Note: Eric Smith of INDYCAR.com takes a fun look before each NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at drivers who enter the weekend with an inside line to victory lane and drivers who could surprise with a strong result.
Chip Ganassi Racing finished 1-2 with Alex Palou and Scott Dixon in the March 2 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. Palou then made it 2-for-2 with a victory March 23 at The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix.
The organization also put two cars on the podium in last year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
However, don’t crown CGR as this year’s Long Beach victors yet.
Andretti Global figures to be in the mix for victory in Sunday’s 50th anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach airing at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. Andretti Global drivers produced two drivers in the top six of the finishing order in the season opener at St. Petersburg, too.
The Andretti Global team also has won four of the last six years at Long Beach and was the runner-up finisher the last three years.
Who else can be in the mix for Sunday’s 90-lap race?
Favorites
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet)
Newgarden is a former Long Beach winner (2022) who has four podium finishes on the Long Beach street circuit in his last seven tries, including a top-10 result on nine consecutive occasions. He finished fourth last year and charged from 10th to third in the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Over Dixon’s last 15 street course starts, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has four wins and nine top-six results, including a victory here last year and runner-up in this year’s St. Petersburg season opener. Dixon had a series-leading third-place average finish in four street course starts last season.
Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Palou has one finish worse than eighth in his last 16 street course starts. He has eight podium finishes and 13 top-six results on these tracks during that span, including a victory in St. Petersburg on March 2. In four Long Beach starts, Palou has finished fourth, third, fifth and third, respectively.
Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
Herta stormed from a 14th-place starting position to reach victory lane in the 2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He led a race-high 43 of 85 laps that afternoon. A year later, Herta qualified on pole and dominated the early portions of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach before making a costly error coming to his second pit stop. The last two years Herta finished fourth and second, respectively. A slow pit stop ruined a potentially good day last month in St. Petersburg, but Herta finished on the podium in three of his four street course starts last season, including a Toronto win last July.
Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 PreFab Honda)
The No. 27 Andretti Global Honda has won three of the last six Long Beach races. American drivers have won five of the last six, too. Florida native Kirkwood contributed to both with his maiden NTT P1 Award and first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in 2023. He earned his second career victory on the streets of Nashville in August 2023. Kirkwood had a seventh-place average finish on street courses last year, including a runner-up in July at Toronto. He also finished fifth last month in the season opener in St. Petersburg.
Sleepers
Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Lundgaard earned his first career win in 2023 on the streets of Toronto for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in a dominant performance after capturing the NTT P1 Award and had finishes of 11th in Detroit and seventh in Toronto last year. He began his Arrow McLaren driving career last month in St. Petersburg as the team’s best qualifier in fifth and finisher in eighth. He led 23 of 100 laps. At The Thermal Club, Lundgaard started second and finished third.
Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet)
The two-time Long Beach winner would love to return to victory lane in his home Golden State. Sunday will mark Rossi’s 150th career start, and he enters having finished 10th last year at Long Beach and 10th this March at St. Petersburg. He also finished sixth and fifth, respectively, in his other two street-course starts in 2024.
Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Bryant Honda)
Three of Ericsson’s four career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories have come on street circuits. All three came at different venues (St. Petersburg, Nashville, Belle Isle). While he hasn’t won at Long Beach, he’s been close. Ericsson finished third in 2023 and fifth last year. He also finished runner-up at Detroit last season and sixth in this year’s season opener in St. Petersburg. Sunday will mark Ericsson’s 100th INDYCAR SERIES start.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda)
FRO had a 7.33 average finish in four street course events last season and began 2025 with a seventh-place finish on the streets of St. Petersburg. Rosenqvist has seven top-10 finishes in his last nine street course starts overall. In 2022, he had three top-10 finishes in five street races competing for Arrow McLaren. Rosenqvist earned NTT P1 Award honors at Long Beach last year, and his five Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach finishes are 10th, 13th, 11th, seventh and ninth, respectively.
Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda)
Armstrong had four top-11 finishes in five street-course starts in 2023. Last season, he finished 12th in Long Beach, third in Detroit and fifth at Toronto. This year, he moved to Meyer Shank Racing and qualified fourth in St. Petersburg. If he can stay out of trouble, Armstrong could surprise everyone this weekend.