Things To Look Out for at the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

For the moment, Pato O'Ward is the leader, followed by Marcus Ericsson, who won the season's first race. In the engine manufacturer standings, Chevrolet leads, followed closely by Honda.

Typically, street races offer little in the way of grip, leaving the Firestone primary tire as the go-to option. However, in the past two years, the alternate reds have proven to be the superior choice. Unlike their usual fast-but-fleeting performance, the reds maintained their speed, making them the preferred tire.

Never content to rest on its laurels, Firestone has continued to innovate. This year, they'll be introducing the guayule tire, recognizable by its green sidewall, which will be used in all five street course events. This new tire is part of Bridgestone's mission to achieve carbon neutrality and produce tires from sustainable materials by 2050. By the end of the decade, the company hopes to have commercial production of natural rubber derived from guayule.

Despite predictions that the guayule tire would perform similarly to its predecessor, the red tire, the race in St. Pete proved otherwise, leading to a strategy-filled competition much like last year's. The question now is how the guayule tire will fare at Long Beach.

It's still early in the season, but the top drivers are already making moves, and with so many great tracks coming up, every point matters. Pato O'Ward currently leads Marcus Ericsson by just seven points going into this weekend's race, with Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden trailing by 15 and 16 points, respectively. Alex Palou rounds out the top five, sitting at 22. What's especially interesting about this group is that Dixon, Newgarden, and Palou have won five of the last six series championships between them. To see them all in the top five this early on suggests they'll be tough to beat as the season progresses.

But the competition is fierce. O'Ward is coming off a runner-up finish at St. Pete, and Ericsson has won three of his four races on street courses. Newgarden has three consecutive top-two finishes at Long Beach, where he's also the defending champion, while Dixon has placed in the top four in five of his last seven Long Beach races. And with his recent podium finish at St. Pete and two wins at Toronto and Nashville last year, Dixon could have unlocked something important on these types of circuits. Palou is no slouch either, with three podiums and five top-six finishes in five tries on these tracks last season, including a runner-up and a third-place finish at Long Beach.

Looking ahead, Barber could be a significant turning point for these drivers. They've won four of the last five races there, with O'Ward finishing fourth and first in his previous two starts, Palou winning in 2021 and finishing runner-up in 2022, Ericsson notching two top tens in three starts, and Dixon earning an incredible nine podiums and ten top fives in 12 starts, including six runner-up finishes. If these drivers can continue to rack up points, they'll have a massive lead over the rest of the field heading into the Month of May.

Andretti Autosport has had success at the California street race over the years, including a win by Herta in 2021. However, last year's race looked similar to this year's St. Pete race. While Grosjean secured a runner-up finish, the team struggled with other issues that were hidden by his strong performance. Herta broke the track record and sat on the pole, but lost ground due to tire issues and a slower pit stop, ultimately crashing out of the race. Rossi also faced setbacks, finishing in eighth place.

Michael Andretti remains optimistic about the team's future success despite these challenges. Andretti believes that the team has studied and worked on the areas they need to improve, such as pit stops and strategies, to avoid past mistakes. Andretti is hopeful that this attention to detail will pay off and result in a successful race weekend.

Will Alexander Rossi recapture his past success at Long Beach with his new team in the second street course event of the season, and how much confidence does he have going into this race?

Alexander Rossi, who had a frustrating season in 2021, believes that his new team has taken a step forward in terms of their street course program, and he is optimistic about their performance at Long Beach. He acknowledges that St. Pete and Long Beach have some similarities, but he believes Long Beach is a more challenging street course due to its rough surface and grip level.

Despite this, Rossi is confident that he can maximize the strengths and weaknesses of his Chevy engine to get the most out of his car. Rossi's new team has a positive atmosphere, and he believes that they will only get stronger with time.

Rossi is ready to stick it to the field on Sunday and has a better pit stall for this race. Rossi is in the middle of his teammates Felix Rosenqvist, who has the first pit stall, and Pato O'Ward, who has the fifth pit stall, which gives him some comfort. Rossi is optimistic, but understands that it will take perfect execution from everyone to win the race.

Let's see how things will stay at the end of the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.