Southern California’s 200-MPH Beach Party Returns April 19-21, and construction began today on the city streets comprising the world-famous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race circuit.
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 192,000 fans attended the race in 2023, the event’s highest attendance since the 2008 Indy car “reunification.”
Today, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson 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.
“Over the past 49 years, the [Acura] Grand Prix has become part of the tapestry of Long Beach,” said Richardson. “Every year, thousands of people come here to enjoy our waterfront, understand our community, see the Port of Long Beach as a backdrop and really support our local economy. The people who set up this racecourse – their kids play soccer at Long Beach parks, they go to Long Beach schools so it’s really an economic boon with a big local impact.”
“We had a very successful event last year with the best attendance of the modern era,” said Michaelian. “With the addition of the sports cars of GT America, the vintage Indy car race and a free-to-participate racing simulator tournament from new sponsor Cooler Master, we think this year’s Acura Grand Prix will be an even more appealing weekend. We will soon be announcing more exciting additions to our schedule including concerts, race week events and the inductees to the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.”
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 14 million pounds of concrete blocks, four miles of fencing and 17,000 bolted-together tires – along with grandstands, seven pedestrian bridges and nine giant vision boards for full-circuit TV coverage.
Tanaka’s staff will also install 50 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 2024 Formula Drift season April 12-13, and part of the circuit will be used as a running course for the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach’s 6th Annual Grand Prix 5K Run on Sunday morning, April 14.
All businesses along the race circuit, which includes Shoreline Drive, Aquarium Way and Pine Ave., will remain open during construction of the racetrack.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be headlined by the second round of 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, the SPEED/UTV Stadium Super Trucks, Historic Indy Car Challenge and the SRO GT America Powered by AWS.
Acura Grand Prix ticket prices range from $40 for a Friday General Admission ticket to $185 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 will be admitted free with a ticketed adult.
Fans can select and pay for their 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.
Fans can also follow the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook (GrandPrixLB), Twitter @GPLongBeach (#AGPLB) and Instagram @GPLongBeach, as well as via the official Grand Prix app available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
