3 memorable Long Beach moments you must know before IndyCar’s season debut at the iconic venue

The third race of the IndyCar, that is the ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach, is all set to take place on the streets in Long Beach, California. The event will celebrate its 50th running during the race weekend from April 11 to April 13.

The race began in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race but later transitioned to a Formula One weekend from 1976-1983. It then turned into an IndyCar series race from 1984 onwards.

The 1.968 mile street circuit allows for plenty of overtaking opportunities, especially Turn 1, the hairpin turn. This makes for an interesting and memorable race for the fans as well as drivers. Some memories like the Al Unser Jr. vs Danny Sullivan battle for victory in 1992 still live on in the memories of fans. Here are our top three memorable moments over the years at Long Beach Grand Prix.

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1. Colton Herta's remarkable win in 2021

This was the second time that the Long Beach Grand Prix took place after it was announced as a points deciding race by IndyCar in 2019. The 2021 race took place on September 26 that year.

Herta had qualified in 14th place for the race but with good strategy and pace, he managed to move up the grid. By the first few laps of the race, Herta had made up quite a lot of places and by lap 31 he overtook Scott Dixon to take second place. However, the battle with Josef Newgarden was not an easy one.

On lap 32, Herta overtook Newgarden and took the race lead. By lap 54, he had built a gap of 8.8 seconds. However, as the laps progressed, Newgarden began to chip away at Herta's time and brought down the gap to 0.588 seconds. Herta managed to keep Newgarden behind him and took the win at the Grand Prix in his rookie year.

Prior to this win, earlier in the year, Herta had taken his maiden IndyCar win at the Circuit of Americas.

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2. Al Unser Jr. holds off frustrated father and son duo to take victory in 1989

Mario Andretti, was called as the King of the Beach due to his dominance on this specific street circuit. He won the IndyCar races held at the track in 1977, 1984, 1985 and 1987.

However the race of 1989 was a one to forget for both the Andrettis. On April 16th 1989, Unser Jr. started the race on pole position while Mario and Michael Andretti qualified in seventh and second position, respectively.

For most of the race, Unser dominated but eventually with the help of a pit-stop, Mario took the lead of the race. However, on lap 84 while entering turn 3, Unser Jr. tapped the back of Mario Andretti's car which caused him to spin and the latter finished his race in 18th place. While Michael Andretti finished right behind Unser in second.

The event ended with a confrontation among the two drivers in the Victory Lane. It was deemed as a controversial win at the time.

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3. Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr.'s fight for victory in 1986

Micheal Andretti won his maiden IndyCar race at Long Beach. Andretti qualified for the race in third position. The duel for the race win began on lap 70 of the 95 lap race, when Unser Jr. made his pit stop and retained his lead over Andretti.

However, Andretti eventually caught up and took the lead. The duo almost crashed at the hairpin due to Robert Mareno's lapped car being in the way which caused Andretti's breaks to lock up. This incident aided Unser to pull up alongside Andretti.

But Andretti kept Unser behind him and went on to win the race by 0.380 seconds. It was at this race that Andretti Jr. ended his father's chase for three consecutive IndyCar wins at Long Beach.