Verizon IndyCar Series Returns to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Race Broadcast Sunday, April 134 p.m. (ET) NBCSN (Live)
Qualifying Broadcast Saturday, April 12 6 p.m. (ET) NBC Sports Network
Track Streets of Long Beach (11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit)
Distance 80 laps/157.4 miles
Radio IMS Radio Network XM 209/Sirius 209; www.indycar.com; INDYCAR 14 app
2013 Race Winner Takuma Sato
2013 Polesitter Dario Franchitti
First Indy Car event 3/31/1984
Power looks to continue hot streak
With three straight race wins dating back to the penultimate race of the 2013 season, Team Penske's Will Power leads the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings as the series heads to Long Beach. Power won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in both 2008 and 2012. Can he continue his strong start to the 2014 season by scoring another win at the Beach?
Dixon off to strong start in title defense
Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon has shown he's not ready to give up the Verizon IndyCar Series title without a fight. The New Zealand native finished fourth to open the 2014 season. Can Dixon continue his strong start and take his first victory at Long Beach?
Conway returns to site of first victory
In 2011, Mike Conway scored his first Verizon IndyCar Series win at Long Beach, passing Ryan Briscoe with 15 laps remaining. This year the Englishman returns to the circuit with Ed Carpenter Racing, which makes the team a threat to score its first win on a street course. Can Conway win again at Long Beach?
Sato looks to get back to Victory Lane
Takuma Sato scored his maiden Verizon IndyCar Series win in last year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and started 2014 off with a pole at St. Petersburg. Can Sato repeat at the Beach and join the prestigious list of back-to-back winners that includes Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, Paul Tracy, Al Unser Jr. and Alex Zanardi?
Kimball looks to wow in front of hometown crowd
A native of Camarillo, Calif., Charlie Kimball grew up with the Long Beach street circuit nearly in his backyard. The Rio Mesa High grad returns to his "home track" coming off a breakthrough season that saw him score his first win. Can Kimball, who finished second at Long Beach in 2010 while competing in Indy Lights, pull off another impressive finish in front of his hometown crowd?
Bourdais, Montoya look to pick up where they left off
Sebastien Bourdais and Juan Pablo Montoya hope to continue their mastery of the streets of Long Beach. Bourdais, who won three times on the circuit as part of his four consecutive Champ Car titles, races for KVSH Racing, while Montoya, the 1999 Long Beach winner, returns with Penske Motorsports. Can either get back to winner's circle this weekend?
Andretti looking to move up
After finishing a career-best fifth in the 2013 standings, Marco Andretti is looking to finish with a championship for the first time in his career. Driving for his father Michael's team, Marco hopes to add to his family's storied racing history in 2014.
The Ganassi-Andretti engine swap
Chip Ganassi has a habit of shaking things up for his team on a regular basis. This year, his Verizon IndyCar Series team switched to the Chevrolet engine. Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport, which won the 2012 championship with Chevrolet power and driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, has made the move to Honda. Although Honda and Chevy ended up nearly equal in terms of race wins in 2013 (Will Power's victory in the season finale tipped the balance in favor of Chevy, 10-9), Scott Dixon won the championship with Honda. For the first time since INDYCAR's 2.2-liter turbo V-6 specification was introduced, Honda will utilize twin turbochargers.
Generation Next
James Hinchcliffe, Simon Pagenaud and Charlie Kimball all scored their first win in 2013, finished top 10 in the championship standings and established themselves as the next stars of the sport. Will 2014 be the year a new, young star becomes a champion?
Home-grown heroes
The Verizon IndyCar Series features a group of home-grown drivers who represent the stars and stripes in the most diverse series in motorsports. Former series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, race winners Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Charlie Kimball and Graham Rahal and rising star Josef Newgarden all worked their way up the American open-wheel ladder to reach the Verizon IndyCar Series.
All-American effort
Second-generation driver Graham Rahal will look to return Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to victory lane sporting the colors of the Army National Guard. Rahal won his first race at St. Petersburg in 2008 and in 2009 earned his first pole position at the track. Can Rahal fulfill the promise he showed early in his career with another strong performance at St. Pete?
Briscoe returns to Chip Ganassi Racing stable
Ryan Briscoe returns to the team where he started in Verizon IndyCar Series career - Chip Ganassi Racing. The Australian, who has seven wins to his credit, will drive the No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, renewing the relationship that began at the Indianapolis 500 in 2013. How will Briscoe fare in his second go-around with Chip Ganassi Racing?
