Dario Franchitti took first place in the IndyCar Series at the 35th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Franchitti said at the press conference after the race, “that last restart we were able to get on it again, pull away, and the Target car, the pace was great all day from the car. It allowed me to drive exactly as I wanted to … Great to finally win here in Long Beach.”
Will Power, last year’s ChampCar Series winner, took second. Power was 3.3182 seconds behind Franchitti.
Tony Kanaan placed third, his 68th career top-five finish.
This was Franchitti’s ninth career victory in the IndyCar Series but his first victory on a road/street course.
Power had no radio or telemetry during the race, making it more difficult for him since he could not communicate with his pit crew except the pit board.
“I’m very happy,” Power said. “Second is very good.”
Second place is Power’s best IndyCar finish. Toward the end of the race, Power said he tried to conserve as much fuel as possible. He will not race again until the Indianapolis 500.
Kanaan’s third-place finish was his 11th consecutive top-10 finish, the longest streak in the IndyCar Series.
Danica Patrick, one of the most popular drivers in the series and a fan favorite, came in fourth. Patrick started in the 22nd position and moved her way up to second by the 35th lap. She held that position until Lap 51 when she went into the pit lane for tires and fuel.
“We obviously had our moment in qualifying,” Patrick said, “with spinning out and hitting the wall.” Patrick said she would like to improve her qualifying to start the race at the front. She moved up 18 spots in yesterday’s race, which was more than any other driver. This was her 12th career top-five finish.
The IndyCar series race consisted of 85 laps around the Long Beach street course, which is just short of two miles long.
According to Firestone engineers, the track temperature was 121 degrees under the Long Beach sun, the ambient temperature was 88 degrees.
Power lead past the start/finish line and into Turn 1. Power held his lead until the yellow flag in Lap 17.
There were five yellow flags during the race. The first was in Lap 17 when EJ Viso and Scott Dixon made contact in Turn 6. In Lap 24 the yellow flag came out again when Mario Moraes made contact with cars slowing for Turn 11, the hairpin turn. Justin Wilson made contact with Moraes, causing Moraes to do a quarter turn and block the track.
Darren Manning and Hideki Mutoh also made contact with the stopped cars and Dan Wheldon stopped behind the cars, resulting in five cars blocking the almost the entire track with very little space for other drivers to pass. The last three yellow flags resulted when Ed Carpenter, Mike Conway and Moraes made contact with tire barriers in Turns 1, 8 and 5, respectively.
The next IndyCar Series will take place at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. on Sunday, April 26.
The IndyCar series wasn’t the only attraction that brought people to downtown Long Beach this weekend for the Toyota Grand Prix. There was also Firestone Indy Lights, American Le Mans Series and the traditional Pro/Celebrity race.
JR Hildebrand won the Indy Lights.
Gil de Ferran won the American Le Mans series in an Acura ARX 02a.
This year’s celebrity winner was Keanu Reeves and the pro winner was Al Unser, Jr.
For attendees not extremely interested in racing, the Lifestyle Expo had a number of different displays from hot sauce to video games and new commuter car options to a blackjack table.
In the kids area were inflatable obstacle courses, slot car races, trampolines, and motocross, BMX and skateboarding demonstrations.
Over in Shoreline Village fans could get their own taste of racing by driving go-karts around a small course set up in front of the Yard House.
This year’s Toyota Grand Prix hosted two concerts over the weekend. Mexican blues/rock band El Tri performed on Friday evening, and Saturday’s concert featured rock band Puddle of Mudd.