Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is back — all the way
It's back. All the way back.
This weekend will be the 48th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, a three-day celebration of all things automotive that culminates with the NTT IndyCar Series main event Sunday — 85 laps around the temporary road course snaking around the city's Convention & Entertainment Center.
I just checked the longrange weather forecast, and I'm happy to report that we're going to have another weekend of Chris Pook weather. That means that no matter what we've experienced leading up to race weekend, the sun will come out when the celebrity starter says, “Drivers, start your engines.” (That used to be “Gentlemen, start your engines,” but, well, you know.)
It's more properly called Grand Prix weather now, since Jim Michaelian took over as president and CEO of the Long Beach Grand Prix Association in 2001.
But to me, that Sunday sunshine will forever be the founder's legacy.
Today, Long Beach is the longest-running street race in America, and second only to the Indy 500 both in terms of prestige and attendance. But it hasn't always been easy, and the future of the race has been in doubt more than once.
There was the shift from Formula One to IndyCar — would anyone care about Long Beach anymore? Then IndyCar itself appeared ready to fall apart — Pook stepped up to try to save it. It was a concern when Toyota ended its 44-year title sponsorship, but Acura (Honda's upscale brand) came riding in.
But the biggest threat, at least in my memory, came with the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time ever, the 2020 Grand Prix was first postponed, then canceled. This was after the course was mostly built — that costs money, you know.
The race would be back next year, right? It didn't look good, as the pandemic surged going into 2021 and the decision was made
to postpone building the track again. As COVID-19 ran its course (see what I did there?), a deal was cut with IndyCar and Long Beach was added at the end of the schedule, running at the end of September.
It was a bare-bones affair, but the race and its support races took place. Some folks showed up to watch. Michaelian always keeps numbers close to his chest, but the event appeared to break even.
And it was back again just a few months later, when the 2022 Acura Grand Prix returned to its regular April slot. It felt like 2022 track construction began just a few days after the 2021 teardown was completed.
Most of the support events, including the Saturday rock concert, returned in 2022, and most of the people returned, too. Friday crowds were a little light and the Lifestyle Expo was a bit sparse, but by the time the green flag dropped Sunday, fans filled the grandstands.
This year, the 200 mph Beach Party has come roaring back. The Grand Prix Foundation's Run The Course 5K attracted more than 1,000 runners and walkers April 2. Thunder Thursday has a full slate of activities.
When the gates opened Friday, literally everything that has been on the course in the past was there again, plus more. Fiesta Friday, the Latinothemed concert, returned for the first time since 2019. Over the weekend, there are drifters, super trucks, a nod today to the Formula One roots with a Historic F1 race, a Porsche Cup and, of course, the IndyCars.
This is supposed to be a personal column, so I'll end with a personal Grand Prix note. I was introduced to the phenomenon in 1992 — it was the first big event I covered. Since then, I've missed two races. I was in the hospital both times; once for a bleeding ulcer and once watching my father die of lung cancer.
I'll be back this weekend, watching the people and watching the cars. We're all the way back.
Let's go racing.