Different groups, different amounts of track availability.

So, what did we learn about the competitive direction of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES so far in the 50th edition of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach? Probably not much.

A clearer understanding should be on display Saturday when the weekend’s second practice is held (11:30 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app) ahead of qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (2:30 p.m. ET, FS2, FOX Sports app). The INDYCAR Radio Network will have live coverage of both sessions.

But this much we know:

They’re Still Chasing Alex Palou

Don’t let Friday’s overall speed chart mislead you. Palou set the pace in the first segment of the session – the part that offered the most track time – and then ran a clean and productive 10 minutes in Group 1 to end the day. His best lap of 1 minute, 7.5306 seconds ended up seventh overall.

The driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda has won the season’s first two races. He holds a 39-point lead on his nearest challenger – Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet – and has a history of strong performances in this event.

Palou has finished in the top five of each of his four races on this 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit. No, he hasn’t reached victory lane, but he is still a good bet to become only the sport’s second driver since 2006 to win the first three races of the new year. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won the first three of the 2020 season.

O’Ward, Herta Don’t Practice Much

O’Ward bounced his machine off the wall exiting the famous hairpin turn early in the afternoon, a situation which required lengthy repairs. The crew rebuilt the left rear corner in time for O’Ward to post one hot lap at the end, but it wasn’t much of a session.

The Mexican could use every lap available as this circuit hasn’t been kind to him. His five-race average finish of 15.4 is his worst of the tracks on this year’s schedule. He has finished in the top 10 only once – he was fifth in 2022.

O’Ward saw his best Friday lap of 1:07.9477 rank 13th.

Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta spent a similar amount of time with his car parked on pit road. The issue with the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was a damper change, and that all but wiped out the amount of time allotted for practice.

Like O’Ward, Herta was able to get a hot lap in as INDYCAR allowed each team in Group 2 one timed lap after a stoppage to retrieve the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louis Foster, which had stalled in a run-off area. Herta thought the lap was messy, but at least he got the chance to feel Firestone’s alternate tire compound in advance of qualifying.

Herta, who finished with the eighth-best overall lap (1:07.6632) despite bumping the Turn 11 wall just ahead of the timeline, wants to score his second NTT P1 Award in the past four years here. He also finished second in last year’s race won by Dixon.

Dixon Still Reigns as Latest ‘King of the Beach’

Yes, that official title belongs to Al Unser Jr., who won a record six INDYCAR SERIES races in this event. But Dixon has won here twice – he first won in 2015 – and he was inducted in the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame before Friday’s practice.

Last year, the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda held off Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, Herta and Palou in one of the season’s most thrilling finishes. Dixon had to use every bit of his vast experience to go 10 laps longer than Herta during the final sequence. It was a work of art by “The Iceman.”

Dixon only had the 10th-fastest lap Friday, but he certainly wasn’t sweating his 1:07.8080, saying that the limited amount of testing teams get in advance of races creates trial and error on the first day of running at each event. Which supports what we’re saying here.

We’ll learn more Saturday.