2026 Grand Prix of Long Beach Grand Marshals Announced

Six athletes who competed at this winter’s Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games will serve as grand marshals for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, scheduled for April 17-19 on the streets of downtown Long Beach.

The grand marshals are para alpine skier Audrey Crowley, para snowboarder Brenna Huckaby (a 2026 bronze medalist), sled hockey players Brody Roybal and Declan Farmer (both 2026 gold medalists), speedskater Jordan Stolz (a gold and silver medalist), and bobsledder Kaysha Love. All six are members of Team Honda, which serves as the official automotive partner of Team USA and the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Their ceremonial duties will include delivering the most recognizable command in motorsport: “Drivers, start your engines.”

Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President and CEO Jim Liaw pointed to the organization’s history of honoring champions across sports. “The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has long embraced the tradition of honoring champions from across the sports world, and this year’s Grand Marshal group thrilled audiences around the world with their talent and determination at Milano Cortina 2026,” Liaw said in a statement. “We are proud to celebrate their accomplishments here in Long Beach.”

The Honda connection gives the partnership a clean corporate logic. Acura, Honda’s luxury vehicle brand, is the title sponsor of the race. Having Team Honda Olympic and Paralympic athletes on the starting grid as honorary figures reinforces the brand’s visibility across both motorsport and the broader Team USA ecosystem, particularly with the LA28 Games on the horizon.

The timing works for the athletes as well. The winter games wrapped in late February, and the Long Beach race comes roughly seven weeks later, keeping the athletes in the public eye during a post-Games period when coverage tends to drop off quickly.

The April 17-19 weekend packs a full schedule. Sunday’s headline event is the NTT IndyCar Series race. Saturday features the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The supporting card includes the Super Drift Challenge, SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks, the Porsche Carrera Cup, and the Historic Sports Car Challenge. For motorsport fans willing to make the 30-mile drive south from Burbank, it is one of the more complete racing weekends on the Southern California calendar.

Ticket prices range from $58 for a Friday General Admission pass with unreserved seating in select grandstands up to $228 for a three-day package that includes reserved seating in the upper levels of the grandstands on Saturday and Sunday. That three-day price covers most of the competitive action across both marquee series.

This story was first reported by Nbclosangeles.

The Grand Prix has operated on the streets of Long Beach since 1975 and remains one of the longest-running events on the IndyCar calendar. The race circuit winds through city blocks near the Long Beach Convention Center and the waterfront, which gives it a distinct character compared to purpose-built ovals and road courses. Street racing in Southern California has a particular spectator energy that doesn’t translate fully on a broadcast, and the tight walls and low run-off areas tend to produce contact and strategy calls that keep the racing unpredictable through the final laps.

For anyone tracking the broader picture of motorsport’s relationship with Southern California, the Long Beach race sits in interesting company right now. Formula 1 races at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit in November and has held events at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, but a dedicated F1 street circuit in the greater LA area has been discussed without resolution for years. Long Beach has periodically surfaced in those conversations, though IndyCar’s long-term lease on the circuit keeps its identity firmly in open-wheel territory for now.

The grand marshal announcement nudges the 2026 race toward a slightly broader audience. Paralympic athletes in particular have earned more prominent visibility since the Tokyo cycle, and pairing winter sports champions with a spring motorsport event gives the weekend a cross-platform story that extends past the traditional racing press.

Tickets are available through the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.