Race Notes:
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be the sixth INDYCAR-sanctioned event conducted at Long Beach. The street circuit has been hosting Indy car events since 1984. Takuma Sato won the race in 2013, while Dario Franchitti won the pole.
Sebastien Bourdais and Will Power are the only entered drivers with multiple wins at Long Beach. Bourdais won three-straight races from 2005-2007. Power won in 2008 and 2012. Other former race winners scheduled to compete are: Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Helio Castroneves (2001), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2010) and Mike Conway (2011) and Takuma Sato (2013).
CART and Champ Car held 25 Indy car races at Long Beach from 1984-2008. Mario Andretti won the first Indy car race at Long Beach from pole in 1984.
Al Unser Jr., has won the most races at Long Beach (six), while Paul Tracy won four times. Mario Andretti and Sebastien Bourdais each have three wins. Michael Andretti, Will Power and Alex Zanardi have all won at Long Beach twice.
Team Penske drivers have won four of the last five poles at Long Beach. Ryan Briscoe won the pole in 2012, while Will Power claimed the pole in 2009-11. Other pole winners entered in this year's race are: Justin Wilson (2008), Sebastien Bourdais (2006-07), Helio Castroneves (2001) and Tony Kanaan (1999).
Four (4) drivers have won the race from the pole - Mario Andretti (1984, 1985 and 1987), Al Unser Jr. (1989-90), Helio Castroneves (2001) and Sebastien Bourdais (2006-07).
Nineteen (19) drivers entered in the event have competed in Indy car races at Long Beach. Fourteen (14) of those drivers led laps: (Sebastien Bourdais 168, Will Power 162, Helio Castroneves 101, Ryan Briscoe 83, Ryan Hunter-Reay 71, Takuma Sato 66, Marco Andretti 64,Tony Kanaan 51, Juan Pablo Montoya 40, Simon Pagenaud 26, Justin Wilson 16, Mike Conway 14, Oriol Servia 12, Alex Tagliani 4, Scott Dixon 3.)
Mikhail Aleshin, Jack Hawksworth. Carlos Huertas and Carlos Munoz will compete in their first Verizon IndyCar Series race on the streets of Long Beach. Hawksworth and Munoz each competed on the circuit in Indy Lights.
Season to Date:
Will Power won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was the 22nd win of his Indy car career, tying him with Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi for 19th all-time.
Mikhail Aleshin, Jack Hawksworth and Carlos Huertas started their first career Verizon IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg.There were four race leaders and seven lead changes in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg.
Milestones & Records:
· Should Scott Dixon win the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt, Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win four Indy car titles in his career. Foyt won seven championships in his career, while Andretti, Bourdais and Franchitti each won four titles.
· With his next victory, Scott Dixon will tie Al Unser Jr., for sixth on the all-time wins list. Dixon, the active leader for wins, won his 33rd race at Houston's Reliant Park in October 2013.
· With a victory in 2014, Scott Dixon will extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to 10.
· Will Power's win at St. Petersburg extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to eight.
· With his next victory, Sebastien Bourdais will move into sole possession of eighth place on the all-time wins list. Bourdais is tied with Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy with 31 wins.
· With his next victory, Helio Castroneves will tie Rick Mears for 11th place on the all-time wins list. Castroneves won his 28th race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8, 2013.
· Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 40 career poles in his Indy car career. Castroneves is the active leader with 38 pole positions.
· With one pole in 2014, Scott Dixon will extend his Verizon IndyCar Series streak to eight consecutive seasons.
· Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 217th consecutive start, which would extend his all-time record. Scott Dixon with 158 straight starts (sixth all time), Marco Andretti with 134 straight starts (13th all time) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (19th all time) with 108 straight starts are the only active drivers with a streak of more than 100 consecutive starts.
· Helio Castroneves is the active leader in starts with 278, which is eighth on the all-time list.
· Tony Kanaan has 277 starts, which is ninth on the all-time list.
· Tony Kanaan is the active leader in top-five finishes with 112, which is one behind Bobby Unser for eighth on the all-time list.
· Helio Castroneves istied with Rick Mears for 10th on the all-time list with 112 top-five finishes in his Indy car career.
At-Track Schedule (all times local):
Friday, April 11
10-10:45 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1
2-2:45 p.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2
Saturday, April 12
10-10:45 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3
1:15 -2:25 p.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series Pole Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (knockout qualifying and Firestone Fast Six format)
Sunday, April 13
9-9:30 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series warm-up
12:30 p.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series pre-race
1:50 p.m. - Firestone Grand Prix of Long Beach (80 laps/157.4 miles), NBCSN (Live)
