The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major street race held in North America.

John Watson's win for McLaren in 1983 holds the Formula One record for the lowest ever starting position for a race winner.

In 2006, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame was created to honor selected past winners and key contributors to the sport of auto racing.

Pook was inspired by the Monaco Grand Prix, and believed that a similar event had the potential to succeed in the Southern California area.

Meanwhile, the United States Grand Prix East at Watkins Glen International was experiencing a noticeably steady decline.

[5][6][7] When Watkins Glen was dropped from the Formula One calendar after 1980, the now-established Long Beach began to assume an even more prominent status.

In short time, the event grew to prominence on the IndyCar circuit and has been credited with triggering a renaissance in the city of Long Beach.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 race was canceled as part of the City of Long Beach's ban on events with estimated attendance of more than 250.

[8] The following year, as a preparatory measure for the pandemic's effects on the schedule, the race was moved from its traditional April date to September 26 as the season finale.

On March 28, 2024, it was announced that former ChampCar owner Gerald Forsythe would buy a 50% stake in the Long Beach Grand Prix from the estate of the late Kevin Kalkhoven.

Drivers who won their first career Indy car race at Long Beach include Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mike Conway, Takuma Sato, and Kyle Kirkwood.

James Hinchcliffe won his first-career Indy Lights race at Long Beach in 2010, then followed it up with an IndyCar Series win at the track in 2017.

[12] The current race circuit is a 1.968-mile (3.167 km) temporary road course laid out in the city streets surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center.

The track is particularly noted for its last section, a sharp hairpin turn followed by a long, slightly curved front straightaway which runs the length of Shoreline Drive.

The circuit is situated on the Long Beach waterfront, and is lined with palm trees (especially along the front straightaway towards the Aquarium of the Pacific), making for a scenic track.

[14] In 2016, the Long Beach City Council issued an RFP, opening up consideration for returning the event to a Formula One race as early as 2019.

[16] During negotiations which led to the unification of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series in 2008, a scheduling conflict arose between the IndyCar race held at Twin Ring Motegi (April 19) and the Champ Car race at Long Beach (April 20).

Long Beach hosted the opening round of the 1997 North American Touring Car Championship, being won by Neil Crompton in a Honda Accord.