The Iconic Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Up Next for Rahal, Foster and Schumacher

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Pre-Race Notes
51st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Streets of Long Beach, California
Round 5 of 18 in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE: Friday – Sunday, April 17-19, 2026

PRACTICE BROADCAST: Live on FS1 on Friday from 6:00–7:30 p.m. ET, live FS2 on Saturday from 1:30-3:00 p.m. ET and on FS1 on Sunday from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST: Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 6:30-7:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST: Live on FOX on Sunday, April 19 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. ET. And also on the IRN, Sirius XM INDYCAR Nation and the INDYCAR App.

TRACK LAYOUT: 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course
RACE LENGTH: 90 laps / 177.12 miles
2025 WINNER: Kyle Kirkwood
2025 POLESITTER: Kyle Kirkwood (107.034 mph)

RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT LONG BEACH: 3 poles (Herta 1998, Vasser 2002, Jourdain, Jr. 2003) / 2nd – four times (B. Rahal 1992-1993, Vasser 2002, G. Rahal 2013)

RAHAL’S BEST START / FINISH AT LONG BEACH: 5th in 2007 / 2nd in 2013; will be his 19th Indy car race here and 20th overall
RAHAL’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: 5 Poles – St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023, Portland (road) 2023 / 6 Wins – St. Pete 2008, Fontana (oval; 500 miles) 2015, Mid-Ohio (road) 2015, Texas (oval) 2016; Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, Detroit Race 2 2017

FOSTER’S BEST START / FINISH AT LONG BEACH: 20th / 16th – both in 2025; will be his second race here
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: Pole at Road America 2025 / 11th (Indy GP and Road America 2025)

SCHUMACHER’S BEST START / FINISH IN LONG BEACH: First race here
SCHUMACHER’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 4th / 18th – both in Phoenix (oval) 2026

NEWS & NOTES:

26TH INDY CAR RACE IN LONG BEACH FOR RLL
The 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (AGPLB) marks the 26th time for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to compete in the event. Although the team didn’t compete in Indy car races here from 2004-2011 while they fielded a fulltime entry in the Indy Racing League (2004-2008), they did compete in the 2003 and 2004 Atlantic races with Danica Patrick and in the 2007 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race. From 2009-2019, the team competed on the streets of Long Beach in the GTLM class of the ALMS/IMSA with BMW Team RLL and has finished on the podium each year but 2016-2019 although they started from pole in 2016 and led all three of those races. The venue is still the most successful for the team on the current IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule with wins in 2011, 2013 and 2015, nine podium finishes and five poles in 13 years of events here with BMW M Team RLL. The team’s new IMSA GTD PRO program – RLL Team McLaren – does not compete here.

In total, the team won three poles (Herta 1998, Vasser 2002, Jourdain, Jr. 2003); made five front row starts including an all-Team Rahal front row in 1998 (2nd – Rahal 1998, Brack 2001); earned their best finish of second place four times (Rahal 1992-1993, Vasser 2002, G. Rahal 2013) and earned six podiums (2nd – Rahal 1992-1993, Vasser 2002 & G. Rahal 2013; 3rd – Herta 1998-1999). The team has entered the No. 15 One Cure Honda for Graham Rahal, the No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Honda for Louis Foster and the No 47 Liquid Death Honda for Mick Schumacher in this year’s race.

GRAHAM AND LONG BEACH
The 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be Graham’s 19th Champ/Indy car race here and 20th overall. His best IndyCar start here is fifth in 2007 and best finish is second place in 2013. In 2025, he started 16th and finished 22nd. On his second of three pit stops, there was a false read on the fuel level and he returned to the track four gallons short of the intended fuel amount. In 2024, he started 12th and pit from fifth place on an alternate strategy for his second stop and a fueling issue added an additional 12 seconds, which dropped him four spots at the time and cost valuable track position. A top-10 finish was in sight, but he had to settle for 17th place. In 2023, he started 24th and finished 12th and in 2022, he started 13th and finished seventh. He ran as high as second place two times in 2021 and led four laps by utilizing an alternate strategy after starting 19th but the timing of a caution for contact between teammate Askew and Daly while he was on his in-lap for his final pit stop dropped him to 20th. He came back to finish 16th. Other results are available on request. The team has conceptualized some ways to optimize the race car setup, and he is looking forward to getting on track to try those. His best qualifying position of the season is third in Phoenix and best finish came at the previous race in Barber with a third-place podium result. He’s hoping to carry that momentum to Long Beach.
“I’m excited to get back to Long Beach, one of the most legendary races of the year. It’s definitely a tremendous place to go race and always has been. It’s a beautiful track. I’m definitely pumped up to go back there and feel the energy from the crowd. Our street course performance has not been as good as we would like this year. We have some work to do and need to accelerate the improvements but we’ll certainly try to do that and put ourselves in a much better spot and see if we can find some performance in Long Beach to build off of our third place finish in Barber but also to carry momentum into Indy, which I think is really important.
“Jim (Michaelian) will be missed. He did it the right way all the time. The promotion and vibe behind the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was second to none. The vibe, the energy and the notoriety that the race has had over the years is unbelievable. I just saw Jim recently, so it was such a shock to hear about his passing. We certainly appreciate everything that he did for our sport over the years. He’s absolutely a legend and may he rest in peace.”

FOSTER TO MAKE HIS SECOND START AT LONG BEACH
Although he has been racing in the US for years, Foster will compete in only his second race in Long Beach this year. In his debut at the track last year, he started 20th and finished 16th. The Los Angeles area is one of his favorite places to visit in the US after having lived there while attending college. His highest start of the season so far is ninth place on the streets of St. Pete, which is also the team’s best start on a street course this year, and Foster is hoping to build upon that.
“We had a decent car last year but had a bad qualifying session. We just messed up on very small area in qualifying last year. Basically, we just didn’t optimize the tires last year in qualifying and started further back. But it was a good race for us; we moved forward a decent amount of spots and were the top finishing team car. Graham would have finished higher, but he had an issue with one of his pit stops. We had a good race, but our Achilles heel last year was that we just didn’t get qualifying nailed. This year we’ll be going in with a bit of a different setup and trying something new and going to see if it works out for us. We tried something new in Barber, and it worked well for Graham, not so much for myself and Mick but we’re trying new things and seeing what works. That’s kind of the whole point of this year; try new things to see what works because we know last year didn’t go the way we wanted to on the whole.
“So far this year our qualifying has been a bit iffy on the 45 car which has me a bit confused because last year we were very good in qualifying and less so in the race. This year we’ve been okay in qualifying but a lot better in the race so we’ve definitely made a step forward but we just need everything to come together a little bit more. I love Long Beach; it’s a really fun track so I’m looking forward to going back there. Let’s see how this new setup goes, see how we feel come practice but with the progression that’s been happening so far, I don’t see why we should be challenging for a top-10.”

SCHUMACHER AT THE ICONIC LONG BEACH GP
The 51st running of the Long Beach Grand Prix will mark Mick’s third street race of the season and fifth series event in addition to adding his famous surname to the likes of the many legendary names that have raced here. Schumacher has travelled the world in his 27 years, but it will be his first time in the Los Angeles area and he is looking forward to the new experience.
“I’ve never been to the Los Angeles area. I will get there a bit earlier for a media tour so I will drive around the city a little bit and get to see some things. I heard the traffic can be bad so we’ll probably keep the driving to a minimum, but I will still hopefully see some areas and go do some fun things around there. I’m looking forward to my first time in LA.
“It’s hard to say what the expectations are for Long Beach. It’s a relatively short track and we really just want to make sure the basics are right and that we are going in there with a good approach to the weekend. Again, it’s a track that I have never seen before so we will do a lot of laps in FP1 to build that experience that we’re looking for and then hopefully we’ll get off to a good start and take it from there. I think the pace has been good. The team has done an amazing job in all circumstances so far. On my side, the performance probably lacks a little behind but not in terms of the performance from the car but in terms of having a little bit of luck. I’m just excited to hopefully be able to have a good weekend finally; I think that’s what the 47 team needs at the moment.”