Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified second for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2010, '11 and '13 with one victory to represent the efforts. On April 13, he'll start the 40th annual race on the temporary street circuit from the inside of the front row.

Hunter-Reay earned the Verizon P1 Award by pipping Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe on his final lap of the Firestone Fast Six session with a lap of 1 minute, 7.8219 seconds on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn course. Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 27 United Fiber & Data car, was .1184 of a second back after completing the 10-minute session.

"It just comes down to this team giving me what I need when I need it," said Hunter-Reay, who registered his sixth Indy car pole and the 30th for Andretti Autosport in the No. 28 DHL car. "What a qualifying session. You never knew who was going to put in the best lap; it was anybody's session. It's a good start for us, but tomorrow is going to be challenging. We have the standing start and a long day on the beach. We've been on the outside pole so many times here and final got the big one."

Five teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six, and 1-6 were separated by .2513 of a second.

"The United Fiber & Data car has been quick all weekend in practice," Hinchcliffe said. "You never know what's going to happen when you put on those Firestone Reds, though, especially when you only drive them for the first time here in qualifying. The guys did a great job - the car was awesome. I haven't been in a ton of these Firestone Fast Sixes, and I'm learning what to do on the second stint on the Firestone Reds so that's a good trade. For us to be front row, I'm happy about, but I'm looking for that first pole. I've been so close so many times, but if you're going to lose it, I'm glad it's to a teammate, so congrats to Ryan (Hunter-Reay)."

Sebastien Bourdais, a three-time winner of the race, held the provisional pole with a minute left in the session in the No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing car. He'll occupy Row 2 with third-year Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing driver Josef Newgarden. Rookie Jack Hawksworth, driving the No. 98 Charter/Castrol Edge car for BHA/BBM with Curb Agajanian, and Simon Pagenaud in the No. 77 Charter Communications car for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports qualified on Row 3.

Will Power, a three-time pole sitter and two-time winner at Long Beach, had his streak of qualifying in the top 10 on road and street circuits end at 10 when he was .0191 of a second behind Hawkswoth in Group 2 of Session 1. Power, who won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., after starting fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, will start 14th. Takuma Sato, who won the 2013 race, incurred a qualifying interference penalty in Session 1 (negating his quickest two laps) and will start 15th.

DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:

Townsend Bell recorded his best Indianapolis 500 finish of fourth in 2009 with KV Racing Technology. The veteran driver will rejoin the team co-owned by Jimmy Vasser and Kevin Kalkhoven for the 98th running of the 500-Mile Race on May 25 in the Chevrolet-powered No. 6 car with American-based clothier Robert Graham as the primary sponsor.

It will be the eighth start in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" for Bell, a California native who will join Paul Tracy as analysts on NBCSN's telecast April 13 of the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He's earned three top-10 finishes, with a best starting spot of fourth in 2011.

"In 2001, Jimmy was my teammate in my first Champ Car event and in 2009 I had my best finish in Indy racing with KVRT, so coming back to the defending Indy 500 champions is special," said Bell, 38. "I will be working with one of my favorite engineers, Gerald Tyler, so that is also a big plus. I want to express my gratitude to Robert Graham for their support."

Bell sported a Robert Graham fedora at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last May.

KV Racing Technology won its first Indianapolis 500 last year with Tony Kanaan behind the wheel of the No. 11 car. Next month, four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais will drive the No. 11 Hydroxycut/Mistic E-Cigs KVSH Racing car on the 2.5-mile oval. Sebastian Saavedra, like Bourdais a full-season Verizon IndyCar Series entrant, drives the No. 17 KV AFS Racving car.

"Townsend is a proven talent who will provide valuable experience and knowledge to the team during the Month of May," said Kalkhoven, who on April 10 was inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame. "I also want to welcome and thank Robert Graham for joining our effort."

The Speedway opens for practice May 11 (a day after the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis), with qualifications May 17-18.

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E.J. Viso has a dual purpose at Long Beach this weekend - being competitive in his first Stadium Super Trucks race on the street circuit and working on a return to Verizon IndyCar Series competition.

"I've never driven anything in the air except for the curbs in Baltimore," Viso said of the series owned by former Indy car driver Robby Gordon in which the off-road trucks navigate the tight corners and ramps. "Robby called a few days ago and invited me to the race. It's a good program he's put together; fans love it."

