Pato O’Ward (#5) of Arrow McLaren had the fastest lap during the first practice session of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 14. Scott Dixon (#9) of Chip Ganassi Racing was right behind O’Ward posting a time three-tenths of a second behind O’Ward  Colton Herta (#26) of Andretti Autosport placed third this session coming in less than two-hundredths of a second behind Dixon

This weekend’s race will be the third grand prix of the season. O’Ward will be looking to continue his practice session pace into qualifying later this weekend in hopes of earning his first race win of the year. As of today, he is IndyCar’s driver’s championship point leader sitting at 82 points. Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing is second in the driver’s championship. Ericsson won the season’s first race, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on March 5 and is down seven points of O’Ward. Dixon is currently in third place for the driver’s championship. The gap between him and Ericsson is eight points.

With more to come this weekend, like the qualifying and race session, much can still change. El Paisano will cover the April 15 and 16 IndyCar events throughout the weekend.