Musings From the Weekend: Farewells and the Future

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Of all the drivers in the world, Álex Palou caught a break to win the IndyCar race from Long Beach. But remember, only twice has a driver won Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. Which means Palou is going to become the third. NASCAR had a solid race from Kansas. The party was spoiled in Imola. Supercross lost a championship contender before the race even started in Cleveland. However, another year in Long Beach but this time without an old friend made me wonder. 

Farewells and the Future

James Hinchcliffe got me thinking after listening to the latest episode of Off Track with Hinch and Rossi on Thursday. On the show, Hinchcliffe mentioned the melancholia that was hanging over this year's Grand Prix of Long Beach after the passing of long-time event president Jim Michaelian on March 21, aged 83.

Michaelian was instrumental in the development of the Long Beach race from its early days hosting Formula One though the present where it has become an encompassing week of racing starting with Formula Drift before hosting IndyCar and IMSA with Stadium Super Trucks also on the bill. Long Beach is not what it is without Michaelian's work for 50-plus years. I highly recommend listening to Dinner with Racers' podcast with Michaelian to learn more about the event. 

It is a reminder that many of these torchbearers for American motorsports are getting older and will not be around forever. So many people involved in all forms of American motorsports, IndyCar, IMSA, NASCAR included, have been around for decades and decades, and there are many prominent names still in charge and active deep into their 70s and 80s. Some of these individuals have seen significant changes not only from what is on the track but how events operate and procedures surrounding events. They are living history books, but they will not be around forever. 

There is a difficulty in moving forward without someone like Michaelian around. Long Beach is the one successful street race in the United States. It has lasted more than half a century. Most street races in the United States don't even make it three years. They are lucky to see five years. There have been a few other outliers and the likes of St. Petersburg deserves its recognition as it closes in on a quarter-century, but none have come close to what Long Beach has become and what it has meant. 

Long Beach is arguably an underrated event, even in the United States. The quintessential American street race isn't appointment viewing for the casual sports fan. Few motorsports events are, but Long Beach deserves it. It has long been a gathering of the top competitors in American motorsport with IndyCar and IMSA racing together, but prior to that with Trans-Am as well. It is an event steeped in history, and much of the course is the same. It has had a few alterations. The fountain section has only been around for about half its existence, but it is still Shoreline Drive. It is still Seaside Way. It is still the hairpin. Hell, even Monaco has had some minor alternations in its near century of hosting races but the hairpin and the chicane and Casino Square have all been there. 

It is a special event to motorsports fans, but it should be greater than what it is. 

The future is tough in these moments, but it was already being considered. Michaelian was planning to step down after this year's race. IndyCar purchased the Long Beach race in November 2024, securing the event for years to come and preventing it from possibly taking on another headliner. Everything changes, and someday someone else would be in charge. Now that day is here. We were always going to have to face this moment. 

With the steadiness Michaelian had running Long Beach through many difficult periods of American open-wheel racing, the challenge will be on the next generation and IndyCar to keep the event going. I don't think that will be an issue, but Michaelian had a special touch. It was a local running the event, and IndyCar is based in Indiana. There will be a challenge to keep the connection communal. It must feel like this is a grassroots event with someone who cares about Long Beach and wanting what is best for the event and the city. It is going to become a little more corporate with IndyCar in charge. The goal will be to lessen the friction and not have the race evolve into a hinderance.

Scheduling has not been easy for IndyCar in recent years. Who are we kidding? It hasn't been easy in a long time, possibly ever. There is always a battle to keep a race alive and keep the fans interested. Iowa was once a jewel for the series, and we saw how that deteriorated. The series has no roots in the Northeast, and you could argue it has no roots on the entire East Coast. It just returned to Texas after a brief spell away. There are still geographical pockets where IndyCar is absent. Efforts are always being explored to expand, but IndyCar isn't the quickest to lay down a foundation. It will put off taking a risk for years and still not do a thing. 

Long Beach represents the best that can happen. It is on its own as a street race, but it does show an event can form from nothing more than a hope and prayer, and transform into an annual gathering that all celebrate. There is always a way to reach people and connect with people who are looking for an event of their own, something that is a planned weekend months in advance. It doesn't have to be a street race. It could be a short oval or a intermediate-sized road course. An event can rise up and become more than a race weekend. It can become a community celebration that is largely successful because the locals show up and the visitors coming from far and wide are the cherry on top. 

If every event could be half as successful as Long Beach, IndyCar would be in a tremendous spot. There are plenty of events outside of this one and the Indianapolis 500 that have strong support, but around a third of the race weekends are hit-or-miss. You aren't sure if they will be good, and if things do not change, the series will have to start over somewhere else. It is a return to square one. 

The beacon of hope is Long Beach. If it can work there for over 50 years, there is a way for any location to host an event. It just takes the right guidance.  

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

The #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly won the IMSA race from Long Beach. The #12 VasserSullivan Lexus of Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pederson won in GTD.

The #7 Toyota of Sébastien Buemi, Brandon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa won the 6 Hours of Imola. The #69 Team WRT BMW of Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson won in LMGT3.

Tyler Reddick won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas, his fifth victory of the season. Taylor Gray won the Grand National Series race.

Nicolò Bulega swept the World Superbike races from Assen, and Bulega is nine-for-nine this season. Jaume Masià and Philipp Öttl split the World Supersport races.

Kai Allen (race one), Brodie Kostecki (race two) and Matt Payne (races three and four) split the Supercars races from Ruapuna Park. 

Ken Roczen won the triple crown Supercross round from Cleveland with finishes of second, second and first. Hunter Lawrence and Justin Cooper won the first two races. Nate Thrasher won the 250cc triple crown round with finishes of second, first and fourth. Seth Hammaker and Cole Davies won the other two races. 

Coming Up This Weekend

MotoGP is back with the Spanish Grand Prix from Jerez. 

NASCAR is at Talladega.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters opens its season at the Red Bull Ring.

Super Formula has its second round from Autopolis.

GT World Challenge America heads to Austin.

The World Rally Championship ventures to the Canary Islands.

Supercross has its final East Coast round in Philadelphia. 

First Impressions: Long Beach 2026

1. In one of the more pedestrian IndyCar races, Álex Palou won after catching a break he never needed. A piece of debris led to the only caution, and it fell right as the final pit window opened. After spending much of the race chasing Felix Rosenqvist, the race would come down to one pit stop. Palou's crew was about a second faster and that was all he needed. Palou emerged from the pit lane clear of Rosenqvist, and for the remainder of the race, he was never challenged.

Palou drove off into the sunset and took his third victory of the season.

What else can you say? It wasn't Palou's victory. This goes down to the pit crew. It goes down to Chip Ganassi Racing. It goes down to the best team in IndyCar over the last 30 years being the best team in IndyCar on this Sunday afternoon in Long Beach. Palou didn't do anything wrong in this race. He started third and found himself in second. Rosenqvist had a great start and he drove away. When the caution came out, the race turned into one trip down the pit lane. Chip Ganassi Racing has the best personnel. Team Penske has an argument, but when it came down to one pit stop to decide the race under caution, who were you going to back, Chip Ganassi Racing or Meyer Shank Racing?

Once ahead, Palou was gone. You didn't need to give him a clear racetrack. In a race where no one was making passes anywhere, it would have required another Mid-Ohio-esque brain fade for Palou to lose this race. Do we really think that was going to happen again?

It was a brief detour, but Palou is back in the championship lead. Do we think he is going to lose it again this season?

2. This is a bummer for Felix Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank Racing because they were near-flawless today. It wasn't even a poor pit stop that cost them. That pit stop under green flag conditions would have been perfect, job done, and Rosenqvist would have maintained the lead. Under caution, it was a dagger.

