37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Post by mlittle » Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:57 pm

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For the 37th consecutive year, a staple of American Open-Wheel Racing returns as the stars of the sport travel to Long Beach to compete in one of its' marquee events......the 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Long considered in some circles as "America's Monaco", the track combines long, sweeping straights with one of the tightest hairpin corners in motorsports. Past winners include some of auto racing's legends, both within the United States and internationally..................


~~PAST WINNERS
Al Unser, Jr.(6)--1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995
Mario Andretti(4)--1977, 1984, 1985, 1987
*Paul Tracy(4)--1993, 2000, 2003, 2004
*Sebastien Bourdais(3)--2005, 2006, 2007
Michael Andretti(2)--1986, 2002
Alex Zanardi(2)--1997, 1998
Brian Redman(1)--1975
Clay Regazzoni(1)--1976
Carlos Reutimann(1)--1978
Gilles Villeneuve(1)--1979
Nelson Piquet(1)--1980
Alan Jones(1)--1981
Niki Lauda(1)--1982
John Watson(1)--1983
Danny Sullivan(1)--1992
Jimmy Vasser(1)--1996
Juan Pablo Montoya(1)--1999
*Helio Castroneves(1)--2001
*Will Power(1)--2008
*Dario Franchitti(1)--2009
*Ryan Hunter-Reay(1)--2010
*--denotes active IndyCar Series competitor


~~~WEEKEND SCHEDULE

note...........all times are US PDT(-3 hrs. US EDT/-7 hrs. GMT)
--14 April 2011: Long Beach Grand Prix Walk of Fame Ceremony, 2-3pm
--15 April 2011: Practice Session #1, 1pm-2:15pm
--15 April 2011: Practice Session #2, 5:25-6:25pm
--16 April 2011: Practice Session #3, 1:25-2:25pm
--16 April 2011: Knockout Qualifying, 5:30-6:50pm
--17 April 2011: Warm Up, 12:15-12:45pm
--17 April 2011: 37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, 4:30pm, Versus
Last edited by mlittle on Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by mlittle » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:05 pm

37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Entry List


Oriol Servia, #2 Telemundo-NHR
Helio Castroneves, #3 Auto Club of So. California
(R)J.R. Hildebrand, #4 National Guard
Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus-KV Racing
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Penske Truck Rental
Danica Patrick, #7 GoDaddy.com
Paul Tracy, #8 Monster Energy-Dragon Racing
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Raphael Matos, #17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers
(R)James Jakes, #18 Acorn Stairlifts
Sebastien Bourdais, #19 Boy Scouts of America
Justin Wilson, #22 Z-Line Designs
(R)Ana Beatriz, #24 Ipiringa-BlazeMaster
Marco Andretti, #26 Venom Energy
Mike Conway, #27 Window World
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #28 DHL-Sun Drop
(R)Sebastien Saavedra, #34 Conquest Racing
Graham Rahal, #38 Service Central
E.J. Viso, #59 PDVSA-KV Racing
Alex Tagliani, #77 Bowers & Wilkins
Simona de Silvestro, #78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy
Tony Kanaan, #82 GEICO-KV Racing
(R)Charlie Kimball, #83 Levemir & Novolog FlexPen
(R)James Hinchcliffe, #06 Sprotts-NHR
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Post by mlittle » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:07 pm

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Track Map, Grand Prix of Long Beach
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PT Returns, Announces Future Plans........

Post by mlittle » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:11 pm

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If plans go as reports indicate, IndyCar fans will get to see "The Thrill from West Hill" through 2012

---It was 1993 with Penske Racing -- the first year Paul Tracy competed in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – and John Cummiskey was charged with overseeing the boss’ teenage son’s project of polishing wheel rims on pit lane. My, how time flies. This weekend, the three will be reunited at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach under the banner of the reincarnated Dragon Racing.

Tracy -- a four-time winner of the venerable street race, including the 1993 event in a Marlboro Penske Chevy V8 PC93 -- will compete in five races in the No. 8 car for the Jay Penske-owned team. Tracy said he'll compete this season and make 2012 his "farewell season." "Partnering with Jay Penske makes it that much more special for me as it means I will have started and ended my career with a Penske," Tracy said.