Viso, who's made 100 starts over six seasons in the Verizon IndyCar Series, said he's hopeful of initially securing a ride for the 98th Indianapolis 500 on May 25.

"I'm working hard with my sponsors to come back into the series," said Viso, who had a best finish of fourth at Milwaukee in 2013 with Andretti Autosport.

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QUALIFYING FOR THE VERIZON P1 AWARD:

Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award consists of three segments. In Segment One of qualifying, each group receives 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Segment Two, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13-26. Group One drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17...) while Group Two drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18...) based on their fastest lap times.

During Segment Two, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six Shootout while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps.

During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive 10 minutes of track time, with a guarantee of five minutes of green flag time. Each car receives one additional set of Firestone Firehawk tires for use during this final segment. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based on their fastest laps.

Any driver who causes a red flag during any of the groups will lose their two quickest laps.

The time line for qualifying today is in Turn 11.

At 1 p.m., the ambient temperature was 63 degrees with a relative humidity of 69 percent and winds from the south at 9 mph. Skies were fair. The track temperature was 114 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

Track record: Justin Wilson, 1:06.902 (April 2008). Fastest lap this weekend: #12 Will Power, 1:08.1696 (Practice 3).

1:15 p.m. - GREEN. Round 1. Group 1.

1:25 p.m. - CHECKERED. Advancing to Round 2 are: #11 Bourdais, #27 Hinchcliffe, #19 Wilson, #67 Newgarden, #28 Hunter-Reay, #16 Servia.

1:30 p.m. - GREEN. Round 1. Group 2.

1:40 p.m. - CHECKERED. Advancing to Round 2 are: #34 Munoz, #3 Castroneves, #9 Dixon, #77 Pagenaud, #25 Andretti, #98 Hawksworth.

1:50 p.m. - GREEN. Round 2. Group 1.

2 p.m. - CHECKERED. Advancing to Firestone Fast Six are: #11 Bourdais, #77 Pagenaud, #67 Newgarden, #28 Hunter-Reay, #98 Hawksworth, #27 Hinchcliffe.

2:10 p.m. - GREEN. Firestone Fast Six.

2:15 p.m. - With five minutes gone, fastest of the session is #77 Pagenaud at 1:09.2086

2:16 p.m. - #67 Newgarden takes P1 with lap of 1:08.8527.

2:17 p.m. - #67 Newgarden resets fastest lap with lap of 1:08.0097.

2:19 pm. -- #11 Bourdais takes P1 with a lap of 1:07.9580, then Hinchcliffe takes P1 at 1:07.9403.

2:20 p.m. - CHECKERED. #28 Hunter-Reay takes Verizon P1 Award with lap of 1:07.8219 on his final lap.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING NOTES:

Ryan Hunter-Reay claimed his first pole position of 2014 and his first pole at Long Beach. It is the sixth pole of his Indy car career and his first since winning the pole at Mid-Ohio in 2013.Hunter-Reay qualified on front row for the fourth time in nine starts.James Hinchcliffe qualified second, his best start at Long Beach in four starts.Sebastien Bourdais qualified third, his best start since winning pole here in 2007.Josef Newgarden qualified fourth, his career best qualifying performance.Jack Hawksworth qualified for Firestone Fast Six for the first time.

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "The No. 2 Verizon Chevy has been really good all weekend. We keep gaining on it and I definitely think we had a car that was capable of the Fast Six. We just brushed the wall in turn four. I was trying hard to get that extra two tenths (of a second) and it didn't work out. Part of it is I'm still learning what the red tires are going to do. It's part of the process and I understand that. I really thought we would have a little more grip. We have some work to do for tomorrow but we do know we have a fast car."

CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "This morning was good and then we made a couple of changes and then on the red tires for the first time for me it was difficult. The car was not as I wanted it to be and I lost a lot of time so it is disappointing. I think I should have been higher but it is what it is. We thought the tire would generate more grip and sort out some problems we had but it didn't. Anything is possible [tomorrow]. It is a long race on a street circuit so anything is possible."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 AAA Southern California Chevrolet): "The red tires were unbelievable. It completely changed the handling on the Automobile Club of Southern California Chevy. The car is running really smooth. It's going to take some strategy to get to the front and I have the man for that in Roger Penske. I'm counting on him tomorrow. I can't wait for tomorrow. We obviously want to start in the front, but with the standing start I feel like we can still be in good position."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): "It was a struggle today. We tried to make more changes to get the balance in the car better and then tried some bigger ones for qualifying. We are just struggling with overall grip. Oriol had a big grip gain on alternate tires and I didn't feel it. We have a lot of work to do. From being second here last year and being fast, the where we are now is a mystery. Oriol did a great job. We will look at what they have done to their car and try to improve ours. Tomorrow we can try alternate strategy, pit early and see how far forward we can go."

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "Not that you should be happy starting 12th but considering where we were before qualifying and the gains I think we can still make on the car, I'm happy. With as competitive as the field is, going from one round to the second round is a very big achievement. I didn't make the second round and a couple of tenths (of a second) would have made it. It's just that competitive. Even if we are still unhappy with the car, we need to keep our heads down and work a little more on the details and hopefully be a little better than the others in the race. I find the tire this year is a little more difficult to figure out. Maybe it has a little less grip than last year. I don't think anyone is completely happy so we just need to be a little less unhappy than the others and keep improving. I'm really happy. I think I did a good job. It always feels good when you can put a good lap together."

MIKE CONWAY (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "That is not what we were expecting today for qualifying. We just couldn't get tires right where we wanted them to be. Things just didn't fall our way today. We do have an extra set of tires for the race now that could help us. We'll have to make some adjustments overnight and be ready for the race. The standing start will be interesting here. I think there is enough room for everyone at the start. We were okay last year at Toronto but there were some issues at the Houston race with some guys stalling. It should be fun for the fans too."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "We are still tweaking it a little bit here and there but the car feels great. I am pleased with it but I am just so disappointed. With that we are going to be easily through to the fast six easy with a time that was first or second or roundabout there and I tried to brake a fraction too late and I screwed up and locked up over the bumps. I had to go into the runoff, I overdid it so we'll try to put it back right in the race and come back through to the front. We have done it before so I think we can do it again. It would just be nice not to [have to]."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "It just comes down to this team giving me what I need when I need it. What a qualifying session. You never knew who was going to put in the best lap; it was anybody's session. It's a good start for us, but tomorrow is going to be challenging. We have the standing start and a long day on the beach. We've been on the outside pole so many times here and final got the big one."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "Tough qualifying session. We made progress over the two days but just not enough. It's quite a mixture of a grid so whether it was conditions or not, I don't know. We tried our best but not going through the Q-1 qualifying round was disappointing. We shall work hard for final practice and hopefully we will have a strong package for the race. We both started on blacks, I pitted a lap earlier for reds. After warming up on my red tires, I was just starting my qualifying lap and he was on charge finishing his lap on blacks. Unfortunately we came close in the very last sector where the timing line is. I didn't feel it would affect him on his lap time but they decided to penalize me."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "In the first round the Target car was good and we had good speed in the session I felt. We made a lot of progress from yesterday to today, and again from this morning's practice through to qualifying. We have some work to do tomorrow from our starting position, but we will be prepared."

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "Obviously it's not where the Target team wants to qualify - outside the top-12. It was a difficult day and we're still searching for the grip we haven't been able to find. We have a lot of capable people and I think overnight we can find a solution here. There are a lot of people on this team that want to win and I'm confident we'll be ready when the race comes."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 TNT Energy Drink Chevrolet): "Today didn't go as we had planned and we definitely didn't get the result that we wanted to see in qualifications. We'll just have to work hard tomorrow to make up the spots we lost today in qualifying. We obviously have a little more work we need to do on the car tonight to get it ready for tomorrow, but this is still one of my favorite tracks and I have confidence that tomorrow will be better for the No. 8 TNT Chevrolet and NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "It wasn't the result that Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing would like and we have some more work to do on the cars. I have a lot of confidence in my engineers and the crew that they'll give me a really good car for the 85 laps tomorrow. The Chevrolets seem to be really good on the standing starts so I have a lot of confidence in that aspect of the race tomorrow. We'll come up with a great race package tonight and be ready to race from where we start tomorrow."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 AFS KVAFS Racing Chevrolet): "It has been a rough weekend so far. The setups we had previously been trying hadn't been working, so we made a drastic change before qualifying. Looking at how Bourdais' car was running, it was a no brainer to switch to his setup, but unfortunately just didn't have enough time to fully understand how the car now reacts. I do feel comfortable with the KV AFS car and believe we have good race car and will focus on learning from it and having a positive day tomorrow."