MSR and Rosenqvist have been close for three years. They have these races where they are in the top five, but it doesn't lead to more. They don't find that next level and jump from third to first. They don't maintain the top speed and hold on to win. Today, they did. This wasn't like two years ago when Rosenqvist started on pole position at Long Beach and then dropped down the order ultimately to finish ninth. The team was locked in today, it just didn't add up to a victory.

3. Scott Dixon's third-place finish also comes down to the final round of pit stops. It leaped him into a podium position after Dixon spent practically the entire race in the top five. Dixon got a gift. He didn't need it, but he got it, and it makes his first top five finish look a lot better.

4. Kyle Kirkwood started fourth and he finished fourth. I am not sure he spent a lap outside of fourth. The worst part of this day is Kirkwood lost the championship lead to Palou. Palou was a little better but I don't think Palou was three spots better. Palou got some breaks. Kirkwood didn't. The championship swung 19 points and it is now 17 points in Palou's favor instead of two in Kirkwood's.

For Kirkwood... ok, move on. Points were lost but this wasn't a "back to the drawing board" result. The team did well. It ended up being Palou's day. Turn your attention to the next race and go from there.

5. I am not sure you can say anything strongly positively or negatively about 21 drivers in this race. Few did anything great. Few did anything notably wrong. It was not a thrilling event. These races happen. They cannot always be classics. They aren't always this bland either. These races happen.

Is it frustrating that it seems like one year IndyCar has the tire wear where it should be and drivers and teams have to try and save the tire... and then the next it doesn't matter? Yes.

Tires didn't make a difference today. IndyCar made a rule where every team must use the alternate compound twice, but that still means races can be two-stop races. If it wants three stops and teams pushing, either make the alternate tire or primary tire junk way before a team reaches an empty fuel cell or make it so each team must use each tire compound twice. We have been saying this after each street course race this season.

6. Patricio O'Ward dropped from second to fifth. Yep. That happened. There is only one spot ahead of you when starting second and there are 23 behind you. You are more likely to drop than rise. O'Ward didn't quite have it for any of the Hondas.

7. Scott McLaughlin won the Team Penske class today, finishing sixth after starting eighth. David Malukas was seventh after starting fifth. Team Penske is stuck in the middle of the top ten if it isn't an oval. Has Team Penske been a threat anywhere but Phoenix this year? McLaughlin led the first 34 laps of the season but even at St. Petersburg it felt like the race was going away from Team Penske.

In a way, this is a good result for Malukas. He lost two spots, but he still ran in the top ten. He didn't look lost. He ran well. It is good that he is finishing in the top ten. This is something he was not doing on street courses on a regular basis in the first four seasons of his career.

8. Graham Rahal stayed in the top ten all day and finished eighth. Good. Rahal and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing needs these kinds of days. RLLR struggled everywhere not long ago. Rahal had finished 18th in the first two street course races this season. Eighth is a healthy leap forward.

9. Alexander Rossi went from 18th to ninth to get Ed Carpenter Racing its first top ten finish at Long Beach since 2017. Rossi did make some passes to get a few spots. He was pushing Rahal at the finish for eighth. Not a fantastic day but it could have been worse.

10. Kyffin Simpson didn't do anything flashy, and he finished tenth. Good for him.

11. We can breeze through much of the field.

Dennis Hauger drove a clean race and finished 11th. Nolan Siegel did nothing wrong and finished 12th. Both these guys also ran a two-stopper. The top 12 finishers all ran two stoppers. We saw this two years ago when the top 14 finishers all were two-stoppers. One fewer pit stop is an easy way to make up some spots when it is not quicker to stop three times.

12. Speaking of the three-stoppers, Rinus VeeKay committed early, and it is rather impressive he recovered to finish 13th. Josef Newgarden jumped onto the three-stopper and it allowed him to lead a handful of laps. For a moment, it looked like it could work in Newgarden's favor, but once he was back in traffic after his second stop, Newgarden stalled out and this strategy left him dead to rights. He was not going to turn it into some sort of run into the top five. Newgarden could not work his magic on slightly fresher tires.

Once the caution came out, Newgarden's race was over. He wasn't going to crack the top ten. He finished where he started in14th.

Christian Rasmussen also ran a three-stop race and was 15th. That is all.

13. The only driver I think who had a truly bad day was Louis Foster, and maybe Will Power because Power lost a possible top five finisher due to a penalty for hitting a Caio Collet crew member during the final pit cycle. I guess Collet's crew member also had a bad day.

Foster was positioned to get his first career top ten finish, and then he lost speed in the final stint. It sounded like he was battling some kind of mechanical issue. He was losing time, and he dropped like a rock. If the car let him down it is brutal because Foster put himself in the spot for the top ten. This result was not indicative of how Foster raced today.

14. Mick Schumacher got to complete every lap. He was 17th. It is good he ran every lap.

Santino Ferrucci was 18th and didn't get noticed.

It is a typical Will Power day where he lost a promising finish in a crazy manner. Add "hit another team's crew member" to the list. It is a shame because Power drove well. He has left a lot of points on the table this season.

Christian Lundgaard had a bad day. The three-stop strategy didn't work. He was not a factor in this one. Lundgaard and Arrow McLaren had these races last year. When they were not on it, they could not figure it out. That is a problem when Álex Palou keeps winning and Kyle Kirkwood keeps finishing in the top five.

15. Romain Grosjean didn't have a great weekend. I am sure he isn't pleased. There was the practice accident on Saturday that set him back. The pace wasn't all that blistering before the accident. It is Dale Coyne Racing. You can only work so many miracles.

I don't know if the pit crew incident with Will Power hurt Caio Collet's day at all. I don't recall hearing him at all prior to that. He was 22nd. That is where rookies finish.

Sting Ray Robb was 23rd. Robb has gone from three consecutive 21st-place finishes to 22nd to 23rd. He is heading in the wrong direction.

16. Marcus Armstrong had to make an unscheduled pit stop late and it cost him a better finish than 24th, one-lap down.

Marcus Ericsson had hybrid issues end his day early.

Not a good day to be a Marcus.

17. Not the greatest race in the world. It is easy to over-react. We touched upon the tires above, but how about all these people, who were probably upset and calling it a snoozer as Rosenqvist was running away with it only to get a caution to hopefully liven up the race and it turned into be what handed Palou another victory? Yeah, I am sure that is what they wanted to see. Be careful of what you wish for.

Also, the worst time for a caution is right when the final pit window opens. Everyone is going to come! There is no strategy there. Everyone is going to do the same thing, and there is never a straight-up battle that is spectacular.

18. And onto another two-week break. There will be testing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval during this spell. It is something to keep us busy. It is all Indianapolis from now until May 29. I guess it is that time of the year.

Morning Warm-Up: Long Beach 2026

Felix Rosenqvist took pole position for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with a lap at 67.4635 seconds in the final round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon. It is Rosenqvist’s seven career pole position, and his first since he won pole at Long Beach in 2024. Rosenqvist has three consecutive top ten finishes at Long Beach, and his fourth-place finish last year was his best result in this race. The Swede enters this weekend 96 starts removed from his only career victory at Road America in 2020. Meyer Shank Racing won the IMSA race on Saturday from pole position with Renger van der Zande and Nicky Yelloly in the #93 Acura. Hélio Castroneves’ 2021 Indianapolis 500 victory remains MSR’s only IndyCar victory. 

Patricio O'Ward was 0.0441 seconds off Rosenqvist’s pole-winning time and O’Ward will start second. It is his best starting position of the season, and it is his best Long Beach start. Long Beach is historically one of O'Ward's worst races. He was fifth in 2022, but he has an average finish of 15th in six starts with three finishes outside the top fifteen. In his last 14 starts, O’Ward has ten top five finishes and four finishes of 17th or worse. 