Cummiskey is the team manager who helped rekindle the IZOD IndyCar Series team formerly known as Luczo Dragon Racing and de Ferran Dragon Motorsports to get back on the track after it ceased operations Feb. 24.

Additional events beyond Long Beach, Texas, Toronto, Edmonton and Infineon with Tracy are possible pending sponsorship. The team also will enter the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500 with a driver to be named soon after the Long Beach event; Tracy was previously committed with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

“(Jay and I) had a conversation at midnight on Feb. 23/24 that ended about 3 a.m. and we didn’t want to stop,” Cummiskey said. “We wanted to do everything possible, so we scrambled. Me and a couple of guys at the shop were kicking around drivers names and Paul’s was at the top of that mix. From (engineer) Eric (Zeto) talking to Paul we knew he had some funding so we got ahold of him. After that was confirmed, we went to Jay and said, ‘What do you think?’ He said, ‘Yeah, let’s go for it.’ ’’

Luczo Dragon Racing, owned by Penske and Steve Luczo, made its IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the 2007 Indianapolis 500 with driver Ryan Briscoe. It competed in six races in 2008 with Tomas Scheckter and expanded to a full-season program in 2009 with '08 Firestone Indy Lights champion Raphael Matos behind the wheel.

Last season, Matos posted four top-10 finishes in the 17 races under de Ferran Dragon Racing as the team added Gil de Ferran as president. In December, it announced the signing of 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan as the driver, but when funding didn’t materialize for a full-season effort de Ferran announced the team wouldn’t compete in 2011.

“After discussing options with my former co-owners, Steve Luczo and Gil de Ferran, with their full support I decided to take a different path this year and as a result I am extremely pleased to continue the Dragon name with a team that is substantially the same as our 2010 lineup,” said Penske, founder of MMC -- a digital media and publishing company.
“Even though we are initially only running a limited schedule, the team is very realistic and understands we will face challenges together during the season. However, with Paul’s talent, and our crew’s collective racing experience of over 150 years, I feel that we can be competitive at any race we compete in and may even surprise a few people along the way. Paul is an outstanding driver and we are confident this partnership will become the building blocks for something longer term."
Tracy, entering his 21st season of Indy car racing, is listed among the top 10 in multiple statistical categories: tied with Sebastien Bourdais (who’s competing at Long Beach for Dale Coyne Racing) for seventh with 31 victories, ninth with 25 poles and sixth with 4,238 laps led. He’s earned 75 career podium finishes, 102 top-5 finishes and won the Champ Car World Series championship in 2003.

“After just a few discussions I realized (Penske and I) shared the same vision and that the newly formed Dragon Racing team was the best fit for my extended return to the IndyCar Series,” Tracy said. “We’ve been working hard to bring this partnership to life, and I look forward to competitive runs at a number of tracks I’ve had success in the past.”
Tracy competed in five races in 2010 with a best finish of sixth at Edmonton (started 15th) with KV Racing Technology (the team Kanaan is driving for now). In addition to his Long Beach victories in 1993, 2000, 2003 and ‘04, he started from the pole in 1994.

Ralphs Grocery (part of the Kroger family of national traditional grocery retailers) will join Dragon Racing as the primary sponsor for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in a retailer partnership that includes support from PepsiCo, FritoLay, Berringer Wine and Rockstar Energy Drink. Motegi Racing and Wheel Pros also will provide sponsorship support.

Added Cummiskey: “Paul was our first choice, so it worked out perfectly. We’re going to keep pushing to do more and add more so we’re coming back strong for 2012. Everybody’s going to have a little bit of a fresh start, so we’re looking forward to that and getting Dragon Racing back in the game.’’
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:16 am

Long Beach Practice Session #1 Top-5
1} Will Power, Team Penske...........................1:11.410 sec
2} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport.......1:11.601 sec
3} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing............1:11.660 sec
4} Justin Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold...............1:11.720 sec
5} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske.......................1:11.782 sec

Long Beach Practice Session #2 Top-5
1} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske........................1:10.740 sec
2} Will Power, Team Penske...........................1:10.889 sec
3} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport.......1:10.998 sec
4} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing............1:11.021 sec
5} Alex Tagliani, Sam Schmidt Mtrspts.,...........1:11.284 sec
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Bourdais Looks To Regain Winning Ways In Long Beach

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:28 am

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---LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Sebastien Bourdais didn’t particularly care for the Long Beach temporary street circuit in 2003. “It’s a funny place,” the French driver said. “It was the first time I was going on a concrete street course. It was bumpy and I wasn’t very good. We made progress through the season and I got used to more of this America street course over time.”

