LONG BEACH, Calif. (Feb. 20, 2024) – The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach took its first steps toward celebrating 50 Years at Full Speed today, as construction began on the city streets comprising the iconic Grand Prix race circuit in preparation for the 50th anniversary April 11-13 event.
Over the next 50 days, more than 2,400 concrete blocks that anchor the safety system around the 1.97-mile, 11-turn racing circuit will be placed along with 14 large grandstands that line the racecourse. More than 194,000 fans attended the race in 2024, the event’s best attendance showing since the 2008 Indy car “reunification.”
Today, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, Manager of Acura Regional Marketing Vince Nguyen, Assistant Manager of Acura Regional Marketing Todd Knepp, Historic Motor Sports Association President Cris Vandagriff and Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Michaelian commemorated the start of track construction in what will become Turn 10 of the racecourse in the Long Beach Arena parking lot.
They were joined by three historic racing vehicles celebrating the three eras of racing in Long Beach: Formula 5000, Formula 1 and INDYCAR, as well as one of the official 50th anniversary Acura Integra Type S pace cars. Representing Formula 5000 was the 1973 March 73A driven in-period by John Cannon; from Formula 1, the 1983 Williams FW 008C driven by Keke Rosberg, and representing Indy cars, the 1999 Reynard driven that year by Bryan Herta. These cars are expected to race in the Historic Formula Exhibition doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday of race weekend.
“The Grand Prix is always an exciting event for Long Beach,” said Richardson. “There’s something magical about cars and moving fast, and it gets kids excited. I remember being excited to come to the race as a kid, and now as a father of two girls, 7 and 10 years old, they love to come to the Grand Prix. This is an event for families, and we encourage all families to come down, check it out and make some memories in the beautiful City of Long Beach.”
“Today marks the official start of our milestone 50th anniversary celebration,” said Michaelian. “And the excitement is truly at an all-time high. This year’s event will be a spectacular showcase of world-class racing, incredible fan experiences, and tributes to the rich history that has made Long Beach a premier motorsports destination. We can’t wait to welcome fans, drivers, and teams for what promises to be a historic and unforgettable race weekend.”
In total, Grand Prix Director of Operations Dwight Tanaka, LIUNA Local 1309 and Grand Prix Operations staff will put in more than 33,000 working hours installing the safety system – more than 24 million pounds of concrete blocks, four miles of fencing and 17,000 bolted-together tires – along with 14 grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and nine giant vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage.
Tanaka’s staff will also install 60 high-end hospitality suites, three hospitality clubs, tents, electrical lines and equipment, phones, porta-johns, trash containers and a myriad of other items around the track.
The eastern portion of the racetrack (Turns 9, 10 and 11) will also be used for Round One of the eight-event 2025 Formula Drift season April 4-5, and part of the circuit will be used as a running course for the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach’s 7th Annual Grand Prix 5K Run on Sunday morning, April 6.
All businesses along the race circuit which includes Shoreline Drive, Aquarium Way and Pine Ave., will remain open during construction of the racetrack.
The 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend will include the Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, plus doubleheader action from Robby Gordon’s SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks, GT America Powered by AWS and the unique Historic Formula Exhibition, featuring cars from the three racing eras at Long Beach – Formula 5000, Formula 1 and Indy Car – racing together for the first time.
Acura Grand Prix ticket prices range from $54 (“all-in” pricing) for a Friday General Admission ticket to $215 for a three-day ticket that includes Sat./Sun. reserved seating in grandstand upper levels. Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, NTT INDYCAR SERIES Paddock passes, Super Photo tickets and a wide variety of hospitality packages. Continuing a longstanding policy at the Grand Prix. children 12 years and under can get free general admission with a ticketed adult.
Fans can select and pay for their 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.
Fans can also follow the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, X at GPLongBeach (#AGPLB50), Instagram at GPLongBeach and YouTube at GPLongBeach, as well as via the official Grand Prix app available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
Source: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
