The 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has been completed, view the full IndyCar race report here. Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing started on pole, with Pato O’Ward alongside him on the front row.
Alex Palou, two points behind Kyle Kirkwood heading into the race at the top of the standings, had the American driver for company on the second row.
The top 4 chose the soft tyre at the start. Only a further four drivers also started on it.
Green flag is waved for the 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach IndyCar race
As things got going, only the first three rows formed up but it meant the start was clean. Alex Rossi had a look into the final corner on teammate Christian Rasmussen but the Dane held his spot. The #21 got checked up behind Ericsson and gently touched the Swede’s car.
Critically on lap 2, Alex Palou dived down the inside of Pato O’Ward into turn 1 and take 2nd spot.
VeeKay and Newgarden commit to the three-stop
At the end of lap 8, Rinus VeeKay ditched his reds from P12 and switched to blacks.
Further down, Rasmussen and Rossi both cleared the #28 Andretti after that dicey first lap. The ECR teammates then swapped as the Dane started to lose his softs.
Rosenqvist led Palou, O’Ward, Kirkwood, Malukas, Dixon, Power, McLaughlin, Simpson and Rahal.
At the end of lap 11, Josef Newgraden boxed from P12 as the Team Penske driver was bottled up in traffic. They went from blacks to reds. He overcut the Dutchman who was ahead before the Juncos man pitted.
The top runners come in
After O’Ward pitted on lap 30, Rosenqvist, Palou, Kirkwood, Malukas and Dixon and all came in on the next tour. A cracking stop by MSR kept the Swede ahead of the Spaniard. Critically, the #27 and #12 jumped the #5 to take a net P3 and P4 as Josef Newgraden took the lead.
Power went a lap further but could not quite hold Dixon off on cold tyres on pit exit.
Ericsson slows on track
Marcus Ericsson hit trouble as he slowed on track with electrical gremlins. The broadcast also confirmed he was having no hybrid. Eventually he ended up on pit lane with the problems.
Following Newgarden’s second stop, Rosenqvist led Palou, Kirkwood, Malukas, O’Ward, Dixon, Power, McLaughlin, Simpson and Lundgaard (all reds). The #2 rejoined in P14.
From P10, Christian Lundgaard had to pit at the end of lap 49 as a tyre was going down for the Arrow McLaren driver.
Having flat spotted his left front passing Marcus Armstrong, Newgarden had to slow his pace, getting passed by the Kiwi and Foster.
The caution appears and the lead changes
Debris on the exit of the fountain saw the caution appear on lap 57. It bunched up the whole field before they pitted.
Further down pit road, Alex Palou had a cleaner route out and jumped Felix Rosenqvist through the final round of stops as the #60 was slightly delayed on the left rear. Scott Dixon vaulted all the way up to P3, jumping Kirkwood, Malukas and O’Ward.
Palou, Rosenqvist, Dixon, Kirkwood, O’Ward, Power, McLaughlin, Malukas, Rahal and Rossi was the top 10 on the restart. P1, P2, P4 and P5 were all on blacks.
Will Power was handed a penalty as the Australian clipped the legs of Caio Collet’s left rear tyre changer exiting the choatic pits as everyone pitted under caution. It put him down to P24 after he served it.
With 14 laps to go, Kyffin Simpson found his way into the top 10 as he swept around the outside into turn 1 on Louis Foster. The RLL driver then got eaten up as Hauger, VeeKay, Siegel, Newgarden and Rasmussen all passed him within two laps.
The #2 had come through from P20 to P14 as his excellent race pace without a flat spot was on display.
Alex Palou takes out the 2026 Long Beach race
On the blacks, Alex Palou gapped Felix Rosenqvist by over 5s. He backed off on the last couple of laps to stroke it home. An unlucky Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon completed the podium.
Alex Palou now leads the 2026 IndyCar standings by 17 points as Kyle Kirkwood finished P4 in the Long Beach race. David Malukas is now P3 in points after a P7 finish.
