DAILY RECAP: Friday Gearing Up For A Fantastic Weekend of Racing In Long Beach

By Justin Tatsuki Lee

Friday 17 April 2026

Long Beach Grand Prix

LONG BEACH, CA- The Long Beach Grand Prix has returned for its 51st edition since the first motor sport wheels touched the Long Beach Streets in 1975. A long preparation set off for practices and qualifiers that featured a full arsenal of diverse vehicles throughout the day. The main focus being the IMSA WeatherTech SportCar Championship teams and the NTT IndyCar Series teams. Friday featured multiple different types of cars that will speed through Shoreline and Sunset way. A massive showing of fans filled the grandstands which typically lacked through the pre-covid era, but with popularity of the sport beginning to rise again amongst the youth, the stands were filled for the Friday festivities. The atmosphere was revved up for a fantastic Friday in Long Beach.

Every vehicle type had an opportunity to get a feel for the track for much of the day, including the IMSA cars that had two sessions during the day with the race kicking off on Saturday. The first practice experienced zero issues with a few instances of objects and debris off the track. However, the second practice experienced multiple red flag events with two vehicles colliding at both Turn 8 and Turn 1 of the track. Colin Braun on Turn 8 experienced a fault that caused him to collide with the tire barrier. The damage was significant enough to require a full chassis change, dropping the team to an 11th place starting position for Saturday’s race — a tough blow for a car that could have been a contender up front. The second red flag came when AO Racing’s Harry King vehicle had clipped a section of the Turn 1 wall. 

The IndyCar practice ran fairly smoothly at the beginning, but not for Mick Schumacher, the rookie had engine issues at the start which took him and his vehicle out for the first practice, something that will delay the young racers traction to get a feel for the course in his first year. Scott McLaughlin during the turn out of Seaside Way, his vehicle experienced a lock up, a denied down shift which resulted in his car slamming into the Turn 9 circuit. The third weekend in a row McLaughlin had been experiencing issues. Team Penske’s driver Will Power led the way with the best time on the track during the session with a 1:07:3227  lap time. Many drivers after the first practice described what issues they’ve been working on since the preparation process began. Christian Lundgaard, the Danish driver for McLaren, described the balancing problems he had experienced while working with the alternates and attempting to correct them come the next day before the big race on Sunday. A microcosm of the challenges that many of the drivers have faced in the past while at the historic course of Long Beach. Although many are hopeful that finishing in the top pole will allow a swift victory for those who secure a spot in qualifying. Felix Rosenqvist spoke to the media with a newfound confidence with the potential to finish top 3 this weekend. All building to an exciting weekend in Southern California. 

The IMSA WeatherTech SportCar Qualifiers took center stage Friday at Long Beach as teams put their machinery through its paces ahead of Saturday’s 100-minute sprint race. The session carried extra weight for Acura, whose U.S. headquarters sits just down the road in Torrance — a home race in every sense of the word, and one that has eluded them in the GTP era despite years of strong showings on the streets of Long Beach.

Qualifying delivered the drama that Long Beach always seems to promise. Nick Yelloly, wheeling the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, was the first driver to crack the 1:12 barrier and never looked back, ultimately clocking a 1:11.626 to claim the Motul Pole Award. Yelloly has always had a knack for street circuits, and Friday was no exception — inching closer to the walls with each successive lap, the 35-year-old Englishman was in his element. It was not without a fight however, as BMW’s Marco Wittmann pushed hard to the very end, falling just 0.030 seconds short on his final flying lap. Louis Deletraz rounded out the top three in the Cadillac, with all four manufacturers — Acura, BMW, Cadillac, and Porsche — represented inside the top five. A tight, competitive field as expected.

Saturday’s events will be the proper set up for the big day on Sunday with the Porsche Carrera Cup and Historic Sports Car challenge with the main event of the day being the IMSA SportCar Grand Prix that starts at 1pm. More coverage to come, stay tuned for the rest of the weekend festivities of the Long Beach Grand Prix.