Track: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course (clockwise)
Race distance: 80 laps / 157.4 miles
Entry List: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (PDF)
Push-to-pass parameters: 10 activations for 20 seconds each
Firestone tire allotment: Four sets primary, three sets alternate
Twitter: @ToyotaGPLB @IndyCar, #TGPLB, #IndyCar
Event website: www.gplb.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2014 race winner: Mike Conway (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet)
2014 Verizon P1 Award winner: Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Honda),1:07.8219, 104.462 mph
Qualifying lap record: Justin Wilson, 1:06.902, 105.898 mph, April 2008
NBCSN race broadcast: Sunday, April 19 (4 p.m. ET)
NBCSN qualifying broadcast: Saturday, April 18 (6:30 p.m. ET)
Brian Till will be the play-by-play announcer for NBCSN’s broadcast of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Marty Snider, Kelly Stavast, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller are the pit reporters.
Radio broadcasts: Paul Page is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Qualifying and all Verizon IndyCar Series races are broadcast live on the IMS Radio Network, Sirius 213, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR 15 app. Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions are on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.comand the INDYCAR 15 app.
Video Streaming: All practice sessions for the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season will be available on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar) andRaceControl.IndyCar.com.
INDYCAR 15 App: Verizon Wireless puts fans in the driver’s seat with its INDYCAR 15 app. The app has been enhanced with new features to keep fans in the know of the latest race-day action. Exclusive features of the INDYCAR 15 app for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and include Interactive 3D Live View with real-time leaderboard and car telemetry to see where a fan’s favorite driver is positioned, leaderboard with enhanced 2D marching ants and car telemetry for 2015, in-car camera video streams from cameras that move 360 degrees and Driver-Pit Crew Chatter as drivers talk strategy with their pit crews during the race.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, April 17
12:30-1:15 p.m. (Verizon IndyCar Series practice)
3:45-4:30 p.m. (Verizon IndyCar Series practice)
Saturday, April 18
10-10:45 a.m. (Verizon IndyCar Series practice)
2 p.m. (Three rounds of Verizon IndyCar Series qualifications)
Sunday, April 19
10-10:30 a.m. (Verizon IndyCar Series warm-up)
1 p.m. NBCSN on air
1:37 p.m. Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach green flag
Race Notes:
* James Hinchcliffe and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports played strategy to perfection and won the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park on April 12. Now the “mayor of Hinchtown” hopes to make Long Beach his latest conquest.
* This weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will mark the 32nd Indy car event on the historic street circuit. Mario Andretti won the first Indy car race there in 1984. Mike Conway was the 2014 race winner.
* Al Unser Jr. has won the most times at Long Beach (six), while Sebastien Bourdais and Will Power are the only entered drivers with multiple wins. Bourdais won three straight races from 2005-2007. Power won in 2008 and 2012. Other former race winners scheduled to compete are: Juan Pablo Montoya (1999), Helio Castroneves (2001), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2010) and Takuma Sato (2013).
* Team Penske drivers have won four of the last six poles at Long Beach: Power from 2009-2011 and Ryan Briscoe in 2012. In addition to Power, other past pole winners entered in this year’s race are: Hunter-Reay (2014), Justin Wilson (2008), Bourdais (2006-2007), Castroneves (2001) and Tony Kanaan (1999).
* Four drivers have won the race from the pole – Andretti (1984, 1985 and 1987), Unser Jr. (1989-90), Castroneves (2001) and Bourdais (2006-07).
* Nineteen drivers entered in the event have competed in Indy car races at Long Beach. Twelve of those drivers have led laps: Bourdais 168, Power 162, Hunter-Reay 122, Castroneves 101, Sato 66, Marco Andretti 64, Kanaan 51, Montoya 40, Simon Pagenaud 26, Scott Dixon 25, Sebastian Saavedra 3, Josef Newgarden 1.
* Gabby Chaves, Stefano Coletti, Francesco Dracone and Luca Filippi will compete in their first Verizon IndyCar Series race on the streets of Long Beach. Chaves competed on the circuit in Indy Lights.
* Kanaan seeks to start his 236th consecutive race, which would extend his Indy car-record streak that began in 2001 at Portland. Teammate Dixon has made 177 consecutive starts.
* Dixon, the longest-tenured driver for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, is tied with Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time Indy car victory list with 35.
* The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg marked the competition debut of aerodynamic bodywork kits designed, manufactured and supplied by Chevrolet and Honda. Cars are differentiated by their shape on the street course as the manufacturers have designed separate aero kit specifications for road and street course/short ovals and speedways for the Dallara IR-12 chassis. References to the cars will incorporate the name of the corresponding manufacturer.
* The No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda Dallara crew of James Hinchcliffe won the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award during the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana with a total pit lane time of 35.066 seconds. The Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Motorsports crew will receive its $10,000 award during pre-race festivities at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
