Spectators from near and far wander the grounds of the nearby Long Beach Convention Center, the roar of engines echoing through the former street turned racetrack, and the smell of burnt rubber wafting through the air. Like clockwork, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach returned for motorsports fans to enjoy.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is a multi-race event that turned the streets of downtown Long Beach into a race track from Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19 with musical performances at the end of both Friday and Saturday.

Friday

Friday was the first day of the race weekend and was packed with 13 different events. Although they were mostly qualifying and practice races, these races gave drivers a chance to understand the track better.

Each event had two practices, except for the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone IndyCar series practice, which had its first on Friday and second on Saturday. The order of practices went Porsche Carrera Cup Practice #1, Historic Sports Car Practice #1, International Motor Sports Association Practice #1, and Stadium SUPER Trucks Practice in a repeating order.

The first qualifying run was held for the Porsche Carrera Cup, with Tom Sargent of GMG Racing taking first place over Callum Hedge of JDX and Aaron Jeansonne of Kelly in both the Pro Class as well as the overall standings. In Pro-AM, Patric Mulcahy of ACI Motorsports took first, with Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley of Kellymoss taking second and third respectively.

The IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Qualifying round had Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly of Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian first in the GTP class, and Jack Hawksworth and Frankie Montecalvo of Vasser Sullivan Racing first in the GTD class.

The last event was Formula Drift’s Super Drift Challenge, hosted at the same time as the Lupe Fiasco concert that closed out the events for the day. The challenge had multiple bouts between duos of drivers that were full of driving their cars to the limits.

Ultimately, the challenge came down to a final four of Rome Charpentier, Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis, Jeff Jones and Sam Maghmoumi, with Maghmoumi being eliminated and leaving the three up top to compete in night two.

Saturday

Saturday was when most of the races began as well as qualifying for the IndyCar main event, with the opening race being the first of two Historic Sports Car Challenges. This race was packed with cars ranging from the 1970’s to the 1990’s, from Oldsmobile’s and Chevrolet Camaros to the Nissan 240sx.

A loud race for any car enthusiast with a preference for the oldies-but-goodies. The podium was snatched by Chris Hines in first place, driving an Oldsmobile Capri, with Tim Lynn driving a Chevrolet Camaro in second and Chris Lienenberg trailing behind in third with his Ford Mustang.

Following that race was the first of another two-race series, the Porsche Carrera Cup. The race was separated into three separate classes: Pro, Pro-Am and Masters with each having their own specific winner per-class. First place, within the Pro class, was taken by Tom Sargent of GMG Racing.

In the Pro-Am class, Patrick Mulcahy of ACI Motorsports snatched first place ahead of Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley, both from Kellymoss. In the Masters class, Marco Cirone of ACI Motorsports took first. In the overall category of the race, Tom Sargent once again took first place above the other racers.

Sargent held his ground for the entire race, remaining in the same place and lapping certain competitors over the course of his run.

Following a break for an autograph signing for the Porsche Carrera Cup drivers, the NTT IndyCar second practice run occurred, giving drivers another chance to stretch their legs and get used to the course. The fastest time of the practice was set by Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.

After two back-to-back autograph sessions for the IMSA Weathertech and Porsche Carrera Cup racers, it was time for the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Grand Prix. Similarly to the Porsche Carrera Cup, the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Grand Prix uses a class system, separating results and also having an overall winner as well.

In the GTP class, the results found that Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly of Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian in their Acura ARX-06 were in first place, with Yelloly being their starting driver, qualifying driver and the driver of the fastest lap on their team.

In the GTD Class’ podium was Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen of Vasser Sullivan Racing in their Lexus RC F GT3. Pederson was their qualifying driver and the driver between the duo with the fastest lap, with Aaron being their starting racer.

Notably, within this race were two cars that couldn’t make it to the finish line. The first being the Gradient Racing Ford Mustang GT3, driven by Jake Walker and Corey Lewis.The other was Wayne Taylor racing a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, both of which were marked “not running” by IMSA.

