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The Long Beach GP is the longest-standing street race in North America and was first featured on the Formula 5000 calendar in 1975. The very next year, a deal was signed with F1 and the American street circuit appeared on the F1 calendar. However, a switch to CART was made in the early 80s. But what was the reason for switching from the pinnacle of motorsports to the American open-wheel racing series?
The cost and finances were the major reasons involved in the circuit’s decision to switch to IndyCar (then known as CART). The Long Beach GP was first featured on the IndyCar calendar in 1984 after the failed negotiations with F1 following the 1983 F1 race at the circuit.
Chris Pook, a promoter of the Long Beach GP came out and revealed the sky-high costs of the 1983 F1 race. He detailed how $1.75 million went to F1 along with other fees and costs, pushing the total close to $2.1 Million just in the cost payable to F1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone.
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Toyota was the then sponsor for the Long Beach Race, and they were also involved in the conversation. Once Long Beach got approval from Toyota to negotiate with CART. Pook revealed the subsequent conversation with Ecclestone for renegotiating the F1 contract as the one they had didn't make financial sense, and CART was ready to sign a deal.
“Frasco went to make the call, came back ten minutes later and said, 'Ecclestone said it's fine for you to negotiate with CART. He also said you're a cheap b*****d! He said I should get more money out of you than anybody else,'” disclosed Pook in a conversation with Autosport in 2020.
The Long Beach promoters then signed a three-year deal with CART where they paid $500,000 for the first year, $575,000 for the second year, and $625,000 for the third year. The deal cost $1.6 Million less than what the F1 deal was worth. Although Toyota reduced the sponsorship fund by $500,000, the CART deal still saved over $1 million.
The naming and layout history of the Long Beach GP
The Long Beach GP circuit layout has changed multiple times in the past with a major change coming in 1982 which got rid of a bunch of slow-speed corners, namely the second "queen's hairpin" and replaced it with a series of corners, including the Michelob turn.
The next major change happened in 1992 when the circuit was further simplified and a couple of slow-speed technical areas were removed. This included the removal of the Park Avenue loop, resulting in a longer Seaside Way back stretch and a faster run to the passing zone.
The year 2000 saw the final iteration of the circuit, which is run to date. Toyota became the title sponsor for the event in 1980 and remained the same for close to four decades until 2018. Acura acquired the same in 2019 and since then the race has been titled the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The 2025 race will be the 50th Anniversary of the Long Beach GP.
