested “anything that's up on the catwalk area or by the fountain” as good spots from which to watch the action.
Another quietly impressive performance belonged to rookie Marcus Armstrong who finished a career-best eighth on Sunday, easily the strongest rookie performance in the field. The Kiwi is currently only scheduled to run the road and street courses for Chip Ganassi so missed the second round of the championship at Texas but his two results to date of eleventh at St. Petersburg and eighth at Long Beach have him ahead of all three of his fellow rookies in points despite running one fewer race.
Elsewhere in the points, Marcus Ericsson has reclaimed the points lead with his second podium through three races and is one of just two drivers to finish in the Top 10 in all three races to start the year. The other is is Alex Palou his who third in points with finishes of eighth, third, and fifth so far in 2023. Pato O'Ward, who had a day to forget on Sunday, is second in the standings with the last two race winners Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood fourth and fifth, respectively.
Penske Porsche Motorsport scored an historic win in the IMSA race on Saturday thanks in large part to a tire strategy gamble that paid off in spades. Knowing that all of the GTP class cars were struggling with cold tires on out laps, Penske elected to run a single set of Michelins on both of its cars for the entire race and take only fuel at their pit stop. The gamble paid off and the pair of Porsche 963s ran 1-2 for a time before tire wear began to take its toll. Ultimately Mathieu Jaminet had just enough pace to fend off a hard-charging Ricky Taylor who crashed when trying to pry the lead away from the Frenchman on the penultimate lap. Both Porsches finished on the podium with a BMW sandwiched in between, marking the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship top-class prototype podium without either Acura or Cadillac since the start of the DPi era in 2017.
The win for the Porsche 963 was the first overall victory for a Porsche prototype since CytoSport won the American Le Mans Series event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (née Mosport) with a Porsche RS Spyder in 2010. It also marked the third different GTP manufacturer to go to victory lane in IMSA this season in as many races following Acura's triumph at Daytona and Cadillac's win at Sebring.
Congratulations are in order for Paul Miller Racing which has now won a remarkable three-straight Long Beach races in the GTD class. Next year they will be gunning for Al Unser Junior's record of four consecutive wins at the beach from 1988-1991 in CART.
Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth are the only drivers to finish on the podium in all three IMSA races so far this season in any class. After finishing third at the Rolex 24, the pair of Brits were runners up at Sebring for the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team and now have a comfortable lead in the GTD Pro points standings after winning at Long Beach.
Toyota continued its domination of the FIA WEC hypercar class at Portimao with only a mechanical issue for the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez preventing them from scoring a second 1-2 finish in as many races. As it is, the sister crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa hold the points lead heading into the traditional Le Mans warmup round at Spa later this month while Ferrari continues to be the best of the rest. Of note, Porsche Penske Motorsport scored the first WEC podium for an LMDh-based Hypercar with a third on Sunday.
I’m happy to see Chase Elliott back in the NASCAR Cup field this weekend after recovering from his snowboarding injuries. Finishing in the Top 10 after several weeks out of the car is an impressive feat!
Something to Chew On
It's not a restaurant recommendation per se (although they do have some creative hot dog options and pickled eggs that are apparently renowned) but when in Long Beach do yourself a favor and check out Joe Jost's. It's a dive bar — there's no way around that — but the place has a great atmosphere and enthusiastically loyal patrons. The pub was founded in 1924 and remains in the original family. They claim to be one of the oldest continually operated taverns west of the Mississippi River and who am I to doubt it? The beer is cold and comes in a generously portioned chalice and you have a sense that this is the place to be when you step in the door. Shoutout to my IndyCar Radio co-worker Michael Young for the suggestion. If you check it out (located at 2803 E Anaheim St) make sure you've hit the ATM first because just like it was back in 1924, it's a cash-only experience.
—Ryan
