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Edited by Len Ashburn / Ron Felix

Long Beach Win Changes Power's Outlook

Power, who started 12th in the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15 because of a 10-grid position penalty assessed to all Chevrolet teams for unapproved engine changes, squeezed 31 laps from 18.5 gallons of fuel on the 1.968-mile street circuit while being chased down by Simon Pagenaud the final 15 laps. He won by 0.8675 of a second.

"I could not believe it," said Power, who notched his 17th Indy car victory. "You always believe that it is possible to win or get on the podium, but it was very unlikely, the fact that it was going to be a two‑stop race. But it was just amazing that Simon did three stops and I did two stops, like two different strategies and the result was similar. There was hardly any time between us as we crossed the finish line.

"It's just always a surprise in IndyCar, I think. You can never predict; you can never assume going into a race. You just have to be smart as it plays out.

"This was a very sweet victory because I've been on pole here in 2009, '10 and '11, and it just frustrated me that every year something would happen and I couldn't win. Once again this weekend, I'm starting 12th and I felt as though, 'That's impossible to win. I've got another bad year at Long Beach.'

"But it was just a good race. I pushed hard all the time, no mistakes, great strategy, and just a great team effort again."

The team effort has led Power to the top of the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings by 24 points over Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he's won the past two years.

Last year after not converting the Long Beach pole into a podium (he finished 10th) in the third race of the season, Power was seven points to the rear of Dario Franchitti. He wound up second in the standings - by 18 points, which included eight bonus points for a corresponding numbers of pole wins -- for the second consecutive year.

Power added that the team effort is spread across the organization, which has swept the three races (Castroneves winning the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg). The Long Beach Indy car win was Team Penske's first since 2001, when Castroneves prevailed.

"I think it's just that they've been probably one of the best prepared with the new car," Power said. "We did a lot of miles (since manufacturer testing began in November). Chevy has worked very hard, and obviously our first hit of the year ‑‑ obviously the 10‑spot grid penalty was a precautionary thing and didn't affect us too badly.

"To me, it has been hard work. I think my guys feel very confident no matter where we start now that it's always possible."

WILL POWER SURGES TO BACK-TO-BACK WINS WITH LONG BEACH WINS

It was Team Penske's first Indy car victory at Long Beach since 2001 (Helio Castroneves), while Power won the Champ Car finale on the course in 2008 with KV Racing Technology.

Pagenaud, who pitted the No. 77 Honda-powered car for the final time on Lap 70 of 85, finished 0.8675 of a second back. Over the final three laps, he ran lap times 1.5-2 seconds quicker than Power (1:10.4941 to 1:12.0333 for instance on Lap 84).

Pagenaud, who led laps for the first time since 2007 in Belgium, also gave Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports its highest finish since Jaques Lazier at Nashville in 2001 (as Sam Schmidt Motorsports). Seven different teams were represented in the top 10.

James Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 27 GoDaddy.com car for Andretti Autosport, finished third as teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay incurred a 30-second penalty on the final lap for avoidable contact with the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car. It was his first podium finish in his IZOD IndyCar Series career. Sato, seeking his first IZOD IndyCar Series podium, finished eighth. Hunter-Reay checked in sixth.

Tony Kanaan, who started 19th, finished a season-best fourth and JR Hildebrand was fifth -- his best since placing fourth at Iowa last June.

Also on April 15, Esteban Guerrieri overtook Sunoco Pole Award winner Sebastian Saavedra in Turn 1 of Lap 1 on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit and went on to his first Firestone Indy Lights victory of 2012 by 1.5989 seconds.

It was the fourth career victory (11th top-five finish in 17 races) for the 27-year-old Argentinian.

Picking up two bonus points for leading the most laps, Guerrieri heads to the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three points behind Saavedra (130) in the championship standings. Tristan Vautier, the points leader entering the race, was credited with third place and has 128 points.

Vautier joined the duo in Victory Circle because of a 30-second penalty assessed the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car driven by Gustavo Yacaman for ignoring the instructions of Race Control. The car lost one of its mirrors with about 15 laps left in the 45-lap race, and the driver was called to pit lane to replace it (a rule). However, the team didn't have a replacement mirror and he continued.

Does James Hinchcliffe even own a razor? We'll find out in Brazil in two weeks.

"Well, I may or may not have foolishly made a bet with Wade Cunningham and the bet was my first podium I had to show up to the next race with a completely clean-shaven face, and that's not happened since about 2004," said Hinchcliffe, who recorded his first IZOD IndyCar Series podium finish in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

"So I guess in Brazil you're going to be seeing baby face Hinch show up, and I'm not thrilled about that."

Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 27 GoDaddy.com car for Andretti Autosport, started 16th in the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile street course because of the 10-grid spot penalty assessed to all Chevrolet-powered teams for unapproved engine changes. His third place was at the expense of teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who incurred a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact with the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Takuma Sato on the final lap.

