By Cayman Compass contributor Ted Nesbitt
On Sunday, 19 April, IndyCar raced one of its Crown Jewel races – the Long Beach Grand Prix on the streets of the California suburb of Los Angeles. Famous for its tight confines defined by concrete walls and a very tight pitlane that can cause chaos, Long Beach is a huge challenge for every IndyCar team and Driver.
Cayman’s Kyffin Simpson took the track Friday looking for redemption after a couple not-so-great results at the Arlington Texas street race and the GP of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. Simpson was quick in both practice sessions on Friday at Long Beach, as were both his Ganassi teammates, Kiwi Scott Dixon and Spaniard Alex Palou. Andretti Racing’s Will Power topped the charts in practice.
Saturday saw qualifying run later in the afternoon with solid results for the three Ganassi Racing teammates. While Swede Felix Rosenqvist grabbed the pole for Michael Shank Racing, Simpson’s teammates Palou qualified third and Dixon sixth. Simpson grabbing the ninth qualifying spot in his Sunoco Honda.
The green flag flew Sunday afternoon with pole-sitter Rosenqvist breaking out to an early lead. Palou improved to 2nd after a slick pass on Pato O’Ward on the second lap and this order held through the first round of pit stops. Very little passing in the top 10 saw Dixon maintain his sixth position and Simpson his ninth up until the yellow flag flew on lap 57, sending every single car diving for the pits as they were within finishing distance. Palou’s Ganassi pit team outdueled the Meyer-Shank racing crew of Rosenqvist, sending Palou out in the lead. Dixon climbed a few spots after another spectacular pit stop, but Simpson got caught up in some pit lane traffic, falling to 12th.
When the green flew again on lap 61, Palou checked out on Rosenqvist and the race result was pretty much decided as the four-time Series Champ pulled out a comfortable lead. Rosenqvist battled through, holding Scott Dixon off at the end for second leaving Dixon with third, his first podium of the 2026 season. Cayman’s Simpson battled admirably through traffic that included both lapped cars and cars ahead of Simpson. Ultimately Simpson cracked the top 10 a couple laps before the checkered, earning him his second top 10 finish in the five races this season.
Palou said, “The Ganassi car was super, super fast today but it was that yellow, that pitstop with all the pressure, that my team were able to do it and execute it perfectly. From there, it was just managing the tires. We didn’t know how the primary tires were going to be.”
This was Palou’s 22nd win in just 103 career races, an amazing statistic in a highly competitive IndyCar Series.
The teams move to Indianapolis for the month of May. Oval Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts next week, with the next race being the Sonsio GP on the Indy road course Saturday, 9 May. Official practice for the 110th Indy 500 starts on Monday, 11 May.
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