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): "I think we had more to give during Group Two qualifying, but we just weren't able to show it. The yellow flag in Turn 9 didn't help me especially because I was having a great lap, and after that we made some changes that unfortunately didn't end up working out. I think the Cinsay crew and I will have to go back and work a few things out for tomorrow. I think we had a great car during the first part of qualifying - I was the fastest that session. Anyways, we gave what we had and I'm really happy for the team for being on front row."

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): "The United Fiber & Data car has been quick all weekend in practice. You never know what's going to happen when you put on those Firestone Reds, though, especially when you only drive them for the first time here in qualifying. The guys did a great job - the car was awesome. I haven't been in a ton of these Firestone Fast Sixes, and I'm learning what to do on the second stint on the Firestone Reds so that's a good trade. For us to be front row, I'm happy about, but I'm looking for that first pole. I've been so close so many times, but if you're going to lose it, I'm glad it's to a teammate, so congrats to Ryan (Hunter-Reay)."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): "We tried a new set up, so I was sort of still learning it in qualifying - which has been a trend for us, we need to run the car that I'm going to qualifying during practice three so I know what I'm jumping in to qualify with. Today we could have run less fuel and made it in (the Firestone Fast Six). But it's still 100% doable from eighth for the Snapple team."

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "Obviously, the No. 12 Verizon Chevy team is starting a lot further back then we had hoped. We just have to try to make that work from where we are and do the best we can tomorrow."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Charter Communications/SPHM Honda): "Well, the car has been good all weekend. It was very good in St. Pete as well. It's just a testament to the work the team has put in over the winter. Honda has been awesome. I mean, there are five Hondas in the Top Six. So it helps to have the right horse behind you. The car was very good. It was just time. At some point it's how are you going to use those red tires, and it works better for some cars than others, and I think our car was pretty good on it. "

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing Chevrolet): "It was fun. First of all, I really need to thank all the people at E Cigarettes with Mistic. It's been a great partnership so far. That white car is good karma. So it's good to be here and Jimmy, Kevin and Sully for putting that program together, and all the guys that did the work in the background silently keeping their heads down and making it happen for me. So all the guys at KVSH it's really been a team effort. We all thought we were going to have a shot at this after a very loaded of work winter. I really believe that it's paying off. We had a fast car in St. Pete, and we really have a fast car here. Came just a bit short, but there's always tomorrow, so we're going to keep digging, and hopefully we can make it happen tomorrow."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 98 Charter/Castrol Edge Honda): "We had a pretty solid session. I think that was good about the session was we continued to make it better throughout every run. So had a couple of really clean, clean laps in session 1 and session 2. Then session 3 the car was really good again, which is good. I probably didn't get quite as much out of it as I did coming off of turn 1 on the final lap, but I mean, the car was really good. I was really proud of all the guys at Bryan Herta. They really pushed hard in the last few weeks, and they've given me such a fantastic opportunity. So thank you to them and to Castrol, and everybody involved, Charter, and just fantastic day really for everybody."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "Oh, man, it was so close. It was just so close between everyone. You know what was weird was that there wasn't a big jump from Blacks to Reds today. I don't know why that was. I don't know if it's because the Indy Lights cars are now running on Coopers so we don't get as much Firestone rubber during race weekend. We saw a similar thing in St. Pete. Just wasn't a big jump. We ran a 78.1 this morning, and feeling really good about it. I think we've had an incredibly fast car from the git go here. We just didn't go quicker in qualifying, and no one really did. More people jumped further than us, but we didn't go that much faster. I was surprised not to see Will make it either. He was very good this morning, so it's kind of weird in the way. But car felt really good in qualifying for us, we just didn't have enough. So thankful that we got the Top Six. I mean, that's obviously a big goal in its own right. So we're going to be starting tomorrow with good company, hopefully, and we've just got to stay there. That is the goal for us to stay up front."

SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):

9-9:30 a.m.

Verizon IndyCar Series warmup

12:30 p.m.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach pre-race

1:50 p.m.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (80 laps/157.4 miles), NBCSN (Live)