Go Grand Prix of Long Beach!

The trucks have rolled in, the drivers and teams have arrived, and the banners are almost posted. It's time for some racing!

First, however, it might be time for some rain, so it's going to be interesting to see what the ALMS teams do for their only practice session Friday morning if it's raining. It makes the most sense to not go out and risk the car when race day promises to be dry. But qualifying and/or racing with no other on-track minutes? Wild.

And a testament to how much the teams and Series want to be here in Southern California.

IndyCar teams should be in better shape with more practice time over three days. But I think so far weather is the story of the weekend. I'll be on-scene and will report back!

Here are a couple photos from the very tight ALMS paddock (lots of cars means not much space for their rigs!).

Simon, anything you want me to investigate for you?




Simon: I want to know how those Lotus powered IndyCars sound. I think they've bitten off more than they can chew racing in F1 and trying to be an engine builder. I'd like to know if those engines are on song. If they sound like a bag of nails, it's going to be a long season for 6 drivers. It'll also be interesting to see how the Indy cars perform this year on a tight street circuit. Remember the cars have more power, smaller wings and are weigh less. It'll be interesting to see how they handle the bumps.

Tammy: I'll try to report back. Of course, the breaking news I didn't hear until dinner is that Chevrolet replaced all engines on the cars they supply, so the (possibly better?) third of the field will all take a 10-spot penalty after qualifying. Someone was speculating that if Hondas are all up front, Lotuses are in the middle, and Chevys are at the back ... the first corner could be extremely messy. We'll see!