[1] Since its inception as an open-wheel race in 1983, the Grand Prix of Monterey has been held at or very near the end of the season for nearly its entire existence.

On the final lap of the 1996 Monterey Grand Prix, Alex Zanardi executed a daring, diving pass inside of Bryan Herta through the difficult "corkscrew" turns.

Zanardi bounced wildly through the dirt and over the curbing, slid across the track and narrowly missed a collision, and astonishingly made the pass stick for the win.

The driver with the most wins is Bobby Rahal, who won the CART series race four years in a row from 1984 to 1987, and three additional times as an owner (1998, 1999, 2001).

In 1991, Michael Andretti swept the weekend, winning both the Challenge on Saturday and Grand Prix on Sunday.

With the top-level Indy cars absent, and now competing instead at Sonoma, the Atlantic Championship briefly headlined at the track from 2008–2009.

In 2018, a renewed effort to return Indy car racing to Laguna Seca was spearheaded by Monterey County and track officials.

In July 2018, it was announced that Sonoma would be removed from the IndyCar schedule after the 2018 season, and Laguna Seca would be added for 2019.