Crash INDYCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the 48th edition of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Kyle Kirkwood: 10
Nearly a perfect weekend with pole position, winning the race, and leading the most laps. This young, talented driver is the real deal.
Romain Grosjean: 9
Grosjean earned his fourth runner-up finish, as he continues to knock on the door for his first IndyCar win.
Marcus Ericsson: 9
After qualifying on the front row, Ericsson was the only driver that could keep up with the Andretti cars, and takes over the championship lead.
Colton Herta: 8
He was right there along with his teammates, but just didn’t have enough to challenge for the lead.
Alex Palou: 7
Another strong result for Palou, who is quietly off to a fantastic start this season.
Will Power: 8
A much-needed result for the reigning series champion, after a no-show in Texas and a shaky qualifying performance this weekend.
Felix Rosenqvist: 8
His two teammates may have been faster, but Felix was the only Arrow McLaren driver to earn a solid finish today.
Marcus Armstrong: 8
He wasn’t discussed much during the race, but this was a fantastic drive by the rookie.
Josef Newgarden: 7
Early on it looked as though Newgarden would score back-to-back wins, but strategy did not go their way and he got eaten up late in the race.
Scott McLaughlin: 6
It was a decent result for McLaughlin, but he was never able to challenge at the front of the field.
Santino Ferrucci: 8
Clearly one of the best results for the AJ Foyt Racing team in quite some time.
Graham Rahal: 8
After starting in the back of the pack, Graham did what Graham always does, and drove his way through a chunk of the field.
Jack Harvey: 7
He was right there with his teammates, which is something he wasn’t able to say at all last year.
Christian Lundgaard: 7
His race started out well but he and the RLL team were just lacking something all weekend.
Simon Pagenaud: 5
Another poor performance by Pagenaud and the Meyer Shank Racing team, who are really struggling right now.
Pato O’Ward: 4
He made two questionable decisions in this race, in the same turn. Neither of them worked out well and his day was ruined even without being penalized.
Callum Ilott: 4
A forgettable weekend for Ilott and the Juncos Hollinger Racing team.
Helio Castroneves: 3
Crashing on the opening lap of the race is never good, especially when there is no one else to blame.
Alexander Rossi: 7
Rossi had a top-ten run nearly in the bank, but it all went away on the final lap when he crashed into the tier barriers.
Conor Daly: 4
His 100th start did not go as well as he or the Ed Carpenter Racing team had hoped.
Rinus VeeKay: 4
See above, the ECR organization desperately needs to get to Indy.
Scott Dixon: 2
His day was ruined when O’Ward put him into the tires. Outside of the Indianapolis 500 in 2014 and 2017, his 27th place finish today was the worst of his career, which spans 371 races.
Keyword: INDYCAR: 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Driver Rankings