It's no shock to see a Team Penske entry atop the practice leaderboard for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Will Power, a three-time Verizon IndyCar Series pole winner on the 1.968-mile temporary street course in Southern California, set the pace with a best lap of 1 minute, 7.5992 seconds (104.806 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. In five of the last seven years, drivers from Team Penske have captured pole position for the race, including three straight by Power (2009-11).

"It's been a good start," Power said. "This morning I learned some stuff with (teammate) Juan (Pablo Montoya) and we're progressing well. This is a track where I've struggled the last couple of years in qualifying, starting way back there, so I want to start up front and give ourselves a better chance to win the race."

Second on the speed chart was James Hinchcliffe in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, at 1:07.8223 (104.461 mph), followed by Graham Rahal in the No. 15 PennGrade Motor Oil Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (1:07.8853, 104.364 mph).

"The car was great off the truck," Hinchcliffe said. "Made very few changes over lunch, which is always a nice thing when you're not thrashing. The pace was still relatively decent this afternoon. It doesn't matter till it matters, but it's definitely a good starting point for us."

Rahal felt good about his car's showing as well.

"We have one less set of tires than some so we didn't run on new tires as much as some, but I feel good about where we are right now," Rahal said. "I feel good about what the car is giving me. We have a little more work to do but in terms of competitiveness but we seem to be very close."

Power's three teammates from Team Penske rounded out the top six in practice. Simon Pagenaud was fourth overall in the No. 22 PPG Automotive Finish Chevrolet (1:07.9015, 104.339 mph), Montoya fifth in the No. 2 Verizon Chevy (1:07.9443, 104.274 mph) and Helio Castroneves sixth in the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Chevy (1:08.0431, 104.122 mph).

Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award begins at 5 p.m. ET April 16 (streamed live on IndyCar.com, tape-delay broadcast at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN). Indy cars will race for a 33rd consecutive year in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 17 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).