Álex Palou takes third after running 0.0654 seconds off the top time. Palou could become the sixth different driver to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach for Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex Zanardi and Scott Dixon have each won the race twice for Ganassi. Jimmy Vasser, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti each won it once. No Long Beach winner has started third since Simon Pagenaud in 2016. 

Kyle Kirkwood starts to Palou’s outside. Kirkwood is looking for his fifth consecutive top five finish. The most recent Andretti Global driver to have five consecutive top five finishes was Alexander Rossi, who had six consecutive top five finishes from the Indianapolis 500 through Toronto in 2019. No Long Beach winner has started third since James Hinchcliffe in 2017. 

David Malukas rounds out the top five, a personal best for Malukas at Long Beach. This is the fourth consecutive race Malukas is the top Team Penske starter. Last year, Malukas picked up personal bests in starting position and finishing position at Long Beach. While he started tenth, he ended up finishing 17th. It was his first lead lap finish at Long Beach. 

Scott Dixon starts in the top ten for the first time this season in sixth. Dixon has finished in the top ten of the last three races, but none of those results were in the top five. He has not had four consecutive top ten finishes that were also not top five finishes since 2020 when he was tenth in both races of the Mid-Ohio doubleheader and then ninth in both races of the Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Will Power was 0.0272 seconds from advancing to the final round, putting Power seventh on the grid instead. Though a two-time Long Beach winner, Power has not won this race since 2012. A victory this year would be the second-longest span between Long Beach victories at 14 years. Michael Andretti went 16 years between victories in 1986 and 2002. This will be a record-extending 20th Long Beach start for Power.

Scott McLaughlin starts eighth after having an accident in Saturday morning practice for the second consecutive race weekend. In his last ten street course starts, McLaughlin has two top five finishes, both at St. Petersburg. His most recent top five finish in a street race that wasn't St. Petersburg was second in the 2023 Nashville street race. 

Kyffin Simpson takes ninth on the grid, Simpson’s second top ten start this season. He started tenth at St. Petersburg. Last year, he drove from 17th to tenth in this race. Simpson has finished 20th in the last two races. He has completed every lap this season. 

Graham Rahal has his best Long Beach starting position since 2019 as he will start this race from tenth. Coming off a third at Barber Motorsports Park, Rahal has not had consecutive top five finishes since he was fifth in both races at the 2021 Belle Isle doubleheader. He has not had consecutive podium finishes since 2020 when he was third in the second Iowa race and third in the Indianapolis 500. 

Christian Lundgaard takes 11th on the grid, the fourth time in five races Lundgaard is starting outside the top ten. His average starting position this season is 13.6. Last year was the first time Lundgaard has finished in the top ten at Long Beach. Lundgaard was third. He started 12th in that race. 

Rinus VeeKay starts 12th this year at Long Beach, his best starting spot ever at Long Beach. VeeKay had never made it out of the first round of qualifying at Long Beach prior to yesterday. VeeKay has never finished in the top ten at Long Beach with an average finish of 19.4 over his five starts.

Marcus Armstrong was 0.0030 seconds off advancing out of the first round of qualifying, and this will place Armstrong 13th on the grid. He had started in the top ten in seven consecutive road/street course races. Armstrong has not finished in the top five of his last six street course starts.

Josef Newgarden missed out on the second round by 0.0169 seconds, placing him 14th. Newgarden could leave this weekend with four top ten finishes from the first five races. It would be the first time he has done that since 2021, and the fifth time he has done it in his career. In two of those seasons, he won the championship. 

Marcus Ericsson has his worst starting position of the season in 15th. Ericsson has three top ten finishes through the first four races of 2026. He had two top ten finishes over the entire 2025 season. Four of his last top five finishes have come on street courses. 

Christian Rasmussen starts outside the top ten for the ninth consecutive road/street course race. Rasmussen starts 16th. Ed Carpenter Racing has not had a top ten finish at Long Beach since Spencer Pigot was eighth in 2017. ECR has had one car finish outside the top twenty in three consecutive Long Beach races. 

Louis Foster will start 17th. Foster has finished in the top fifteen in his last three street course starts. His 13th at Arlington was his best street course finish. He went from 20th to 16th in last year’s Long Beach race. 

Alexander Rossi lines up directly behind his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Rasmussen in 18th. Since winning consecutive Long Beach races in 2018 and 2019, Rossi has not finished better than sixth in this race. He has not finished worse than his starting position this season. 

Dennis Hauger makes his Long Beach debut from 19th on the grid in car #19. He started 19th at Arlington two races ago and finished 16th. Hauger won both his street course starts last season in Indy Lights. He is coming off his worst finish in his brief IndyCar career. Hauger was 23rd at Barber, one lap down. 

Caio Collet will be to Hauger’s outside. Through his first four starts, Collet has yet to finish worse than his starting position. He improved in each of his first three races. At Barber, he started and finished 21st. Collet has completed every lap in all three road/street course races this season. 

Mick Schumacher makes it three consecutive rookies on the grid with Schumacher starting 21st. Including the Formula One-era of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Schumacher will become the sixth German to compete in this race. Jochen Mass, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Rolf Stommelen and Manfred Winkelhock all ran at Long Beach in Formula One. Timo Glock is the only German to run Long Beach in the IndyCar-era. Glock was sixth in the 2005 race.

For the third consecutive year, Santino Ferrucci starts outside the top twenty at Long Beach. Ferrucci starts 22nd. His best Long Beach start was 13th in 2019. In four Long Beach starts, Ferrucci has finished 21st, 11th, 21st and 11th.

Romain Grosjean starts 23rd. Grosjean has twice finished second at Long Beach. He is one of four drivers with multiple runner-up finishes at Long Beach to have never won the race. Bobby Rahal was four times the runner-up in this race. Emerson Fittipaldi and Justin Wilson each finished second twice. 

Sting Ray Robb rounds out row 12. The good news is Robb's streak of consecutive 21st-place finishes ended at three at Barber Motorsports Park. The bad news is he finished 22nd at Barber. This is Robb’s third consecutive race starting outside the top twenty, and he has failed to finish on the lead lap in six consecutive starts. 

Nolan Siegel starts last, 25th for the first of two races in his native California. Siegel has finished outside the top ten in 11 consecutive starts. His best career finish on a street course was 19th at Detroit last year. He has finished 20th in each of his two Long Beach starts.

Fox's coverage of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach begins at 5:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 90 laps.

Track Walk: Long Beach 2026

The fifth round of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season will be the 51st Grand Prix of Long Beach. Honda has won the last three trips to Long Beach, and Honda has also won all three road/street courses this season. While Honda has the top two drivers in the championship, Chevrolet takes the next five spots, but Honda closes out the top ten with the final three. Only one driver has finished in the top ten of all four races this season, but he has the defending champion breathing down his next with 14 races remaining. These two had a notable battle last year on Shoreline Drive.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday April 19 with green flag scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 6:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:30 p.m. ET (75 minutes)
Qualifying: 6:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 1:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 5:45 p.m. ET (90 laps)

Is it Kirkwood vs. Palou?

Last year, Kyle Kirkwood and Álex Palou started nose-to-tail and they practically ran that way for the entire 90-lap race. Kirkwood was able to hold on and take the victory 2.6859 seconds ahead of Palou, but Palou kept Kirkwood honest until the very end. 

So far this season, it is developing to be another tussle between these two. Last season, they split the first nine races of the season with Palou winning six and Kirkwood winning three. Through the first four races of 2026, Palou has won twice and Kirkwood has won once, but Kirkwood's victory came at Arlington after Palou had taken the lead in the middle of the race. A darting move to the inside of the final corner with 16 laps remaining gave Kirkwood the lead and he pulled away before a late caution forced a one-lap dash that didn't even make it to the green and white flag. 

Both these drivers have been stellar on street courses.

