Ryan Hunter-Reay, the newest member of the Andretti Autosport quartet, received a bear hug from the CEO in Victory Circle. That meant a lot coming from a racing champion and newest enshirnee of the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame – Michael Andretti.
Hunter-Reay prevailed in the breakneck Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – a race slowed by a lone full-course caution (tying an IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course record) – holding off Justin Wilson by 5.6031 seconds to give Andretti Autosport its first victory since June 2008 at Richmond (Tony Kanaan). Six teams were represented in the top 10.
“It was the most fun I had in a race car because it was handling so well,” said Hunter-Reay, who is the first American-born driver to win at Long Beach since Andretti in 2002. “My mom is out there today. She passed along recently and this race is for her. Over the last couple of laps I said ‘This is for you, Mom.’ ‘’
Said Andretti: “I love this place. It’s where I got my first win as a driver (1986) and where I got my first win as a sole owner.” IndyCar.com
Power led early off the pole but Hunter-Reay, his front-row neighbor at the start, replaced him after the first set of pit stops and kept the margin to win.
Wilson was running second but on lap 54 suffered front wing damage and took an extended refueling stop that left him well back, but a crash by Graham Rahal four laps later allowed him to close the gap with the leaders. AFP
Wilson recovered from an incident with rookie Alex Lloyd just past the half- way point to finish second.
“I was pretty livid at that point,” Wilson said. “Some guys out there just don’t give me any racing room, even if they have the right of way or not. At least give the guy some room.”
Power also overcame his mishap to finish third.
“Overall, it was a good day, but on one lap, I got stuck in first gear,” Power said. “I have no idea why that happened, and I hope it doesn’t do that again because I slowed down. I was able to get out of it and speed back up, but it hurt my placement.”
Scott Dixon from Chip Ganassi Racing finished fourth, while Kanaan took the fifth spot. Mario Moraes was sixth.
Ryan Briscoe came in eighth, followed by Dan Wheldon and Mike Conway. MiamiHerald.com
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IZOD IndyCar Series: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - Race Results
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