Yes, it grew on him, and Bourdais certainly has made his mark on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit – winning in 2005, ’06 and ’07 in Champ Car. This weekend, Bourdais returns to Long Beach for his first street course race in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

“It won’t be 2003 because I know the track,” Bourdais said. “Although it changes a little bit every now and then, it won’t be dramatically different. What is going to be different is the car and what we have to fight with. It has less grip and downforce.”

The four-time Champ Car champion advanced nine positions to finish 11th in his first IZOD IndyCar Series road course race – and second overall -- last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne Racing. He missed the season opener at St. Petersburg on March 27 because of damage sustained to the Dallara chassis in a race day warm-up crash.

“We’ve had a bit of a tough time to start the season and I don’t expect it to be sorted just like that,” he said. “It’s going to take some time. I knew it when Dale contacted me and said, ‘Would you be interested?’ and I said, ‘Yeah.’ But I didn’t know at the time where we were going to start.
“Obviously, we knew it was going to be a tough challenge because all the teams are really established. The issue here has been not enough consistency over the years that you know what’s worked and what didn’t work in the past. Everybody is really working hard and I hope we can get it there as soon as possible.”

The situation is akin to the Long Beach event during his years with Newman/Hass Racing. After finishing 16th in that first race, Bourdais returned with a front-row qualifying effort and third-place finish. He won the next three years (from fourth in 2005 and the pole in ’06 and ’07).
“Every year we got a little stronger,” Bourdais said. “You continue the consistency with the team and me getting better and better at knowing what’s normal and what’s not and where you should focus just made a little bit of a difference. We had great races and great pace and it was always an enjoyable moment.

“It’s one of the places where you’re actually going nearly as close to the speed you were doing in qualifying, and sometimes even a bit quicker so that’s enjoyable when you have a lot of grip, feel comfortable in the car and can really push it.”

Bourdais, who is tied with Paul Tracy (another Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach entrant) for seventh on the career Indy car victory list with 31, doesn’t have any secrets to his mastery of the technically challenging Long Beach course. “It’s really car dependent,” he said. “At some point you gel with your car and everything becomes natural. I remember some guys asking me, ‘You seem to be taking a lot of risks in practice?’ I wasn’t really taking risks, it just felt natural and easy back then and so all the laps were close to the limit. That’s what is really cool inside the car -- to feel that you’re on top of things and you could push it to the very limit and ride the wave.”
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Another Round, Another Pole For Power...........

Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:10 am

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----LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Will Power already is $30,000 richer in this young IZOD IndyCar Series season thanks to earning three consecutive PEAK Performance Pole Awards.

The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 9.0649 seconds with 2:30 left in the Firstone Fast Six to secure the pole for the 85-lap Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He bumped Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2010 race winner, who set the fast time of 1:09.1409 a lap earlier in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car.

Andretti Autosport teammate Mike Conway, driving the No. 27 Window World Cares car, will share Row 2 with Oriol Servia in the No. 2 Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing car. Justin Wilson, driving the No. 22 Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car, and Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California car for Team Penske will be on Row 3.

For the first time since Long Beach 2010, neither Target Chip Ganassi Racing car qualified for the Firestone Fast Six shootout. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will be on Row 4.

More later this evening............
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Re: Another Round, Another Pole For Power...........

Post by mlittle » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:04 am

mlittle wrote:Image


----LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Will Power already is $30,000 richer in this young IZOD IndyCar Series season thanks to earning three consecutive PEAK Performance Pole Awards.

The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 9.0649 seconds with 2:30 left in the Firstone Fast Six to secure the pole for the 85-lap Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He bumped Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2010 race winner, who set the fast time of 1:09.1409 a lap earlier in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car.

Andretti Autosport teammate Mike Conway, driving the No. 27 Window World Cares car, will share Row 2 with Oriol Servia in the No. 2 Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing car. Justin Wilson, driving the No. 22 Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car, and Helio Castroneves in the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California car for Team Penske will be on Row 3.