Five of Kirkwood's six career victories have come on street courses. He has finished in the top ten in 11 consecutive street course races dating back to 2023. Eight of those have been top five finishes with five being podium finishes, four of them being victories.

Palou also has eight top five finishes in the last 11 street course races. Six of those have been podium finishes with two victories in that timeframe. 

While Palou has won twice this year and finished second, his 24th at Phoenix for an early accident is the only thing keeping him out of the championship lead. He is two points behind Kirkwood. Kirkwood has finished in the top five of every race this season, and four consecutive top five results is the longest streak of his IndyCar career. He has never finished outside the top ten at Long Beach. 

Palou has never won at Long Beach, which sounds strange for him, but he has also never finished outside the top five at Long Beach. Three times he has stood on the podium. He has also never started worse than tenth in this race. Kirkwood's worst starting spot at Long Beach was 12th in 2022.

Only three of Palou's 21 career victories have come on street courses, which is only one more than his number of oval victories. Two of Palou's street course victories have been at St. Petersburg. 

Kirkwood will be looking to become the ninth driver to win consecutive Long Beach races and the first to do it since Alexander Rossi in 2018 and 2019. Kirkwood would become only the fifth driver to win at least three Long Beach IndyCar races. Al Unser, Jr. won six times, four consecutive from 1988 to 1991 and then back-to-back in 1994 and 1995. Mario Andretti won three of the first four Long Beach IndyCar races as well as winning the 1977 Formula One race held here. Paul Tracy won in 2000 and then consecutively in 2003 and 2004. Sébastien Bourdais won three consecutive from 2005 to 2007. 

A victory for Palou would be Chip Ganassi Racing's eighth Long Beach victory, and it would break a three-way tie for most Long Beach victories for a team. Ganassi, Andretti Global and Team Penske are all tied on seven entering this weekend. These three teams have combined to win the last seven Long Beach races.

The Man Moving Forward

While Kirkwood and Palou fight it out up front, there is a man who is chasing from behind, and he has made a habit of moving forward this season. So far, it has gotten him up to third in the championship. 

Christian Lundgaard has improved from his starting position in every race this season, and in every road or street course race, he has made up at least eight position. Twice it has led to podium results. At St. Petersburg, he gained nine spots from 12th to finish third. Two races later, Lundgaard improved from 18th to seventh at Arlington. At Barber Motorsports Park, he went from tenth to second, and it could have been better than that. A problem changing tires on his final stop cost Lundgaard a potential battle with Álex Palou out of the pit lane for the lead and potentially the race victory.

Despite a 13th at Phoenix, Lundgaard sits 34 points off the championship lead in third, closer to the top spot than he was at this point last season. Through four races in 2025, Lundgaard was second in the championship, but he was also 60 points off the championship leader. That championship leader had won three of the first four races and his worst finish was second. Either way, Lundgaard is closer to the top, and in each race he has been making progress through the field. 

One issue for Lundgaard is for all the positions he has made up, he has been starting poorly each race. His best starting position this season is tenth. His average starting position of 14th ranks 12th in IndyCar through the first four races. However, he has the second-best average finish at 6.25. With a difference 7.75 between his average starting position and average finishing position, Lundgaard has the best improvement this season, and he is finishing 1.25 positions better than the next best driver. Kyle Kirkwood's average finish is 6.5 spots better than his average starting position. 

Qualifying form has been a weak spot for Lundgaard ever since has entered IndyCar. In every season he has competed full-time, his average finishing position has been better than his average starting position. Last season, he started outside the top ten in seven races, and he finished in the top ten in three of those races. In two of those races he gain more than ten positions. This season, he has already started outside the top ten in three races and he has finished in the top ten in two of those.

Lundgaard's drive last year from 12th to third was the first time a Long Beach podium finisher started outside the top ten since 2021 when Colton Herta won from 14th. Since the introduction of the DW12 chassis in 2012, there have been 11 instances of a driver finishing on the podium after starting outside the top ten at Long Beach. The 2014 race saw all three podium finishers start worse than tenth. In the first 28 Long Beach races, only 12 times did a podium finisher start worse than tenth. The only race in that span that saw multiple podium finishers start outside the top ten was in 2002 when Michael Andretti won from 15th and Max Papis finished third from 18th. 

Hoping to Pick Up Where They Left Off

After having four races within the first 29 days of March, there were likely a handful of drivers who were hoping the 2026 season could continue at a consistent pace. Instead, the previous two weekends have been off for IndyCar, and a handful of drivers are hoping this break doesn't stop the momentum they were on. 

David Malukas likely does not want to lose what he started in the first four races. His first career pole position, his first podium finish with Team Penske as well as matching is career-best street course finish and getting his first top five finish on a road course, the first four races of 2026 could not have gone much better for Malukas. He is also tied for best average starting position this season at 4.25 with Álex Palou. To top it all off, he is fourth in the championship on 116 points, the top Team Penske competitor, three points ahead of Josef Newgarden.

Malukas has three consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his career. Now the next two races are at two circuits where he has struggled. He has never finished better than 17th in three Long Beach starts, and his best finish on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is 12th in four starts.

Josef Newgarden might be the second-best Penske driver in the championship through four races, but Newgarden is still ranked in the top five of the championship. He has been ranked in the championship for the last three races, ever since his victory at Phoenix. Last season, Newgarden was ranked in the championship after only one race, the season opener where he was third at St. Petersburg.

Newgarden's Phoenix victory remains his only top five finish of the season, but he has three top ten finishes from four races. Last year, he did not have three top ten finishes until seventh race at Detroit. At Long Beach last year, Newgarden was looking good for a top five finish before a seat belt issue derailed his race. Prior to 2025, Newgarden had nine consecutive top ten finishes at Long Beach with a victory and four podium finishes during that spell. 

This has been the best start to a season for Marcus Armstrong. The New Zealander has not finished worse than 11th this season, and he has three consecutive top ten results with his best finish being fifth at Phoenix. Armstrong did not get his first top five finish until the ninth race of last season at Road America. His qualifying form has also been pretty strong, averaging a grid position of 7.5, tied for fourth-best.

Armstrong is looking for his first career victory, and this will be his 51st start. While Long Beach was the location of his first top ten finish, an eighth in 2023, his finishing position has declined over each of the last two years, dropping to 12th and 14th respectively. 

A highlight from the Barber Motorsports Park weekend was Graham Rahal taking third, his first podium finish in 40 starts. Rahal also started third in that race, and he has started third twice this season. Through four races, Rahal is 12th in the championship on 82 points, only three points outside the championship top ten. With a ninth at Phoenix, Rahal picked up his first top ten finish on an oval after a nine-race oval slump without a top ten result. 

While Rahal has two standout results, he has finished 18th in each of the first two street course races this season. He has not had a top five finish on a street course since he was fourth at Toronto in 2022. His most recent podium finish on a street course was second in the 2018 St. Petersburg race. He has finished outside the top ten in four of the last five Long Beach races.

Who is Looking For a Fresh Start?

Some drivers were wishing this quick spring break would not come from IndyCar, but there are certainly a few drivers who are glad for the breather, and they likely hope Long Beach can be a reset.

It hasn't been a terrible start to the season for Scott McLaughlin, as he does have a podium finish and he is seventh in the championship, but McLaughlin's finishing position has gotten worse over each race this season. He was second at St. Petersburg, but he has followed that with finishes of eighth, 11th and 16th. He has failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying in the last two races. At Arlington, he drew a red flag after clipping a barrier. At Barber, a practice accident put his crew in a rush to repair the car ahead of qualifying. 

McLaughlin has never finished in the top five at Long Beach. His best finish came last year when he was sixth. 

Will Power's time at Andretti Global has been off to a rocky start. Power has had some kind of incident in three of four race weekends this season. At St. Petersburg, he had a practice accident in turn ten and then he slapped the barrier exiting turn ten during the race. Phoenix will be remember for the contact with Christian Rasmussen that cut down Power's tire as the two drivers were contesting for the lead. At Barber, a brake failure in turn five during qualifying put Power into the barrier, and he had to start 23rd. He did drive up to 12th in the race. This combination of results has Power 13th in the championship.

Power's average starting position through four races is 16.25, the fifth-worst. He has failed to make it out of the first round of qualifying in two of the last three years at Long Beach, but he does have a seven-race top ten finish streak in this event. 

Overshadowed within his own team, Felix Rosenqvist's start is nearly a complete opposite of how he started in 2025. In both cases, the Swede has finished 13th in the fourth race at Barber, but in 2025 he had three consecutive top ten finishes. In 2026, his best result is 12th. In each of the last two seasons, Rosenqvist has had at least three top ten finishes through the first four races. This year, he heads to the fifth race hoping to get his first top ten finish. 

Rosenqvist does have three consecutive top ten finishes at Long Beach, and he has never finished worse than 13th in this race. 

No driver feels like they should have won one of the first four races more than Christian Rasmussen, who had a spectacular day at Phoenix before making contact with Will Power and then slowly falling down the order to finish 14th. That remains Rasmussen's best finish of the season. He has finished no better than 19th in the other three races. Rasmussen ranks 22nd in the championship on 44 points. 

For all his pace on ovals, street courses have been notoriously dreadful for the Dane. In ten street course starts, Rasmussen's average finish is 22.6. He has finished outside the top twenty in seven of those races, and his best street course finish was 15th at St. Petersburg last year. He has finished 27th and 23rd in his first two Long Beach appearances. 

IMSA

As is an annual tradition, IMSA joins IndyCar at Long Beach, one of two shared weekends for the two series, and IMSA brings its GTP and GTD class to Shoreline Drive for a 100-minute race on Saturday April 18. Twenty-eight cars are entered between the two classes.

Through the first two rounds, the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche is undefeated, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring with Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. Nasr and Andlauer will remain together in the #7 Porsche as Nasr looks to win at Long Beach for the second consecutive year. Heinrich will move to the #5 JDC-Miler Motorsports Porsche for this round alongside Tijmen van der Helm. 

Whelen Racing has been on the podium in the first two races with the #31 Cadillac for Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti. Vesti will run at Long Beach as regular driver Earl Bamber has FIA World Endurance Championship responsibilities in Imola. The #7 Porsche has scored 755 points this season, 80 more than the #31 Cadillac. 

The #6 Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre are third in the championship on 654 points after finishing second at Sebring. Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor sit fourth on 606 points in the #24 Team WRT BMW. Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly round out the top five with 567 points in the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. The sister #60 Acura of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun has scored 560 points.

The top Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac sits seventh in the championship on 548 points. That is the #40 Cadillac of Jordan Taylor and Louis Delétraz. Marco Wittmann and Philipp Eng have scored 482 points in the #25 BMW. Aston Martin THOR Team has scored 472 points with the #23 Valkyrie of Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis. 

The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac has been classified in 11th for each of the first two races. The team retired from Daytona and was disqualified from third at Sebring due to a camber-related infraction. This leaves Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque on 455 points. 

Heart of Racing Team leads the GTD championship with the #27 Aston Martin on 690 points. The team has finished third and second in the first two races. Eduardo Barrichello is back for the third race, but Spencer Pumpelly will round out the lineup in place of Tom Gamble, who is competing in WEC at Imola this weekend.

The closest entered team in the championship is the #13 13 Autosport Corvette for Orey Fidani and Matthew Bell. 13 Autosport has scored 559 points in the first two races. Daytona winners Russell Ward and Philip Ellis have scored 544 points in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, 13 points more than Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW.

With GTD Pro not competing, a few special entries are at Long Beach. Vasser Sullivan Racing has entered the #89 Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Frankie Montecalvo. Harry King leads the #177 AO Racing Porsche with Mikkel Pedersen. Pfaff Motorsports will run the #46 Lamborghini for Andrea Caldarelli and Zachary Vanier, who makes his IMSA debut. 

Long Beach will also be the first race of the season for Robert Wickens, who returns to the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette to run the sprint races. Mason Filippi will be Wickens' co-driver. Wickens' best finish last season was fourth at Mosport. 

IMSA's Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Fast Facts

This will be the sixth IndyCar race to take place on April 19 and the first since Scott Dixon won at Long Beach in 2015.

The only other Long Beach race to take place on April 19 was in 2009, and Dario Franchitti was the winner. That makes Chip Ganassi Racing two-for-two in Long Beach races run on April 19. 

The 2020 Long Beach was scheduled for April 19 before being cancelled due to the pandemic.

April 19 is also the birthdays of six-time Long Beach winner Al Unser, Jr. and 2001 Indy Lights Long Beach winner Townsend Bell. Unser, Jr. turns 64 this year and Bell turns 51.

Five drivers have had their first career IndyCar victory come at Long Beach: Paul Tracy 1993, Juan Pablo Montoya 1999, Mike Conway 2011, Takuma Sato 2013 and Kyle Kirkwood 2023.

Only two drivers have won the Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500 in the same season (Al Unser, Jr. 1994, Hélio Castroneves 2001).

The average starting position for a Long Beach winner is 4.268 with a median of 2.5. 

Five of the last seven Long Beach races have been won from the front row. Nineteen of the last 25 Long Beach races have been won from one of the first two rows.

The third row has not produced a Long Beach winner since 1999 (Juan Pablo Montoya from fifth).

More Long Beach winners have started 17th than on the third row. Paul Tracy won from 17th in 2000 and Mike Conway won from 17th in 2014.

The average number of lead changes in a Long Beach race is 5.268 with a median of six. 

The last 11 Long Beach races have had five lead changes or more. 

The most recent Long Beach race with fewer than four lead changes was 2008, which only had three lead changes. 

The most recent Long Beach race with zero changes was 2001. In the IndyCar-era, only two other Long Beach races have had zero lead changes (1984 and 1987).

The average number of cautions in a Long Beach race is 2.731 with a median of three. The average number of caution laps is 10.926. with a median of 12. 

Eight of the last 14 Long Beach races have had three cautions or more. Twenty-two of the last 30 Long Beach races have had three cautions or more.

Last year was the fifth Long Beach race in the IndyCar-era to run caution-free. The other four were in 1985, 1987, 1989 and 2016.

There has never been rain on race day for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Predictions

Álex Palou makes it three-for-three for Chip Ganassi Racing on April 19 at Long Beach. Honestly, that could be the honest prediction. If it isn't Palou, it is probably Kyle Kirkwood taking his second consecutive Long Beach victory. Christian Lundgaard does not finish eight spots better than his starting position because he cannot finish eight spots better than his starting position. Scott Dixon has his best starting position of the season. No one outside the top twenty in the championship finishes inside the top ten. Felix Rosenqvist will be the best finishing Meyer Shank Racing driver. Sleeper: Marcus Ericsson.

Who has Led the IndyCar Championship the Most?

This exercise took much longer than I expected. 

Ahead of the IndyCar weekend from Barber Motorsports Park, when wondering how often the championship lead had changed after each of the first four races with four different drivers, I started wondering more about championship leaders, and who has led the championship the most. Álex Palou also had something to do with that. For a driver who has led the championship for HALF OF HIS CAREER BEFORE REACHING 100 STARTS... Palou must be in a special spot in IndyCar history already. 

One problem with IndyCar is despite its long history and all the data we have is, there are some glaring unanswered questions or unknown facts that should not be that hard to know. 

When doing the research ahead of Barber Motorsports Park, the post-race standings are readily available on Racing-Reference through the 1974 USAC Championship Car season. That is a fair amount of information, but there are nearly 30 seasons post-World War II where the race-by-race championship standings are not tracked. We know the results, we know the points awarded for those races, it is now just a matter of compiling the information. 

That was the long part. Combined with other things going on in life, it took a little longer than I thought going through all those years, entering the information and then breaking it down race-by-race. 

For this exercise, I drew the line at 1946. It is a year already used as a cutoff for a number of statistical categories in IndyCar. Pre-World War II is a little messy as there were seasons where no championship was actually tracked but then standings were retroactively applied. Perhaps someday, I will expanded back to the first recognized IndyCar season in 1909. For this case, we are only looking at 1946 onward. Thanks to Racing-Reference, ChampCarStats and The Third Turn, these three databases were used to gather the results and cross-reference in case there were any discrepancies in the records. 

You are probably thinking you already know the answer or have an idea what the answer is, and you are probably right. It is going to be no surprise the best drivers and drivers that have been the most successful are going to be toward the top among drivers who led the championship the most. That is natural. It is good to put it into context and give it a hard number. 

There is also so much more there because I think leading the championship is a minor thing that gets overlooked. It is hard for anyone to lead the championship. Few get lucky in leading the championship. If a driver won the first race of the season and took the championship lead by default that driver still had to win a race to get the championship lead. After a few races, it requires consistent success to be the leader, and I think it is a shame the number of times leading the championship is not tracked. 

Doing this research, it was enlightening to find a few forgotten championship leaders, and it might have been only for a race or two, but it is a highlight for that driver and team. It is a brief moment in the sun. 

While using the last two weeks to find an answer, over the next upcoming extended IndyCar break, the plan is to go over some notable things from past championship leaders and answer questions you likely have and answer questions you likely didn't even think about. 

On this occasion, let's start with the basics, who has led the IndyCar championship the most? 

Since 1946, in around 1,400 races, a total of 107 drivers have led the championship at some point. 

1. A.J. Foyt - 81 Races

2. Mario Andretti - 71

3. Scott Dixon - 63

4. Will Power - 57

5. Álex Palou - 55

That is the top five, and there are no surprises there. The top four drivers in victories are the top four in times leading the championship, though not in the same order. Are we surprised A.J. Foyt is first? No. I wouldn't even say it is that surprising that Andretti is still ahead of Dixon. Consider that the 1969 season was 24 races long and Andretti led the championship for the final 21 races. Dixon has never even competed in a season that was 21 races in length!

Ok, maybe there is one surprise in Álex Palou. If we need any greater indication of how dominant Palou has been in his first six-plus IndyCar seasons, he is fifth all-time in times leading the championship. He isn't getting lucky with these championship. 

6. Sébastien Bourdais - 50

7. Al Unser - 49

8. Bobby Rahal - 43

9. Hélio Castroneves - 41

10. Bobby Unser - 39

Four of these five drivers are ranked in the top 11 all-time in victories, and then there is Bobby Rahal, one of 13 drivers all-time to win at least three championship. 

As you can guess, Castroneves led the championship the most without winning a championship... and it is a while until you get to the next closest driver without a championship. 

T-11. Rick Mears - 35

T-11. Al Unser, Jr. - 35

13. Rodger Ward - 34

14. Dario Franchitti - 32

15. Paul Tracy - 31

16. Juan Pablo Montoya - 30

This is it among the drivers who led the championship at least 30 times. Quick reminder that Montoya didn't even make 100 starts in his career, and he led the championship after 30 races. 

T-17. Johnny Rutherford - 28

T-17. Tom Sneva - 28

19. Sam Hornish, Jr. - 27

20. Josef Newgarden - 26

T-21. Michael Andretti - 23

T-21. Tony Kanaan - 23

23. Dan Wheldon - 22

T-24. Alex Zanardi - 20

T-24. Cristiana da Matta - 20

And these are the remaining drivers who led the championship at least 20 times in their careers. We start to see some of the effects from the spit here. Hornish, Jr. only ever raced in the Indy Racing League. Zanardi and da Matta only ever raced in Champ Car. None raced in a unified IndyCar. 

26. Simon Pagenaud - 19

T-27. Johnnie Parsons - 17

T-27. Jimmy Bryan - 17

T-29. Tony Bettenhausen - 15

T-29. Jimmy Vasser - 15

This is where we see the limit of the AAA and USAC eras of IndyCar. The likes of Parsons, Bryan and Bettenhausen all ran at a time when the championship was about a dozen races in length. There weren't many opportunities to lead the championship, and at a time when the Indianapolis 500 winner got 1,000 points while most of the schedule only paid 200 points, it was tougher to get to the championship lead. 

This is a quick detour, but take the 1953 season. Bill Vukovich won the Indianapolis 500, the first race of the season, and he did not race again that season. Vukovich led the championship for the first five races, and he finished this in the championship with only one race started. 

T-31. Nigel Mansell - 14

T-31. Emerson Fittipaldi - 14

T-31. Kenny Bräck - 14

34. Roger McCluskey - 13

T-35. Ted Horn - 12

T-35. Jacques Villeneuve - 12

T-35. Gil de Ferran - 12

Mansell led after 14 of 16 races in his 1993 championship season. That was it. Fittipaldi led the championship 11 times during his 1989 championship season. He only led the championship after three more races for the remainder of his career. 

Eleven of the times Bräck led the championship were in the 2001 CART season, a year he famously lost the title late in the season to de Ferran. De Ferran only led five races in each of his two championship seasons. He led after the final five races in 2000 and five of the final seven races in 2001.

McCluskey only led the championship during his 1973 championship season. He took the lead with a runner-up finish at Milwaukee in June, his points total already boosted due to a third-place finish in the Indianapolis 500, earning him 700 points. McCluskey's championship efforts were fortified with great finishes in the 500-mile races, a second at Pocono (800 points) and a fourth at Ontario (600 points). Despite winning only one race, McCluskey clinched the title with three races to spare.

Horn won the first three championship after World War II. He took the 1946 championship in the final race of the season from the deceased George Robson, who lost his life in the third race of the season at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta. However, Robson's Indianapolis 500 victory kept him in the championship lead entering the final race. Horn was 20 points behind Robson going to the finale in Goshen, New York. A second-place result earned Horn 160 points. Horn won win the 1947 championship having led after only the final two races, but in 1948, he took the title having led after nine of the 12 races, including after the final eight races.

Villeneuve was only in IndyCar for two seasons. In 1995, he led the championship after 12 of 17 races.

T-38. Troy Ruttman - 11

T-38. Bob Sweikert - 11

T-38. Gordon Johncock - 11

T-41. Sam Hanks - 10

T-41. Joe Leonard - 10

Ruttman won the 1952 Indianapolis 500, the season opener, and 1,000 points gave him the championship lead. He did run the following week at Milwaukee, but he won the third race, a 200-miler, in Raleigh, North Carolina, increasing his points total to 1,400. An engine vibration caused him to finish 12th at Springfield, netting him ten more points, but that was his final start of the season. A sprint car crash in August ended his season. 

Ruttman held the championship lead into the final race of the season in Phoenix. He was up 40 points on Chuck Stevenson. All Ruttman needed was Stevenson to finish tenth or worse to win the title. Stevenson finished sixth and won the title by 30 points. Ruttman never led the championship again and never won a championship. 

Besides Hélio Castroneves, the only other driver to lead the championship after at least ten races in a career and never win a championship is Troy Ruttman.

Sweikert led after all 11 races in the 1955 season, thanks to this Indianapolis 500 victory in the opener. Sweikert did run ten of 11 races, skipping on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, as was normal for championship regulars to do. 

Johncock led the championship after 11 races in his career, but he led the championship in eight different seasons spread from 1966 to 1983. He never led after more than three races in a single-season, and the year he led after three races was his 1976 championship season, a title he won overcoming a 220-point deficit to Johnny Rutherford in the Phoenix finale. Rutherford retired after 111 laps. Johncock had to finish second or better to win the title. He was second and won the title by 20 points.

Hanks led the championship for the final four races in 1953, his championship season, and for the first six races in 1957. However, Hanks was retired for five of those six races as after he won the Indianapolis 500, he retired in victory lane. 

Leonard led the championship in the final three races of 1971 and after seven of ten races of 1972, including leading after the final six races.

Only 42 drivers have led the IndyCar championship after at least ten races in their careers.

And I am going to stop there. That will be a tease for the rest to come because you are probably thinking about the names you have not seen and you might be thinking of questions you do not have the answer to, and possibly those will come. Let's take a pause and we can continue tracking in the near future.

Musings From the Weekend: Let's Talk About Bumping

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Quick housekeeping: Things will likely be delayed next week post-Long Beach in terms of First Impressions and Musings. For the first time since 2002, a driver scored their first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol, as Ty Gibbs was first. Someone had a vacation in Brazil. A half-million dollars was not awarded. A pair of sports car series got underway. The Supercross championship opened up a little bit in Nashville. Toyota won its first Supercars race. Formula Two confirmed it will be racing in Miami and Montreal, which had ripple effects into the Indianapolis 500, and Colton Herta will not be able to compete. In turn, Andretti Global will not run a fourth entry. At most, we are going to see 33 entries. This has left many upset with the prospect of no bumping.

Let's Talk About Bumping

In a quick about-face, a conflict formed when Formula Two confirmed it would go to Miami and Montreal at the end of last week, and Colton Herta's May went from 16th & Georgetown to a few trips to Miami Gardens and Île Notre-Dame. With Herta out, Andretti Global did not feel compelled to enter the planned fourth entry for the Indianapolis 500. The team cited focusing on "value-added programs," and to translate, there was not another driver out there they felt qualified enough to run its fourth car. 

Bumping is off the table in all likelihood, and now the stretch is to get a 33rd. For all those concerned, there will be a 33rd entry even if it is not clear where it will come from. There is always a 33rd entry. DragonSpeed came back for one year with Ben Hanley to get 33 cars on the grid. It is going to happen. 

Plenty expressed displeasure at this development. The Andretti program had entered an additional Indianapolis 500 entry for 16 consecutive years. In recent years, it has become a greater challenge to get beyond 34 entries. The one-off programs in recent years have been confirmed early in the offseason. We know Indianapolis one-offs before Christmas and New Years'. We have known the 31st entry (Takuma Sato) since St. Patrick's Day. It was once the case the final few entries were not set until early May or even after the first few practice days. Teams no longer operate that way. 

This year will be the 110th Indianapolis 500, and the event has evolved greatly over that time. In its current form, the prospects of failing to qualify and the cost that goes into it makes entering less desirable once the entry list is at 33. The reward of making the race does not offset what goes into forming a program. This has been the truth for over 20 years. 

Finger-pointing was rampant the last few days as to why it will be a struggle to get 33 entries. Charters and the engine manufacturers received a lot of the blame. It comes down to teams spending $1 million for one race, and they aren't even going to break even if they make the race. They aren't even going to break even if they finish in the top three of the race. All the rules in the world could be formed to force 36 or 37 entries, but that is not how it works. It sucks to hear it, but there is a business component, and not many people are comfortable setting $1 million on fire. Not many have $1 million to burn.

It is a shame because, as has been the case for most of the last two decades, there has been plenty of interest in running the Indianapolis 500. Drivers still want to be at the Indianapolis 500, but there has not been enough available entries for all of them. There might be 40 drivers interested, but at least six are going to be on the sideline and never get a chance to get behind the wheel, and this is causing another problem as drivers do not get Indianapolis 500 experience. 

We don't have that many respectable Indianapolis 500 one-offs left. Plenty of past winners have retired in recent years, and the few that remain are claimed early. Beyond those drivers, we don't have an Indianapolis 500 veteran pool teams feel comfortable drawing from. I would argue the pool is deep though.

The likes of J.R. Hildebrand, Charlie Kimball, Sage Karam, Zach Veach, James Davison, Pippa Mann, Oriol Servià and Spencer Pigot are gone. You could even add Carlos Muñoz, Gabby Chaves and Ed Jones to this group. Ryan Briscoe is young enough to still be driving, and Sébastien Bourdais is still competing, but he does not return to Indianapolis unless it is in a sports car. 

Think of all the IndyCar reserve drivers that now exist and none of them have Indianapolis 500 entries. What is the point of being a reserve driver in IndyCar if you are not at least getting the Indianapolis 500 or driving in Indy Lights for the team? What is in for Ed Carpenter Racing's Hunter McElrea, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Jüri Vips and A.J. Foyt Racing's Toby Sowery? Congratulations! You get to use the simulator, every child's dream!

That is 16 drivers listed above, and I didn't even mention that Stefan Wilson is still hanging around. The drivers are out there, even if they are not looking. Deep down, most would love to do it again. Most are still at a reasonable age to attempt the Indianapolis 500, but their time was up. After years of struggling to form programs, the value of running has not match the cost and effort to put together one race a year where it was an uphill battle just to make it. Another generation of drivers who were fine working on a program for each May has not formed, and what makes it more difficult is the teams do not allow that group to form. 

Any team entering an extra entry for the Indianapolis 500 should not be expecting to get another potential race winner. The options are the journeymen, the drivers who know how to run the race and have some good pace, or a young talent hoping to turn some heads. Maybe everything clicks for a top ten finish, but victory is a stretch for most of the full-time competitors let alone the one-offs. These lofty expectations caused Andretti Global to pass upon viable options, and another entry is lost. This mindset will keep the pool at 33 cars with a chance of 34. The belief isn't there in the drivers for the teams to take the chance, but also it cost too much for any of those drivers to convince a team otherwise. 

Everyone has a price, but how much would it cost J.R. Hildebrand to get Andretti Global to change its mind? I am sure a stupid check of $3 million would have any team field him, but no one is stupid enough to spend that much on one race.

Motorsports in 2026 is not a free-for-all. It is not a place for dreams where a group of a half-dozen people can throw together a program, afford to spend most of May working on a car either to make the race without much hope of doing well or miss the race and not be that hurt by it. The only Indianapolis 500-only team we have had for the last decade is Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Everything is done with the budget in mind.

There is no magical fix. Even a third or fourth manufacturer joining IndyCar would not change much. Instead of two manufacturers deciding whether to support 17 or 18 programs, they would be deciding to support 10-12 programs or 8-9 programs. It is not set up for teams to come out of the woodwork nor are there any teams looking to enter out of the blue. 

I wish it was different. I wish it was feasible for the Indy Lights teams to each field an entry. Abel Motorsports will likely do it with Jacob Abel this year and help get the field to 33, but I wish all Indy Lights team could do it.

May is a little open for the Indy Lights teams. On paper, it would be nice if they could use this time at the end of May to try and put a car in the field, and the cost were reasonable for the attempt while not hurting their full-time programs. It would be nice if HMD Motorsports, Cape Motorsports and Cusick Morgan Motorsports each could use that idle time to field an entry each and use it to gain knowledge, whether that be with a veteran showing those programs the ropes or a young driver getting an opportunity. It sounds great on paper. Everything is more practical on paper. 

In the past 23 Indianapolis 500s, 15 have had 33 or 34 entries. The only years during this time that saw an excessive number of entries was 2008 to 2011 when the only option was the Dallara-Honda, a time everyone hated because of spec chassis and engines and a lack of competition. The event has evolved. It is normal to only get 33 or 34 entries and they go to the drivers who can secure the funding the fastest. Let's not act like this is a new thing.

The Indianapolis 500 is going to be fine. For all the hand-wringing over the lack of bumping, the race still attracts 300,000 people. There wasn't bumping for the 100th edition, and that race was the first sell out that lifted the blackout restrictions. Last year's race had one car go home for the third consecutive year, and the race still sold enough tickets to lift the blackout again. 

The series would love to have 36 or 38 cars entered every year, but there is no way to force it. You cannot snap your fingers and make it affordable. Things should not drastically change because of the lack of bumping either. Qualifying proceedings should not be completely revamped because of the lack of bumping. IndyCar already did that for over decade and it didn't make anything better.

Perhaps one day it will change and it will be practical for such a number of entries to enter and bumping to be plentiful. Let's calm down over what has been the course of business for over 20 years. It isn't a tragedy.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Ty Gibbs, but did you know...

Connor Zilisch won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Bristol. Christopher Bell won the Truck race.

The #36 TGR Team au TOM'S Toyota of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita won the Super GT race from Okayama. The #777 D'station Racing Aston Martin of Tomonobu Fujii and Charlie Fagg won in  GT300.

The #29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca-Gibson of Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson and Louis Rousset won the 4 Hours of Barcelona. The #5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier-Toyota of José Cautela, Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen and Alvise Rodella won in LMP3. The #75 Proton Competition Porsche of Richard Lietz, Tom Sargent and Matt Kurzejewski won in LMGT3.

The #7 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Mattia Drudi, Marco Sørensen and Nicki Thiim won the 6 Hours of Circuit Paul Ricard.

Brodie Kostecki and Ryan Wood split the Supercars races from Taupō.

Hunter Lawrence won the Supercross race from Nashville, his fourth victory of the season. Cole Davies won the 250cc race, his fourth victory of the season.

Takamoto Katsuta won Rally Croatia, his second consecutive victory.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar is back for the Grand Prix of Long Beach and IMSA will be there.

NASCAR is in Kansas.

The FIA World Endurance Championship finally has its season opener, this one from Imola.

World Superbike visits Assen.

Supercars makes it first visit to Ruapuna Park.

Supercross is in Cleveland for the first time in 31 years.

Musings From the Weekend: Let's Talk Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

It was Easter weekend and there was not much going on. Corey Heim won at Rockingham, his 25th NASCAR Truck Series victory, moving him into fifth all-time and Heim is now the championship leader despite having missed two of five races run this season. Super Formula began its season in a deluge. Supercross remains a tight championship. Ben Keating is going to miss the first rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship season due to an elbow injury. With not much going on during a holiday weekend, it is a good time to look ahead.

Let's Talk Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year

There is no great time to talk about important issues surrounding the Indianapolis 500.

If you wait until May, it is too late. Any other time of the year feels out of place. There are pockets over winter, but even then the event is far off. The start of April is a good time. It isn't too early. It is early, but it is not excessively early, and there used to be a day when entries were getting finalized the entry list was being announced. Besides, IndyCar just had an off weekend, there are two more weeks until the next race, and then there are two weekends off after that. It feels like a good opening. 

Last year, many were upset with how the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year was decided, and that has been a common feeling recently post-Indianapolis 500. 

In case you forgot, Robert Shwartzman won Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, thanks to his pole position but negating his pit lane accident that ended his race after 87 laps and placed the Israeli driver in 26th. This was despite Louis Foster finishing 15th, the best rookie on the road and completing all 500 miles, and Foster would later elevate to 12th after three post-race penalties were applied to the results.

It was the third time in four years the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year was not the top finishing rookie. In 2022, Jimmie Johnson took the honors but was 28th while David Malukas was 16th. In 2024, Kyle Larson did run all 500 mile and finished 18th, earning him Rookie of the Year, but Christian Rasmussen was the top finishing rookie in 12th.  

The most recent Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year to be the best finishing rookie was Benjamin Pedersen in 2023, a year when none of the rookies finished and Pedersen was 21st. It was also a year when an argument could have been made the best rookie was not the best finishing rookie. Agustín Canapino had a good case.

For two of those years, there was an us-versus-them element to it. The drivers with NASCAR backgrounds won even if less recognizable names did better. Last year's angst was over a driver who made it 500 miles and a driver who hit crew members in the pit lane got the honor. 

Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year was only first honored in 1952. In the 74 races it has been awarded, it has gone to 79 drivers thanks to a few ties. In 74 years, only 13 times did the top rookie finisher not at least get a share of Rookie of the Year. 

The award doesn't go to the best finisher, and there is actual criteria. It is not as simple as giving it to the best rookie finisher, and it is a good thing it isn't that black-and-white, but could more be done? 

An argument can be made the best rookie finisher should at least get time in the post-race press conference. Select media members decide who wins Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. If that is the voting bloc, present them with who was the best finisher at least. If there is a worry about a driver being overlooked, give that driver a platform to share the story of his or her day and make the voters aware of that performance. 

The votes could also be made public. Some of those people do not cover IndyCar beyond the Indianapolis 500. Some cover NASCAR 51 weeks of the year, and one week IndyCar gets the most focus. It shouldn't be a purity test, but Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is inconsequential in day-to-day life. If the votes are public, we at least know how everyone votes and we can at least get explanations for decision-making. 

I wish more data was made available through IndyCar's live timing and scoring. There is a lap chart that is presented at the end of each race that shows where each car was running at the end of each lap. All the data is there to calculate average running position and number of laps spent in the top five and top ten. That information could go a long way. Would people have voted differently if they knew Jimmie Johnson's average running position in 2022 was 21.326, and that Johnson spent 111 laps running outside the top twenty while David Malukas only spent four laps outside the top twenty and had an average running position of 14.43? I don't think it is a bad thing to paint a full picture. 

It is good that we are at least aware before this year's race because it might not be as clear as the top finisher getting the award, and that is fine. There are going to be years when the best rookie wasn't the best finisher, and one team stretched fuel and finished ten spots better than where it spent most of the race. That doesn't mean that driver who stretched fuel should get the award. The finish was better but there is more to it than that. Just because a driver finished ninth doesn't mean he or she was clearly better than the driver in tenth. It is ok for this to be subjective. 

For 2026, we are not expecting an outsider with a great following beyond IndyCar to come in and have an unintentional bias. It looks like the rookies will be the same as the rookies we have full-time, Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Mick Schumacher. It is possible Jacob Abel will be back as a one-off and will be eligible for Rookie of the Year as Abel did not qualify for last year's race. If anyone has more attention, it is Mick Schumacher. The last name carries a lot of weight. I don't know if it pushes the scales in his favor before he ever gets on track, but it is one of the most notable names in motorsports. If he running decent, it will attract more eyes than Collet, Haguer or Abel.

It has been knee-jerk to suggest an overhaul of the decision procession for Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, and to entirely make it cut-and-dry based on finishing position does take away some of the lure and the pageantry we get every year in the month of May. It is harmless if it is a vote. Adjustments can still be made to help the voters and help the competitors. I don't think IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway should be afraid to do more when it comes to Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. Compared to the race winner, it is lower on the totem pole, but it is ok to embrace what it is and strengthen its place among the post-race festivities. 

Champion From the Weekend

Haiden Deegan clinched the Supercross 250cc West championship with his victory in the East-West Showdown at St. Louis. It is Deegan's second consecutive title, and St. Louis was his sixth victory of the season.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Corey Heim and Haidan Deegan, but did you know...

William Sawalich won the NASCAR Grand National Series race from Rockingham, his first career victory.

Kakunoshin Ohta swept the Super Formula races from Motegi. 

Ken Roczen won the Supercross race from St. Louis, his third victory of the season.

Coming Up This Weekend

NASCAR will be at Bristol.

There are three season openers, starting with Super GT at Okayama. 

Euroepean Le Mans Series will be at Barcelona. 

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup race at Circuit Paul Ricard. 

Supercars are at Taupō.

Supercross has a day event in Nashville.

The World Rally Championship will be in Croatia.