APRIL 22, 2026

(HRC)

Hard off its win at Long Beach, Honda Racing announced that it was ending its Acura involvement in the IMSA series at the end of this season. Instead, Honda Racing will step up its NTT INDYCAR SERIES presence. Marcus Armstrong's No. 66 Honda-powered IndyCar will carry Acura branding in the 2026 Indianapolis 500, which will be the brand's first appearance on the Indy 500 grid. Acura's multi-race IndyCar activation began at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with Meyer Shank Racing and will continue at additional high-profile NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.

(Photo of Alex Palou by Chris Owens for Penske Entertainment)

Alex Palou got the break he needed and fast work from his Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew, and then he ran away with a victory Sunday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Palou earned his third victory in five races this season, the 22nd victory of his career and his first win at Long Beach in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing OpenAI Honda, beating NTT P1 Award winner Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda) to the finish by 3.9663 seconds. Palou also took the series lead by 17 points over Kyle Kirkwood as he aims for his fifth series championship and series record-tying fourth in a row. “It’s huge,” Palou said. “Super proud of everybody’s job but especially this crew. Incredible to finally win here at Long Beach.” Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(Photo of Felix Rosenqvist by Travis Hinkle for Penske Entertainment)

Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda) finished second to Palou by 3.9663 seconds after starting from pole.

(Photo of Scott Dixon by Chris Owens for Penske Entertainment)

Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon rounded out the podium with his best result of the season in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Honda, as CGR produced two of the top three finishers.

(IMSA)

It was a long time coming, but Acura and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) claimed their first overall victory on the streets of Long Beach during the modern era of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and more importantly, for the first time since Acura became the title sponsor of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2019. Nick Yelloly sped to the Motul Pole Award on Friday, then teamed with Renger van der Zande Saturday to guide the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) first-place trophy in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. They largely controlled the 100-minute sprint race to end several years of frustration for Acura and HRC, which both have headquarters in Southern California. With the No. 93 Acura carrying a new 76 Gas Station livery, van der Zande crossed the finish line 0.818 seconds ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R shared this weekend by Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti, in his Long Beach debut filling in for Earl Bamber. The Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s took third and fourth places, with the No. 6 car of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor just ahead of the No. 7 team car of Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer that won the first two WeatherTech Championship races of the 2026 season. Watvh the Race Highlights from NBC here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)

(IMSA)

At a certain point, the dam was going to break for Vasser Sullivan Racing and its venerable Lexus RC F GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after a two-year winless drought. The last place where the team won on an important milestone in its history was a good place to do it. Vasser Sullivan has entered 22 IMSA races (including this one) since their last class win at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2024, and their previous largest winless streak was 12 races. So the perfect pairing to break the drought in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) was the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 of Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen. They shared the winning entry for team co-owners Jimmy Vasser and James “Sulli” Sullivan, with Vasser also celebrating the 30-year anniversary this week of his own Long Beach Indy car race win in April 1996 that led to an eventual championship at season’s end. Robby Foley/Patrick Gallagher (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO) was second, Albert Costa/Manny Franco (No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO) finished third. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno/IMSA Wire Service)

(Porsche)

The two factory Porsche 963 prototypes will compete on the streets of Long Beach on Sunday (April 18) in a new Apple Music livery. Following victories at Daytona and Sebring, both secured by Porsche Penske Motorsport, IMSA now moves from Florida to California. At just 100 minutes in duration, the tight and technical Long Beach street race is, along with the Detroit street race, the shortest event on the IMSA calendar.

(INDYCAR)

From the Press Release:

Tré Cool, drummer for the five-time GRAMMY Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–inducted punk rock trio Green Day, will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19, on the streets of LongBeach, California.

One of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, Green Day (and one of PMD's all-time favorites) has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide and amassed over 22 billion cumulative streams. The band first achieved global success with its breakout album “Dookie” and went on to define a generation with releases such as “American Idiot,” which earned them a GRAMMY Award for Best Rock Album, and their most recent 2x GRAMMY nominated 14th studio album, “Saviors,” which debuted at No. 1 on seven Billboard charts. In 2025, Green Day completed the largest stadium tour of their career across 33 countries. The band’s enduring global appeal was further underscored by a high-profile performance during the opening ceremony of Super Bowl LX in February 2026.

