The race was conceived by Chris Pook, a former English travel agent inspired by the Monaco Grand Prix, who believed a similar street event could thrive in Southern California. The City of Long Beach — then a largely industrial, depressed port city roughly 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles — provided a waterfront circuit laid out on public streets. The inaugural race in September 1975 drew 30,000 fans as part of the Formula 5000 series.
In 1976, Long Beach hosted the United States Grand Prix West, entering the Formula One calendar as that series gained global prestige. The event quickly earned a reputation for demanding, rough racing; its pleasant weather and proximity to Hollywood gave it further allure. When Watkins Glen was dropped from the Formula One calendar after 1980, Long Beach assumed even greater prominence. Despite strong attendance and exciting racing, the Formula One event was not financially sustainable — promoter Pook risked a slim profit against a multi-million dollar budget — and in 1984 the race converted to a CART Indy car event.
The switch to CART proved transformative, both for the race and for the city. The Long Beach Grand Prix was widely credited with triggering a renaissance in the city itself, with dilapidated buildings replaced by hotels and tourist attractions in the years that followed.
Mario Andretti dominated the early CART period, winning in 1984 and 1985 and again in 1987 — his 1987 triumph also marking the first-ever Indy car victory for the Ilmor-Chevy Indy V-8 engine. Al Unser Jr. then established an extraordinary record, winning four consecutive races from 1988 to 1991, and ultimately claiming six victories at Long Beach across eight years. In 1988 he lapped the entire field; in 1989 a controversial last-lap collision with Mario Andretti gave him the win from a damaged car.
Paul Tracy became the dominant force of the late CART and Champ Car eras, claiming four victories at Long Beach (1993, 2000, 2003, 2004). His 1993 win was his first career Indy car victory, holding off Nigel Mansell over most of the distance. Sébastien Bourdais then won three successive races for Champ Car from 2005 to 2007, cementing the event's reputation for producing dominant performances.
Notable firsts at Long Beach include Michael Andretti's inaugural Indy car victory in 1986 and Juan Pablo Montoya's first career Champ Car win in 1999 — his third career start — which gave Chip Ganassi Racing four consecutive Long Beach victories. Alex Zanardi's 1998 win stands out as one of the event's most improbable: having fallen a lap down after a collision, Zanardi worked his way back through a race featuring a record seven cautions to steal victory in the final two laps.
In 2008, the open-wheel split between Champ Car and the IRL created a scheduling conflict with the Indy Japan 300. The compromise saw former Champ Car teams race at Long Beach while established IndyCar teams competed at Motegi; the Long Beach race was officially billed as the "final Champ Car race," run under Champ Car regulations using Panoz DP01 machinery. Will Power dominated the event, leading 81 of 83 laps.
When the unified IndyCar Series absorbed Long Beach in 2009, the event retained its stature as one of the most prestigious rounds on the calendar. Dario Franchitti took the first unified-era victory; Mike Conway won his first career IndyCar race there in 2011. Will Power's 2012 victory came under intense fuel-saving pressure from Simon Pagenaud, with Power holding on by 0.8 seconds. Takuma Sato delivered the first IndyCar victory for A.J. Foyt Enterprises since 2002 when he won in 2013.
The race produced a significant championship moment in 2021, when it was rescheduled to serve as the season finale due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex Palou secured his first IndyCar championship with a fourth-place finish, as Colton Herta took the race win. Kyle Kirkwood scored his first IndyCar victory at Long Beach in 2023 using a one-lap overcut strategy over Josef Newgarden.
The 2020 race was canceled outright due to the pandemic under the City of Long Beach's ban on large public gatherings. The race returned to its traditional April calendar slot in 2022.
The Long Beach Street Circuit runs on public roads near the city's waterfront, close to the Port of Long Beach. Its layout demands precision and bravery: narrow sections alternate with longer blasts down widened corridors, while a tight hairpin rewards aggressive but measured late-braking. The circuit's combination of barriers and fast sections has historically punished errors severely.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach is the second-oldest continuously running event in American open-wheel racing, behind only the Indianapolis 500, and the longest-running major street circuit race in North America. Attendance regularly reaches or exceeds 200,000 across the weekend, making it the single largest event held in the City of Long Beach annually. In 2006, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame was established to honor past winners and key contributors to the sport.
In 2024, IndyCar Series owner Penske Entertainment acquired full ownership of the race from Gerald Forsythe, who had purchased the 50% stake owned by the estate of the late Kevin Kalkhoven. Since 2019 the event has carried the Acura title sponsorship, continuing the Toyota naming-rights legacy that ran from 1980 to 2018.