For the first time since Long Beach 2010, neither Target Chip Ganassi Racing car qualified for the Firestone Fast Six shootout. Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon will be on Row 4.

More later this evening............
----When it comes to going fast, Will Power keeps moving the bar higher and higher. The quickest man in qualifying for Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix at Long Beach has also scored 3-poles-in-a-row and earned his 19th career pole position with a lap of 1:09.064 to edge Ryan Hunter-Reay, the defending race winner, by an amazingly thin .076.

With three rounds of qualifying run to determine the participants in the Firestone Fast 6, many drivers made setup changes to try and find extra speed, but Power says his car was nearly perfect the entire time.

"We didn't change anything," said Power. "Maybe half a turn of front wing. Qualifying pretty important around here. Man, I've finished on the podium in the past couple of years, but I want to win one. It's one of my favorite tracks. I love it around here. I've been trying to win it for the last couple of years, you know, just sort of there knocking on the door.

"But as you know, in racing everything has to go right on the day, absolutely everything. I think that that's what we've got to do tomorrow. We've got to do very similar to Barber and just put the whole thing together."

Power's 1:09.064 was well below the lap record of 1:09.318 he established in 2010. The gap from Hunter-Reay's lap of 1:09.140 to his teammate, Mike Conway was just the opposite, with the Englishman's 1:09.641 a half-second slower.

After running Power so hard in the dying laps of the session, Hunter-Reay was visibly deflated after missing out on pole. A ragged final lap could have pipped Power, but a big slide erased the extra speed he was carrying. "It's my fault," said the Andretti Autosport driver. "I carried in the speed... Hey, you gotta go for it, right? I really wanted that pole. With Penske and Ganassi as strong as they are, the chance to punch them in the face--metaphorically speaking--is something you have to try."

For Conway, who struggled most of the weekend to final the ultimate pace in his Andretti Autosport machine, starting third was a welcome improvement. "A difficult couple of days but we just kept working at it," he said. "Well done to the guys and great job by Ryan [Hunter-Reay] as well."

Spain's Oriol Servia continued the resurgence of Newman/Haas Racing by placing fourth in the Firestone Fast Six. Servia's 1:09.682 was .127 up on Justin Wilson, who set a 1:09.809 to claim fifth. "It’s great to add a little bit of Telemundo blue to the front instead of all those red cars that we’ve been seeing for a few years," said the Champ Car veteran. "I’m very happy to be starting in the second row. We started in the third row last week and second row this week. We are definitely getting closer to the front where we want to be and where this team has always been. Newman/Haas is the winningest team at this track and I finished second in 2007 so if together we can just improve a little bit, we can get to the top.”

Wilson, still nursing a fractured wrist, had hoped to get more out of his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entry, but appeared to be somewhat satisfied with his result. "We made a few changes and the car is much better now," said the lanky Briton. "We ended up with a race car that's pretty good. I think we learned a lot and hopefully we'll do well tomorrow."

The final member of the Fast 6 was Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, who made a big improvement from this morning's practice session and was quite happy to post a 1:09.842, despite being the slowest in the session. "The car was very difficult in the beginning," said the three-time Indy 500 winner. "First, to be here in the top 6 is a great effort by the entire team. I have to say if you told me I'd be in the top 6 this morning, I'd have said 'no way!'"

There were many surprises in the first three rounds of qualifying, but the biggest had to be when both Target Chip Ganassi entries failed to transfer out of the Firestone Fast 12.

Dario Franchitti, who qualified seventh, missing out on the Fast 12 for the second straight week, said a few small setup changes and a bit of traffic kept him out of the Fast 6. "They weren't terrible changes," said the 2010 series champion. "We were just missing a little bit. It's not one thing or another; it's a combination of things. I mis-timed that lap. If I'd have tied a lap together, the car was quick enough to make it through."

His teammate, two-time series champion Scott Dixon, will start eighth after point the blame at Will Power for blocking him on a lap that would have put him inside the final session. "I was on my fastest lap and Power had already done his time and slowed down in front of me. We were going to be around two tenths up on our previous best time so its really unfortunate for the Target team today."