(Porsche images)

Porsche has unveiled its 975 RSE Formula E race car. The 975 RSE opens a new chapter in all-electric motorsport and complies with the regulations for the fourth Formula E vehicle generation that will be used starting next season. The new GEN4 machine delivers the biggest performance leap in electric motorsport to date: 804HP (600 kW) of power, permanent all-wheel drive, new tires and significantly increased downforce bring Formula E into the slipstream of the fastest single-seater race cars worldwide. The new car offers even stronger acceleration and a top speed exceeding 205 mph. “The GEN4 shows how far electric vehicles have evolved,” says Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “When the championship started in 2014, every driver needed two cars per race. One battery alone was not enough to cover the full race distance. Those days are long gone. Since 2024, we have been developing a race car that puts us on the level of Formula 2 cars. EVs are not only catching up with the standards we are used to; their strengths are becoming increasingly evident – on the track and on the road.”

For the first time, aerodynamic downforce significantly increases the grip of Formula E cars. Together with new tires and permanent all-wheel drive, this enables much higher cornering speeds. “Within roughly a decade, Formula E has become so fast that aerodynamic downforce is now a necessity. However, downforce always comes with drag and increases energy consumption,” Olivier Champenois, Technical Project Leader Formula E at Porsche Motorsport, said. “To maintain a strong focus on efficiency, we use two different aero packages with distinct bodywork components: a low‑downforce package with reduced drag for the races, and a high‑downforce package for qualifying, where energy consumption isn’t relevant. We are talking about up to 150 percent more downforce compared to the GEN3 Evo.”

Already in the current Formula E Porsche, the highly efficient GEN3 Evo-generation Porsche 99X Electric, drivetrain efficiency is over 97 percent. From the battery to the wheels, less than three percent of the energy is lost – for example through friction in mechanical components.

“As efficiencies approach perfection, other topics moved higher up the GEN4 development brief, including potential in terms of weight, durability and costs – similar to EVs for the road,” Champenois said. “The 975 RSE produces 71 percent more peak power than its predecessor. At the same time, we were able to reduce the weight of many parts. Although we are developing more components in-house for GEN4 than for GEN3, the total weight of our parts package was only allowed to increase by 11 lbs.”

In Formula E, manufacturers primarily develop the technical components that are also relevant for electric road cars. In-house developments include operating software, pulse inverter, electric motor, gearbox, differential, drive shafts and other drivetrain components on the rear axle, as well as cooling, carrier and suspension components at the rear. With the introduction of GEN4, several additional components are added, including the DC/DC converter and the brake‑by‑wire system, further electronics and wiring looms, as well as control units for the hydraulic differentials. For cost reasons, the battery remains a standard-supplied component and may not be developed.

“The concept remains the same: the regulations force us to maximize the efficiency of our cars in every respect – because that makes us relevant for the road,” Florian Modlinger, Director Factory Motorsport Formula E said. “The races should become even more attractive, as the new cars are considerably faster. The acceleration is impressive, and we expect top speeds of up to 208 mph. I’m very curious to see how the fans will react.”

Provisional technical data – Porsche 975 RSE:

Drive power:
- Normal mode: 450 kW (603HP)
- Attack Mode: 600 kW (804HP)

Power transmission:
- Permanent all-wheel drive

Acceleration:
- 0–62 mph: approx. 1.8s

Energy recovery
- Up to 700 kW recuperation power (brake energy recovery)
- Approx. 40 to 50 percent of the drive energy per race comes from brake energy recovery

Brakes
- Regenerative braking system: up to 350 kW electrical braking power on both the front and the rear axle
- Depending on brake pressure: additional deceleration through friction brakes (brake-by-wire system)
- Brake disc outer diameter front and rear: 275 mm

Tires
- Bridgestone tires for dry and wet conditions (two sets per race weekend and per car, three for double-headers)
- Bridgestone wet-weather tires for heavy rain (one set per race weekend and per car, second set possible for double-headers)

Rechargeable energy storage system (RESS)
- Lithium-ion accumulator
- Standard-supplied component
- Usable energy capacity: 51.25 kWh

CCS charging system (Combined Charging System)
- Designed for extremely fast charging with up to 600 kW charging power

Weight and dimensions
- Weight: 2,013 lbs. (954 kg) without driver
- Length: up to 218.1 in., width: up to 70.8 in., height: up to 45.27 in.
- Wheelbase: 121.25 in.
- Front track: 58.35 in.
- Rear track: 56.8 in.

Aerodynamics
- Two packages with aerodynamic elements for higher and lower downforce and drag

 

 

Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG