Mike Conway, coming back from serious injuries suffered in a crash late in the 2010 Indianapolis 500, overtook Ryan Briscoe in Turn 6 of Lap 72 of 85 and went on to lead to the checkered flag of the 37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Conway is the first first-time winner of an IZOD IndyCar Series race since Briscoe in Milwaukee 2008. It was Andretti Autosport's first victory since June at Iowa Speedway. Five different teams were represented in the top five.
"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."
Dario Franchitti, the reigning series champion, finished third to move back into the championship points lead. James Hinchcliffe, competing in his second IZOD IndyCar Series race, was fourth, and Alex Tagliani gave Sam Schmidt Motorsports a season-high fifth place.
Earlier in the day, Sam Schmidt Motorsports won the Firestone Indy Lights race with Connor Daly behind the wheel of the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM car. Daly inherited the lead when the car of teammate Josef Newgarden nosed into the Turn 8 tire barrier of the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit and went on to win under caution.
DAY 3NOTEBOOK:
Did you know that Marco Andretti is a lefty?
Three games under .500 in this young season -- and after putting Hong-Chih Kuo on the disabled list with a back strain -- the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking for some left-handed relief.
He threw out the ceremonial first pitch - with longtime Dodgers manager and Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda catching -- April 16 at Dodger Stadium. It was a ball, high and away.
During infield warm-ups, the Andretti Autosport driver of the No. 26 Team Venom car joined his grandfather, 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, Lasorda and Dodgers manager Don Mattingly on the field. They also greeted fans in Autograph Alley.
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Former IZOD IndyCar Series driver Hideki Mutoh was to make his TV debut as driver analyst of the Gaora broadcast of the race in Japan. ... The Indianapolis 500 and the Port of Long Beach have something in common -- in 1911, when Ray Harroun won the inaugural 500 Mile Race, the first ship docked at the port with a load of redwood lumber from Northern California, which was unloaded by hand onto mule-drawn wagons.
FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH POST-RACE NOTES:
· This is Conor Daly's first win in Firestone Indy Lights. The win comes in only his third series start. His previous best finish was second at St. Pete.
· Daly's father Derek won the Toyota Celebrity race in the pro division in 2000 at Long Beach.
· This is Estaban Guerrieri's career best Firestone Indy Lights finish, his previous best finish was 6th at St. Pete
· This is Stefan Wilson's second consecutive podium finish of the season, Stephan finished second last weekend in Barber.
CONOR DALY (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM, winner Grand Prix of Long Beach): "It's pretty unbelievable. You know, I got here late and didn't get to practice Friday. I wish I could have run the first session but just missed it. The car was fantastic, again, the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team does a great job what they do preparing the cars, and that made it just a little bit easier to kind of jump in and find the limit. The whole race I was really just learning the track still. I kind of saw a few things Josef was doing, and my car was really consistent through the whole race, so I was able to kind of find little bits here and there and just be able to start putting quicker and quicker laps together. And when I got up right behind him, I was kind of worried because when I had the best run my car skipped third gear and went to fourth and the next lap it did the same thing. So it was a bit of a stressful situation because I saw Esteban closing on me pretty quickly when that happened, and I just had to really concentrate on getting the car from third to fourth gear. Eventually I caught back up to Josef, and he unfortunately went off, and it was tough to see that when Sam Schmidt Motorsports was in that position for one, two, three, but I'll take it."
ESTEBAN GUERRIERI (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsport, finished second): "I had a very good start. I had a good run in the first corner, but straight away, I started suffering a lot of understeer and I started to push instantly from the beginning. I got passed and I got passed again, so I was third. I got into a pace, and it was OK, but still I wasn't the quickest out there. I was just trying to maintain my rhythm. In the end, there was a restart and I didn't have a very good traction, so I got passed, so I was fourth. There were crashes for Josef and Dempsey so I got up to second. It's not too bad to finish on the podium, but you want to win when you start up from pole, but it's not every day you can do it."
STEFAN WILSON (No. 5 Andretti Autosport): "We had a bad qualifying session yesterday. We looked like we were in good shape, and we definitely felt like the car deserved to be much higher than a P 6 starting position. Anyway, a few quick laps would have put us on the front, and unfortunately the yellows caught us out and we had to start from P 6, and really going into the race really wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew that turn 1 would be crucial and I thought it was going to be very tight, and I'm glad that I was able to maintain my position through Turn 1, and then we had a good race car and were able to pressure guys into mistakes. Right at the end there I was keeping up with Esteban on the cold tires, and I felt if we had an extra couple laps we could have had a chance to get by, and then it turns out the next corner Josef made a mistake and went off, and that elevated me to a podium finish and took away the rest of the race. All in all, I'm very pleased. The second consecutive podium in two weeks, so I'm pleased with that, and it's good points, and it's just nice to be here on the podium at Long Beach."
DEREK DALY (Former driver, Conor Daly's father): "I'm just thrilled he gets to surround himself by such great people and good equipment and he gets this opportunity to learn and display his god given talent. And at a place like Long Beach where there was an option for him to drop the race from his schedule because he was still in Barcelona (Spain) on Friday. He said 'No. This is such a mega event, I want to be here. I don't care how much travel and how tired I am, I want to be here.' And he was rewarded for it."
SAM SCHMIDT (Team owner, Sam Schmidt Motorsports): "It's a bittersweet moment. We got the victory with Conor and that's fantastic. We got a win for the Mazda Road to Indy program. I'm just disappointed for Josef who worked so hard to get to the front and had led most of the race, and he didn't get to finish at all. He's obviously a phenominal driver. He'll have his opportunity for time in victory lane. I'm also proud of Esteban. He showed great patience and brought it home in one piece on the podium. And I'm proud of Victor as well. He started 11th and advanced to sixth which is his best finish of the year. We just need to get him up with the other guys."
PETER DEMPSEY (No. 36 Pulse/O2 Racing Technology): "I just missed the downshift into the corner on the back straight. I got into neutral and didn't have any engine break. It was my own mistake and I want to apologize to my team 02 Racing Technology because it is my own error and they worked so hard all weekend to give me a good car. I don't even know what to say. I feel bad for the guys on my team who performed well all weekend. We were leading with three Sam Schmidt Motorsports cars behind me and pulling away comfortably and pushing the limit to be there. Unfortunately I just made my first mistake of the season at the most unfortunate time. Apart from that it was a great start to the race today and the Firestone tires were working great for us. I need to move forward and look to the ovals now."
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 11 RoboPong/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): "This is probably the toughest moment I have had in my career. It is not something you can plan for. It is certainly the first time this has happened to me and it isn't a fun feeling to have. I think I just caught the drain ditch and it popped me up on the ground. I hadn't hit it all weekend, so it caught me off guard when it happened. It just caught the front end up and it was very difficult to save it. It is too bad for all the guys. I thought we were going to have a great weekend here and it is unfortunate that it finished the way it did. There is a long season ahead of us and I am anxious to test on an oval this week."
TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH POST-RACE NOTES:
· This is Mike Conway's first career win. It is his 26th career start in the IZOD IndyCar Series. His previous best finish was third place at Infineon in 2009.
· The last first-time winner in the IZOD IndyCar Series was Ryan Briscoe in 2008 at Milwaukee.
· This is Andretti Autosport's second consecutive win at Long Beach. The team won last year with driver Ryan Hunter-Reay. Team owner Michael Andretti won the event twice as a driver (1986, 2002).
· Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe finished second, his best finish of the 2011 season.
· Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti finished third. Dario has finished on the podium in all three races to date this season.
· Newman Haas Racing's James Hinchcliffe finished fourth in only his second start in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
· Sam Schmidt Motorsports Alex Tagliani finished fifth, his best finish of the season.
TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH POST-RACE QUOTES:
MIKE CONWAY (No 27 Window World Cares, winner Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach): "It feels awesome. As soon as I got in the lead, I was thinking of winning already. 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 can't thank everybody at the team Andretti Autosport for this result for the Window World Cares and DHL car. My guys hung in there all day. 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." (About pass for the lead): "I made the same move on Dario (Franchitti). 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."
MICHAEL ANDRETTI (Owner, Andretti Autosport): "I am so happy. His comeback is now complete. He impressed me right away. 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. They had a tough time on that pit stop, and they were able to overcome."
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished third): The car was really quick everywhere except for turn into the straight and down the straight. I think with the gear ratio and setting up for the wrong parts of the track made it hard for me to pass anyone because of the gap they would get coming out of the hairpin. It was an interesting day for me. It has been a long time since the radio failed. After the first stop, it went out so we were getting wrong signals and mixed calls. I caught a little bit of luck to get on the podium because the other guys took each other out. I almost got caught up in one incident because I locked the wheels up and we did the best we could to avoid the incident. I struggled on the out lap after my last pit stop and I don't know if it was the car or something I need to work on but we lost a lot of time there. Overall it was a good day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing to be on the podium and I am pleased to be first in points for the championship running
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Penske Truck Rentals, finished second): "Mike Conway was in a class of his own today and there was nothing I could do. He was so much faster when he made that move on me. I really thought we were going to bring the #6 Penske Truck Rentals car to victory lane this weekend. It is a great day though as we started twelfth and moved our way up to second place."
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America): "The run was going much better than I thought it would be because we made up some positions. I passed Danica then I passed Marco and I things were going all right. And then the car, the car was definitely a lot tougher to drive than you'd like but overall it was still about as good as we were going to get it. We could do decent mileage with the pace we had so it was all right. We're still lacking grip, but I think we are making progress. It was an interesting race but they sent Marco out and he had no idea I was going to use that side and he just squeezed me there and that was it."
ORIOL SERVIA (No. 2 Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing): "I am very, very happy with how competitive the Telemundo team is. We had a strong performance the whole weekend and the team keeps moving forward. 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. I felt in control the whole race; I felt I was better than anybody around me. I felt I was better than the Ganassi's, the Penske's and we were just running our strategy. When the yellow came, it hurt us because we were just coming in that lap so that didn't go our way but we were still strong and we still thought a podium was definitely in our future and then on the restart Helio was a little too optimistic and got into Power and just didn't leave me anywhere to go because I was on the outside. 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. I'm happy with how we're doing. We're consistent, we're always there and the wins will come. We are working hard and it's paying off."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 06 Sprott Newman Haas Racing, finished fourth): "The guys did such a good job getting the back-up car going this afternoon. We had to tweak on it a little bit, but I didn't think we got the best out of qualifying, but we had a really good race, we were able to save fuel when we needed to, push when we needed to. There's no doubt that we benefited from some other people's misfortunes, but at the end of the day it was just such a great drive. The car was awesome and consistent. On that final restart anything could have happened and we managed to gain a spot. Huge thanks to Newman/Haas, Sprott and everybody on board here because it was great results after what happened at Barber."
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished fifth): "I think we had a better car than fifth, but not a winning car. We were struggling a bit with the balance on the blacks. The reds were going down pretty quickly for us - too quickly I would say. But, the team did a good job, the Bowers & Wilkins car all day, ran flawlessly other than one refueling problem. We were top-five all weekend, so I think that's what we deserved.
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 34 Conquest Racing): "It was great to finish the race. I was very happy. That was our main goal; that was what we worked for. We maintained a great pace, unfortunately we had to use blacks at the end compared to other cars that had reds on the end. It was a crazy race with those cautions. Unfortunately when a yellow came out in Turn 8, I had contact with (Charlie) Kimball which damaged my front wing, making me come in for a change. But it was a great day. The guys did a great job changing the wing and we had great pit stops. We've got to keep going. I want a top 10."
TONY KANAAN (No. 82 GEICO - KV Racing Technology - Lotus, finished eighth): "It was a long day. We had a little bit of an issue with a pit stop and that cost us the race. We still finished in the top-10 which is a decent result. Things like that should not be happening, so we have to go home and fix it."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 KV Racing Technology - Lotus): "I am extremely disappointed. It was a clean start and a strong race. We saved tires and fuel and really concentrated on our strategy. Other drivers ahead of me pitted early, but I was able to stretch a few laps more, which helped me move up. After the restart I was running as high as seventh and side-by-side with Conway, who won the race, but I got hit from behind. This caused me to get a puncture and I had to return to the pits. Overall, I felt we worked well together as a team and I had a good strategy, but we still need to work hard on pure speed. Hopefully we can improve this for Brazil."E.J. VISO (No. 59 PDVSA - KV Racing Technology - Lotus): "I was having a good, clean race. We were running in the top-10. Then after my second pit stop I was attempting to pass another car and we made contact. I haven't looked at the video, so I don't want to say too much, but I thought it was a legitimate pass because the other driver had lost momentum after being overtaken by other car. It is a shame because I think we were in a position to have a good result. We will just have to try and get things going in Brazil."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Automobile Club of Southern California Team Penske): "First of all, the Auto Club Team Penske crew did a great job today. To be running inside the top-five for most of the race was just amazing. As far as the restart, I'm really not sure what to say. I feel terrible for Will (Power). 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. Good job to Ryan, he deserved at least a second-place finish today. And Congratulations to (Mike) Conway on the win."
PAUL TRACY (No. 8 Dragon Racing-Ralphs Grocery): "Today overall was a long, lonely day. Due to early penalties we stayed in the back of the field most of the day. However the car ran great and kept a consistent pace. The team performed well together and we were able to finish under the checkered flag."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): "The Verizon car was strong today. It's definitely not the finish we wanted. I'm not really sure what happened on the restart. I got hit from behind by Helio (Castroneves) but sometimes that's what happens in racing - especially close racing like this with the double-file restarts. We drove back to finish 10th and made the most of it. It wasn't a great day for points, but Verizon Team Penske will keep working hard and move forward."
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing): "We had a good car but at the end of the stint we were hurting. And on both my outlaps we had problems—first with Rahal hitting me in pitlane and then Danica bumped wheels with me after my second stop outlap. Every time something happened in front of me, I had to make a choice where to go and it was never the right one! So I lost 4 positions but hey, it's still another top 10 so we can't complain—this ABC Supply team will have the result we deserve soon."
JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing): "I was really happy for the National Guard guys that we were able to hang in there and push to the end and I was able to rip off some of my fastest laps right there at the end of the race, and I felt like that was a good way to end it." (About hitting the debris on Lap 67): "The coast was pretty much clear by the time I got down there and I just ended up running over a piece of debris and it just instantly destroyed the right-front tire. I got lucky because there were other guys having similar problems and it was if suddenly there was oil slick on the track because guys were going off right and left as they ran over stuff, which forced me to drive a little bit slower until I realized I had a serious issue. Then we had to pit again because we entered a closed pit and ended up at the end of the line, and following that I took back off and thought I had an issue with one of the rear tires and then pitted again under green. For me personally and for us as a group we just need to take what we can from this weekend and learn as much as we can going to Brazil, because that's not going to be too much different."
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The next IZOD IndyCar Series event is the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle on May 1 on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The race will be televised live at noon (ET) by VERSUS and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is Firestone Freedom 100 on May 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It will be televised live at by VERSUS.
