Will Power, Andretti Drop Hammer in Opening Long Beach Practice

After a blistering lap at Long Beach, it’s safe to say Will Power is starting to find his comfort zone at Andretti Global.

Power led the opening practice for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with a top lap of 1 minute, 7.6053 seconds in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global. That was nearly two-tenths of a second ahead of his closest pursuer, former teammate Scott McLaughlin, second at 1:07.7914 in the No. 3 AAA Travel Team Penske Chevrolet on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

SEE: Practice Results

“On the reds (Firestone alternate tires), the car was very good,” Power said. “We still have things to improve but looking good.”

Power moved to Andretti Global after 16 full-time seasons at Team Penske that included two NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships and victory in the 2018 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the highest-profile driver move of the offseason.

Two-time Long Beach winner Power has endured an inconsistent start to his Andretti tenure, adjusting to the different ways that team sets up its cars – especially its brakes – compared to Team Penske. He is 13th in the standings after four races but produced his best finish of the season, third, at the last street race, the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on March 15.

Up next is the second practice at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday (FS2, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls), followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 6:30 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). The Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying will be a single-car, one-lap format unlike the group formats of the first two rounds.

The 90-lap race starts at 5:30 p.m. Sunday (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

“As you’ve seen over the years, the Andretti cars are really good here,” Power said. “I think the one lap in qualifying will be very interesting. Hard to say that would suit us or not.”

Andretti Global has won six of the past 14 street races in the series, with Kyle Kirkwood winning five of them. Two of those victories have come in this event, both from Kirkwood in 2023 and 2025.

The team continued to flex its street circuit muscle on a sun-splashed day at Long Beach, as series points leader Kirkwood joined teammate Power in the top three with a best lap of 1:07.9861 in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda.

Four-time and reigning series champion Alex Palou was fourth at 1:08.0030 in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five at 1:08.1215 in the No. 66 Remax Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian.

Marcus Ericsson verified Andretti Global’s strength at Long Beach and on street circuits as he was the team’s third driver in the top six of the time chart, stopping the clocks at 1:08.1932 in the No. 28 Allegra Honda.

McLaughlin’s first practice was bittersweet. He was second quickest overall but ended his afternoon by sliding sideways into the tire barrier in Turn 9 shortly before the end of his practice group. He was unhurt, and the car suffered moderate damage.