{"id":73205,"date":"2023-04-13T12:48:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T19:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=73205"},"modified":"2023-04-13T12:48:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T19:48:50","slug":"indycar-drivers-walk-the-red-carpet-in-long-beach-to-premiere-100-days-to-indy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/indycar-drivers-walk-the-red-carpet-in-long-beach-to-premiere-100-days-to-indy","title":{"rendered":"IndyCar drivers walk the red carpet in Long Beach to premiere ‘100 Days to Indy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Power only shaves on Thursdays. It\u2019s a superstition he\u2019s held his entire life. And although he had a red carpet affair to clean up for, he wasn\u2019t going to upend the ritual just days ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I couldn\u2019t shave today because it\u2019s Wednesday,\u201d the 42-year-old two-time Australian champion told the Long Beach Post on Wednesday evening from the red carpet of the premiere of The CW\u2019s \u201c100 Days to Indy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
A race fan captures an image of an IndyCar diver as he walks the red carpet at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Josef Newgarden, who arrived in Long Beach on the heels of winning the series\u2019 most recent event, PPG 375, said he doesn\u2019t tether any superstitions or rituals to his performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all,\u201d the 32-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two Team Penske drivers joined 21 other IndyCar competitors in front of the Long Beach Convention Center\u2019s Terrace Theater as race fans cheered their arrivals one by one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The drivers were followed closely in docuseries \u201c100 Days to Indy\u201d on their competitive journey to the largest single-day racing event in the world, the Indianapolis 500, which is just around the corner on May 28.<\/span><\/p>\n

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IndyCar driver Callum Ilott gets greeted by fans as he walks the red carpet at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marcus Ericsson, 32, won that race last year. Ericsson, of Sweden, told the Post he presses three times on his left wrist before he starts his engine to race.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI said from early in my career to not have too much stuff like that because if you get it wrong, you\u2019re gonna be like, in your head,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new series is likely to catapult IndyCar drivers further into stardom, much like Netflix\u2019s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” did in 2019. Although they arrived on Wednesday to smile for the cameras, many of the drivers had the weekend on their minds, with the big race day coming up on Sunday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Former race driver and now team owner Bobby Rahal is introduced to the fans as he walks the red carpet at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI have some unfinished business here in Long Beach,\u201d Ericsson said. \u201cI actually crashed out the last three times I\u2019ve been here.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the returning drivers shared challenges they\u2019ve faced in Long Beach\u2019s unique \u201ctight and twisty\u201d street course, as Ericsson described it. Many drivers made remarks about the infamous hairpin turn and the fountain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2014, Newgarden shared that he wrecked in turn three in the final pitstop.<\/span><\/p>\n

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An Indycar is propped up for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSomething like that always sticks with you,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had a chance to win the race, and it all ended in tears in turn four.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Power says Long Beach has a fun flowing track but of course ,\u201cit\u2019s always dangerous as all get out,\u201d he laughed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith that hairpin, everyone backs up, so it\u2019s kind of ruined my last two or three qualifying sessions here,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m very determined to have a clean qualifying try.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
A photographer’s flash captures an IndyCar diver as he walks the red carpet at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cActually, I broke my thumb here,\u201d veteran racer Jack Harvey told the Post. He returns for his second season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite that incident and the season being a bit of a \u201cmixed bag\u201d for his team, Harvey is excited to return to Long Beach and to celebrate his 30th birthday after the race on Sunday. Until then, it\u2019s \u201cmaximum focus,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For rookie Benjamin Pedersen, Sunday will mark his first time competing in Long Beach, but Pedersen said that is to his advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause then you don\u2019t have any bad habits, if you will, compared to guys that have been here many years,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Katherine Legge<\/a>, who will be competing for Gradient Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar series, returning to Long Beach brings her back to her first victory when she competed in the city 18 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"\"
IndyCar driver Conor Daly arrives at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt has a special place in my heart,\u201d the British racer told the Post.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also in tow for the event were TikTok stars Justin Ladner, Garett Casto, Zack Lugo, Trey Makai, model Brooklin Khoury and actress Chloe Lukasiak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fans of all ages gathered around the red carpet outside the east side of the theatre, where a \u201c100 Days to Indy\u201d show car was parked.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Race fan Collin Virgo wears a temporarily checked flag drawing on the side of his head as he attends the red carpet at the Terrace Theater for the world premiere of “100 Days to Indy” in Long Beach, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Colin Virgo is a Grand Prix fan who has been coming out to the Long Beach race circuit every year since 1975. He proudly showed up to watch the red carpet event bearing a checkered race flag on the side of his head. But it wasn\u2019t a tattoo, he clarified, it was merely a design shaved and dyed by his barber. Nonetheless, he\u2019s a die-hard fan and he\u2019s looking forward to seeing one of his favorite racers garner a checkered flag, preferably Newgarden, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a kid just getting out of high school, (the Grand Prix) was happening. This was the place to be,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c100 Days to Indy\u201d will officially premiere on the CW Network on April 27.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly two dozen IndyCar competitors walked the red carpet in front of the Long Beach Convention Center\u2019s Terrace Theater on Wednesday for the world premiere of the upcoming docuseries, \u201c100 Days to Indy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":73196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[108],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[9454],"class_list":["post-73205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-acura-grand-prix-of-long-beach","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73205"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73209,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73205\/revisions\/73209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73205"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=73205"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=73205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}