Alex Tagliani was pleased with qualifying ninth, and believes they could be stronger in Sunday's 85-lap race. "I think we have a car to compete tomorrow and to try and get on the podium," said the French-Canadian. "We'll just have to execute everything, stay out of trouble in Turn 1, and survive all the attrition and we should be in great shape."

In addition to Ganassi missing the Fast 6, the other big shocker came when Ryan Briscoe, the man to beat in the second and third practice session, registered the slowest time in the Fast 12. If Hunter-Reay was frustrated by missing out on pole, Briscoe was a blend of disbelief and mild shock.

"I just didn't get a clean lap," said the Aussie. "We made a change and I got really loose. You miss [by] a little bit and you lose a lot. We just made a step back there in qualifying. What are you going to do?"

After starting at the back of the Barber race, Tony Kanaan was happy to have fewer cars to pass when the green flag waves. "I thought we had a top 8 car," said the Brazilian. "I got blocked on my fastest lap, but it's such a tight field. You have to have the perfect lap. Obviously, it's not where we want to be, but we're working on our way up."

Newman/Haas Racing's rookie driver James Hinchcliffe one again led the first-year contingent with the 11th fastest time. “Maybe we spoiled ourselves a little last week by getting inside top top-10," said the Firestone Indy Lights graduate. "When I think of the fact that it’s my first time in an Indy car on a street course and the troubles we had yesterday, I guess we can be too upset but I think we had more in the Sprott car."

Other notables in qualifying were Marco Andretti, who appeared to be on pace for the Fast 12, but finished just outside after touching the wall and bending his suspension. He'll start 14th. Conquest Racing rookie Sebastian Saavedra impressed to qualify 15th, one spot ahead of Ganassi's Graham Rahal, who had a second altercation with Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand in as many weeks.

"I was a half-second up on my fast lap, and they waved [Hildebrand] out of the pits in front of me and he didn't move over," said Rahal. "'I didn't see you' was all he said, which is what he said last week (when the two hit each other in the Barber Motorsports Park race)."

HVM Racing's Simona De Silvestro will start down in 18th after clipping the wall as she oversteered on the exit of Turn 8 in the first round of qualifying. "We bent the toe link and didn't have the time to fix it," she said. "I don't think we had the pace to make the Fast 12, though."

Danica Patrick will start 20th in the field, while Sebastien Bourdais--a driver that is unaccustomed to being so far down the qualifying sheet at Long Beach--continued to struggle in his Boy Scouts of America IndyCar, qualifying 21st.

Takuma Sato will start 22nd after locking up the brakes into Turn 1 with two minutes remaining in the first round of qualifying. Sato was uninjured and the car wasn't heavily damaged. After Hinchcliffe and Saavedra, the four remaining rookies qualified 23rd (James Jakes), 24th (Charlie Kimball), 26th (Ana Beatriz) and 27th (JR Hildebrand).

The 25th position went to Paul Tracy who simply struggled to find the speed necessary to place his Dragon Racing entry where it had been earlier in the weekend. "I thought the car felt pretty decent, but the lap time didn't come on the [Red] tires," he said. "We’re missing time somewhere so we're starting toward the back and we'll just try and steer clear of the carnage tomorrow."
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Conway Wins At The Beach!

Post by mlittle » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:51 pm

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----LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Mike Conway had led one IZOD IndyCar Series race prior to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach -- the 2010 Indianapolis 500 -- and we all know how that turned out.

On the treacherous 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit, Conway overtook Ryan Briscoe in Turn 6 of Lap 72 of 85 and went on to lead to the checkered flag for Andretti Autosport's first victory since June at Iowa Speedway.

It's been a long and arduous road for the 27-year-old Brit since May when he suffered severe back and leg injuries in a one-car crash late at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unbowed, he “was determined to get back in the car” and hooked up with Andretti Autosport as the fourth driver, replacing the departed Tony Kanaan. "His comeback is now complete," said team owner Michael Andretti, whose first and final Indy car victories came at Long Beach. "The first time we put him in a race car, I could tell he had potential. I’m just so happy he was able to (win) this early and win one of the greatest races here in Long Beach. I’m just so proud of him and the whole Window World Cares team."

Conway, starting a season-high third, was as far back as 11th on a Lap 66 double-wide restart, but with three cars losing track position because of a Turn 1 clog, he was able to get into position to challenge Briscoe and teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay. That came following a Lap 70 restart, when Hunter-Reay's car slowed (gear selector issue), and Conway trailed Briscoe by 0.7798 of a second.