Afterward came the NTT IndyCar Qualifying, with the runs being separated by groups and rounds, the second round being a combined qualifying run. In the first round and first group, Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank with Curb-Agajanian drove the fastest time. The second group’s fastest time came from Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.

In the second round of qualifying, all the drivers hit the track at once. This was part of the Firestone Fast Six in order to measure the six fastest times of all the racers. The overall quickest time from the combined group came from Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank with Curb-Agajanian.

The Firestone Fast Six times were held by Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank with Curb-Agajanian, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian as well as David Malukas of Team Penske and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.

Following the IndyCar qualifying times, the jumps were laid out to give way to one of the more chaotic events of the race weekend, that being the Stadium SUPER Trucks. This was hosted before the multi-artist concert that featured the Kings of Chaos, LIVE’S Ed Kowalczyk, 311’s Nick Hexum and Aloe Blacc that started at the same time as the Super Drift Challenge.

In the same vein as the Super Drift Challenge the Stadium SUPER Truck race was a spectacle with literal high-flying attributes. With jumps set up along the streets of Long Beach turned into a race track, Saturday night saw the father-son duo in Max and Robby Gordon take first and second place above Trey Hernquist.

The final Super Drift Challenge of the race-weekend gave fans the chance to see the Formula Drift drivers’ talents in real time before they left Long Beach, with the final results of the challenge having Rome Charpentier coming out in first place, trailed by Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis in second place and Jeff Jones in third.

Sunday

Sunday morning opened up similarly to Saturday, with the first event being the Historic Sports Car Challenge. Multiple cars ended up turning off the track in hopes of keeping their restored vehicles in proper working order without much risk.

Just like Saturday, Hines and his Oldsmobile Cutlass sped through the competition and maintained first the entire race, with Ken Davis taking second place in his Mercury Capri.

In the same theme of repeating placements, Sargent took first place in the Porsche Carrera Cup again, battling Aaron Jeansonne intensely throughout the entire race.

At one point, the distance between the two racers was a mere .3 seconds, though Jeansonne ended up coming short in his attempts to topple Sargent in the overall placement.

In the Pro class, Sargent’s name returned at the top of the leaderboard, taking first over Jeansonne and Callum Hedge of JDX racing.

When asked about any change in his gameplan going from Saturday into Sunday he said,

“We kinda just wanted to execute the same strategy. We obviously did well yesterday, so we looked at some data and made some changes to the car,” Sargent said. “For sure we improved it which was good. Today’s race was a bit harder. The other car, Aaron [Jeansonne] had a lot more speed today, so we had to work for it.”

The Pro-Am class had Mulcahy of ACI Motorsports in front of his two other competitors. Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley of Kellymoss in second and third place respectively.

The Masters class had a similar lack of competitors, with only the same 5 racers present as they were the day before. In first place was Rob Walker of JTR motorsports, trailed by Scott Blind in second and Marco Cirone in third.

Following the Porsche Carrera Cup came the second Stadium SUPER Truck race. The starting positions were reversed from the results of Saturday’s race, with Max Gordon and his father Robby being placed in the rear following their first and second place results.

While Robby and Max Gordon took second and first in Saturday’s Stadium SUPER Truck race, the father-son duo weren’t as lucky on Sunday, with Matt Brabham snagging a two-race win streak away from them. The two still got second and third, with Robby Gordon in second and Max in third.

The last event of the day, as well as the last day of the entire Grand Prix was the actual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which was an IndyCar specific event that they qualified for.

The entire race was filled with ups and downs, with multiple mass-position changes in the rankings, as well as a singular mechanical error that took Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global out of the race at lap 38.

At the end, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing took the top place on the podium, receiving first place above Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank with Curb-Agajanian whom he battled with continuously during the race and trailed by Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.

The event that many announcers referred to as “North America’s Monaco” brought fans from near and far in order to give them an experience that they will most likely never forget, with so many different motorsports experiences to view.

Next year’s schedule hasn’t been released, though many of the organizations featured have upcoming events that fans both new and old can access online or in person.