Alexander Rossi Races to Second Straight Long Beach Win

What to Know

  • Rossi was the first driver to win consecutive races at Long Beach since Sebastien Bourdais won three straight from 2005 to 2007.
  • His margin of victory over Josef Newgarden was more than 20 seconds and the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport across all series.

Alexander Rossi conquered the streets of Long Beach for the second consecutive year.

Rossi became just the eighth driver to win more than once on the temporary street course through the picturesque downtown. The others? Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., Alex Zanardi, Paul Tracy, Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power and Mike Conway.

"This is a special one," Rossi said.

Rossi won the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from the pole Sunday, same as last year, and had the field covered very early. His margin of victory over Josef Newgarden was more than 20 seconds and the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport across all series.

Rossi was the first driver to win consecutive races at Long Beach since Bourdais won three straight from 2005 to 2007.

Seven drivers won the last seven years, which didn't bode well for Rossi's chances at a repeat. But his Honda-powered Andretti entry was far and above the class of the field and he only relinquished the lead while on pit road.

Sports

Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.

Sale of T-Wolves to A-Rod and Marc Lore falls apart as Glen Taylor pulls NBA team off market

Possible moonshine cave discovered under grandstands at NASCAR track in North Carolina

Newgarden for Team Penske finished 20.2359 seconds behind with a Chevrolet. Graham Rahal was third across the finish line —25.4589 seconds behind Rossi— but lost the podium finish because IndyCar accused him of blocking Scott Dixon on the final lap.

Dixon, of Chip Ganassi Racing, was moved to third and Rahal finished fourth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

"I am not, like, upset about it," Rahal said. "Did I block? Yes. I blocked. You are allowed to make a move in this series. That's allowed. I played the rules as I see them fit."

Dixon said Rahal's error was making two moves, and that had Rahal not defended outside the rulebook, "we would have gotten (past) him, anyway."

Dixon ran second to Rossi for a large portion of the event but dropped out of contention because of a fueling issue during a lengthy pit stop.

HERTA OUT

Colton Herta has had back-to-back bad races since his victory in Texas made him the youngest winner in IndyCar. He had a fuel problem in Alabama last week and crashed out. Herta finished last in the 23-driver field.

It was a flip from the start of the day when Herta, who turned 19 just six days after last month's win, was fastest in the morning warm-up session for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. His crash canceled a promotion by sponsor King Taco, which signed on for Long Beach after his victory because of Herta's tradition of celebrating victories with tacos. If Herta had won Long Beach, King Taco offered free tacos to anyone with a ticket stub.

"The car was so good and I just threw it all away," Herta said. "I feel terrible."

UP NEXT

IndyCar will begin preparations for the Indianapolis 500 with an April 24 test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The session will mark the debut of a deflector designed to offer new protection to the driver in the exposed cockpit. The deflector is scheduled to debut at the Indy 500, but could be ready earlier, when IndyCar races the road course at the speedway on May 11.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us