Both drivers running on the Firestone alternate tires, Conway sized up the No. 6 Penske Truck Rental car on the short straight between Turns 5 and 6. “I made the same move on Dario (Franchitti)," said Conway, whose previous best in 26 IZOD IndyCar Series races was third at Infineon Raceway in '09. "It was like they were struggling to get temperature in the tires. My car was good to go. I just took my time and picked my point, and was able to pull away.

“As soon as I got in the lead, I was thinking of winning already. But I knew I had to forget about it and get with the job at hand. The car was great. I could push all the time and control the gap. I made a mistake on a pit stop when I locked up. I thought our day might be done, but we had to hang in there and push all the way. On the restarts the car was awesome and it just came to life.”

Briscoe, who was quickest in practice sessions preceding qualifications in the No. 6 Penske Truck Rental car but started 12th, posted a season-high runner-up finish. He was the last first-time winner in the series (Milwaukee 2008).

Five different teams were represented in the top five. Franchitti, the reigning series champion, finished third to move back into the points lead. James Hinchcliffe, competing in his second IZOD IndyCar Series race, was fourth, and Alex Tagliani gave Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which won the Firestone Indy Lights race earlier in the day with Connor Daly, fifth place.

“The guys did such a good job getting the back-up car going this afternoon,” said Hinchcliffe, the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights championship runner-up. “We were able to save fuel when we needed to, push when we needed to."

Hinchcliffe's Newman/Haas Racing teammate, Oriol Servia, posted his second consecutive top 10, while Danica Patrick advanced 13 positions to finish seventh in the No. 7 Team GoDaddy car. Tony Kanaan was eighth in the No. 82 GEICO-KV Racing Technology-Lotus entry, and Vitor Meira recorded his second top 10 of the season in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing.

Servia narrowly avoided contact on the final restart but lost three positions. He recovered two by Lap 71. "We had a strong performance the whole weekend and the team keeps moving forward," said Servia, driver of the No. 2 Telemundo car. "But I do have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth because this was probably the best race car I have ever had in a race and a podium was within reach.

"I had to do a little bit of a circus maneuver to get back on track and that obviously cost us the podium there but we finished sixth and it could have been a lot worse."

It was for pole sitter Will Power. He was running third to Briscoe and Hunter-Reay but was bumped from behind by Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, who locked up the brakes of the No. 3 car entering Turn 1 of a Lap 66 double-wide restart.

Power recovered to finish 10th in the No. 12 Verizon car but lost the championship points lead to Franchitti (minus-7). Castroneves also continued and finished 12th. "I'm not really sure what happened on the restart," said Power, who led all 90 laps in winning at Barber Motorsports Park a week earlier and led 29 laps here. "I got hit from behind by Helio but sometimes that's what happens in racing - especially close racing like this with the double-file restarts. It wasn't a great day for points, but Verizon Team Penske will keep working hard and move forward."

Added Castroneves: “I'm really not sure what to say. I feel terrible for Will. I wasn't even trying to pass, but we just made contact. Will is my teammate, and of course you just can't take each other out. It's just very unfortunate and I have to say I'm sorry to the team.”

Scott Dixon's No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, running sixth, sustained right-front wheel damage on that restart and finished 18th.
Hunter-Reay, the 2010 race winner who started on the front row in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, fell off the pace on Lap 70 and pitted. He finished 23rd.

“Basically, we couldn’t shift," Hunter-Reay said. "It’s frustrating because the DHL/Sun Drop car was running strong and challenging for the lead. I really think we could have gotten Briscoe once his tires started falling off. I was hoping for a second win here.”


Top-10 from the Beach...............
1} #27 Mike Conway, 85 laps
2} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -6.321 sec
3} #10 Dario Franchitti, -6.716 sec
4}(R)#2 James Hinchcliffe, -9.171 sec
5} #77 Alex Tagliani, -16.072 sec
6} #06 Oriol Servia, -16.897 sec
7} #7 Danica Patrick, -17.502 sec
8} #82 Tony Kanaan, -18.967 sec
9} #14 Vitor Meira, -19.473 sec
10} #12 Will Power, -19.891 sec
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

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