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NASCAR’s pursuit of Southern California has taken a wild turn. Marshall Pruett of RACER.com reports that NASCAR is looking at purchasing a 50% stake in the Long Beach Grand Prix. Pruett also reports that Penske Entertainment, the holding company for Roger Penske’s other businesses, is looking at keeping NASCAR from buying that stake in the race. Neither party confirmed nor denied the report.
The Long Beach Grand Prix is one of the most significant motorsports events in the United States. It’s one of the very few street races to have staying power, and it is the second most prestigious race on the IndyCar calendar, with the Indianapolis 500 the obvious number 1.
However, while it is primarily associated with IndyCar, the history of the Long Beach Grand Prix is far more complicated than that. The race was originally founded in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, and Formula One came to the track for the “United States Grand Prix West” in 1976. Formula One stayed through 1983, with drivers like Mario Andretti, Nikki Lauda, and Nelson Piquet all taking home victories.
In 1984, Formula One left, and CART began hosting races at the venue. In 1996, there was the controversial CART/IRL split, and Long Beach stayed on the CART, which was eventually renamed to Champ Car, calendar, but, not the IRL schedule. According to Pruett’s report, the event was purchased by the late Kevin Kalkhoven and Champ Car owner Gerald Forsythe in the early 2000s during the split.
In 2008, Champ Car and the IRL eventually merged, reunifying open-wheel racing in North America. While Champ Car teams only raced in the 2008 race due to scheduling conflicts, the first Long Beach Grand Prix held under the modern “IndyCar Series” banner was held in 2009. It has stayed ever since.
All of that is to say that the Long Beach Grand Prix has not historically been solely an “IndyCar” race, and it’s not a race owned by IndyCar. The event has had multiple different series, and the series has changed based on the climate of the time. The ownership situation is an unintended consequence of the CART/IRL split.
According to Pruett, after Kalkhoven’s death in 2022, his half of ownership of the race went for sale. So, we have a scenario where a race that both has the right to change series and has changed series multiple times in the past is up for sale. NASCAR has proven that they can compete on a street track as well, so, that makes it even more interesting. Then you add in the wrinkle of IndyCar and Roger Penske.
The Long Beach Grand Prix is the second biggest race on the IndyCar calendar. The two highest-viewed IndyCar races on NBC, excluding the Indianapolis 500, are the 2022 and 2023 Long Beach races according to Racer.com. The Long Beach Grand Prix also claims to bring in 190,000 fans in total attendance for the weekend.
If this race were to be bought by NASCAR, becoming a NASCAR race weekend instead of an IndyCar race, it would be bad for IndyCar. Imagine (Keyword imagine) if SMI sold the Coca-Cola 600 to the CARS Tour, or Formula One, or IndyCar. It means the loss of a crown jewel event. Even if NASCAR and IndyCar were to run a doubleheader weekend at Long Beach, NASCAR would be on the top of the ticket since it’s by far more popular than IndyCar.
That’s why Penske Entertainment is reportedly looking to keep this buyout from happening. IndyCar has held races at NASCAR-owned tracks before, and two races this season are scheduled for Iowa Speedway.
However, would NASCAR buy a race track just to be hospitable towards IndyCar? NASCAR allowed IndyCar to race at Iowa, and that event proved to be so much of a success that NASCAR decided to hold a Cup race there this summer. NASCAR will likely not do this unless they have a chance to race at Long Beach, and Southern California is an open market for them currently.
This is a big story, and it could have interesting implications with Roger Penske also competing in NASCAR. Will NASCAR be racing on the Streets of Long Beach in the future?