IZOD IndyCar Series Results - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Pos   Car#   Driver               Chassis-Engine  Laps   Status 

 1.    12   Will Power           Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 2.     4   Simon Pagenaud       Dallara-Honda   85     Running
 3.    16   James Hinchcliffe    Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 4.    19   Tony Kanaan          Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 5.    20   JR Hildebrand        Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 6.    13   Ryan Hunter-Reay     Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 7.    11   Ryan Briscoe         Dallara-Chevy   85     Running
 8.     6   Takuma Sato          Dallara-Honda   84     Running
 9.    22   Rubens Barrichello   Dallara-Chevy   84     Running
10.     3   Justin Wilson        Dallara-Honda   84     Running
11.    14   James Jakes          Dallara-Honda   84     Running
12.    15   EJ Viso              Dallara-Chevy   84     Running
13.    18   Helio Castroneves    Dallara-Chevy   84     Running
14.    24   Ed Carpenter         Dallara-Chevy   83     Running
15.     1   Dario Franchitti     Dallara-Honda   82     Running
16.    23   Oriol Servia         Dallara-Lotus   82     Running
17.    25   Sebastien Bourdais   Dallara-Lotus   82     Running
18.     9   Charlie Kimball      Dallara-Honda   80     Running
19.    26   Katherine Legge      Dallara-Lotus   80     Running
20.    17   Simona de Silvestro  Dallara-Lotus   74     Mechanical 
21.    10   Alex Tagliani        Dallara-Lotus   46     Mechanical
22.     7   Mike Conway          Dallara-Honda   41     Mechanical 
23.     5   Scott Dixon          Dallara-Honda   27     Mechanical
24.     8   Graham Rahal         Dallara-Honda   23     Contact    
25.    21   Marco Andretti       Dallara-Chevy   22     Contact    
26.     2   Josef Newgarden      Dallara-Honda    0     Contact                                                                

Race Statistics

Winners average speed:   88.021
Time of Race:            01:54:01.6082
Margin of victory:         .8675 of a second
Cautions:                3 for 12 laps
Lead changes:            9 among 7 drivers

Lap Leaders

Franchitti       1 - 4
Wilson           5 - 19
Sato            20 - 27
Hunter-Reay     28
Briscoe         29 - 33
Pagenaud        34 - 47
Sato            48 - 55
Hunter-Reay     56 - 58
Pagenaud        59 - 70
Power           71 - 85

Point Standings 

Will Power          127   
Helio Castroneves   103   
Simon Pagenaud      100   
Scott Dixon          96   
James Hinchcliffe    95   
Ryan Hunter-Reay     81   
Ryan Briscoe         72   
Graham Rahal         62   
Rubens Barrichello   59   
JR Hildebrand        57

Ryan Briscoe Captures Long Beach Grand Prix Pole

LONG BEACH, Calif., Saturday, April 14, 2012 - Ryan Briscoe and Team Penske teammate Will Power traded the provisional pole four times in the final two minutes of the Firestone Fast Six 10-minute shootout, with Briscoe claiming the pole with an IZOD IndyCar Series track-record lap of 1 minute, 8.6089 seconds. Power was 0.0984 of a second back.

Briscoe earned the one bonus point and $10,000 for claiming the pole position for the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He'll be starting 11th in the 85-lap race April 15 because of a 10-grid spot penalty incurred when Chevrolet advised all of its teams to change engines before the race weekend.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2010 race winner for Andretti Autosport, was third in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, while Dario Franchitti in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car was fourth quick. E.J. Viso and James Hinchcliffe finished fifth and sixth in the session.

All the competitors in the Firestone Fast Six but Franchitti were driving cars powered by Chevrolet engines. Because of those circumstances, Franchitti will lead the 26-car field to the green flag. Franchitti, the reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion who hadn't qualified for the Firestone Fast Six in the two previous races, will be joined on the front row by rookie Josef Newgarden in the No. 67 Honda-powered Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car, who qualified seventh.

Also on April 14, Sebastian Saavedra claimed his second consecutive Sunoco Pole Award, winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Saavedra produced a lap of 1 minute, 14.6143 seconds in the No. 27 Team AFS car on his final lap of the 45-minute qualifying session after he, Tristan Vautier and Esteban Guerrieri traded the top spot in the final five minutes of the 45-minute rally session.

Vautier, driving the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, posted a quick lap of 1:14.7007. On the succeeding lap, though, the car clipped the tire barrier in Turn 5 and Vautier guided the car around the circuit. Firestone Indy Lights officials nullified his quick lap for impeding the progress of competitors on their final qualifying laps and he'll start seventh.

Participants in the "Ortsbo Live & Global: IZOD IndyCar Series" event heard it first: Tony Kanaan and Rubens Barrichello will let their hair grow -- Kanaan's pate and Barrichello's goatee -- if they wind up on the podium together in an IZOD IndyCar Series race this season. "That would be interesting," said Barrichello, who's competing in his third IZOD IndyCar Series race this weekend.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POLE QUALIFYING NOTES: