LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Long Beach Grand Prix has an incredibly rich history in the world of motor sports. The circuit was first made famous in 1975 when it was introduced as a Formula One track. Legendary drivers such as Mario Andretti and Niki Lauda were some of the few pilots who claimed victory on the streets of the Golden Coast. Then in 1984, the circuit was transferred to the Indy Car track calendar and it has remained ever since. The 2025 Long Beach Grand Prix marked 50 years of racing at the fabled circuit which added an extra layer of excitement to the weekend. Let’s dive into the results and action that took place down in Long Beach.
QUALIFYING
With the Long Beach circuit being very narrow and tough to overtake, drivers knew that getting great track position was a must. In the first round a plethora of big names did not make it out which made plenty of race fans scratch their heads in confusion. In group one the two big guns who saw the boot were Josef Newgarden who won the 2022 Long Beach Grand Prix, and two time Indy car champion and Indy 500 winner, Will Power. Then in group two, Scott Dixon who was just inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame, also saw his qualifying day end earlier then he was hoping for.
With just twelve drivers left in round two, Christian Lundgaard crashed into the wall at turn nine which caused the red flags to be waved. This moment ended the session and the fast six consisted of Alex Palou who was looking to win his third straight Grand Prix, and previous Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood who was showing rapid pace. In the final round the top three drivers were separated by less than half a second which had Kirkwood in P1, Herta in P2, and Palou in P3.
GRAND PRIX
With the fighter jets flying over the track and Mario Andretti kicking off the racing procedures by saying the iconic phrase “Gentlemen, start your engines”, the stage was set for the 50th Long Beach Grand Prix. The cars completed their formation laps with the V6 engines echoing throughout the city, and once they exited turn 11, the drivers went full throttle down the first straightaway.
Going into the heavy breaking zone at turn one, Kirkwood held his ground against Herta as they passed the iconic fountain section. Dixon was trying to keep Newgarden at bay during the opening lap, but Newgarden dove down the inside and completed a beautiful overtake. Dixon did not give up easy though as he threatened to overtake Newgarden, but the reigning Long Beach victor couldn’t snatch his position back.
On lap 65 Kirkwood sliced across the racing line into the pits and it was clear that his adversary for the lead was Alex Palou. Once the pitstop was finished, Kirkwood made his way down pit lane and re-entered onto the track, but Palou was right behind him. Kirkwood needed to get his hard tyres up to temperature quickly which made it hard for him to accelerate on the out lap. Palou used this situation to his advantage and kept close to Kirkwood. While Palou was putting pressure on Kirkwood, he couldn’t muster up the pace to make an overtake attempt for the lead. Kirkwood was driving flawlessly and he maintained his lead all the way to the checkered flag. With this race victory, Kirkwood claimed his second career victory at the streets of Long Beach which only two other Indy Car drivers have accomplished.
Although there wasn’t a fight for the lead, there was most definitely an intense battle for the last spot on the podium. With only five laps to go, Rosenqvist was trying to escape from Lundgaard who was right on his tail. Rosenqvist had run out of push to pass which made him vulnerable down the long straightaway. Lundgaard also had no push to pass left but he did have a trick up his sleeve. On the straightway he used the advantage of the slip stream and down into turn one, Lundgaard plunged to the inside and attained P3. Dixon and Herta were also fighting for P7 towards the later stages of the race which created some entertaining laps.