Thousands of fans crowded into the grandstands to see the final two days of races at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach this Saturday and Sunday.
While most of the races on Friday were practice runs and qualifying races, eight of nine competitive races took place after.
The weekend’s most prominent event was Sunday’s 85-lap season finale race for the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series Championship. Due to delays caused by COVID-19, this was the first year the championship race was held in Long Beach.
California native Colton Herta won the final race while 24-year-old Spaniard Alex Palou went home as the series champion.
Among the competitions on Saturday were the first races of the weekend for the high-flying Stadium Super Trucks, the Historic Formula Atlantic Challenge Race and IMSA Sportscar races.
Immediately after the Vince Neil concert on Saturday night, Formula D Super Drift Challenge hosted its second and final race of the weekend. The event was able to pack in crowds near turns 10 and 11, spraying them with hot burnt rubber as the cars slid around cones on the track near the Long Beach Convention Center.
Sunday also had the second races for the Global Time Attack Competition, the Stadium Super Trucks and Formula Atlantic Challenge Race.
The Grand Prix will come back to Long Beach in just a few months during its regularly scheduled weekend from April 8 to April 11, 2022.
In Photos:
Alex Palou, who won the NTT IndyCar Championship Series, prepares for turn 10 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 26, 2021. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune) 
An IndyCar comes around turn 1 as fans and race officials look on from the bridge that goes over Shoreline Drive at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sept. 25, 2021. (Richard H. Grant | Signal Tribune)
