THE LINE

April 20, 2011

(LAT Photo/Abbott)
After a long, difficult and grueling comeback from severe injuries suffered in a crash late in the 2010 Indianapolis 500, Mike Conway (No 27 Andretti Autosport Window World Cares Honda-Powered Dallara with Firestone tires) decisively powered by Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Penske Racing/Penske Truck Rentals D/H/F) in Turn 6 on Lap 72 of 85 and went on to win the 37th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. Conway is the first first-time winner of an IZOD IndyCar Series race since Ryan Briscoe did it in Milwaukee in 2008. It was Andretti Autosport's first victory since last June at Iowa Speedway.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
"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."

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing D/H/F), the reigning series champion, leads his teammate Scott Dixon down pit lane during the race. Franchitti finished third to move back into the championship points lead. James Hinchcliffe (No. 06 Sprott Newman Haas Racing D/H/F), competing in his second IZOD IndyCar Series race, was fourth, and Alex Tagliani (No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins D/H/F) gave Sam Schmidt Motorsports a season-high fifth place.

(Dan Helrigel)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Automobile Club of Southern California D/H/F) made a mistake on a re-start going into Turn 1 late in the race and took his teammate Will Power out. "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. 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 Conway on the win."

(Dan Helrigel/IndyCar)
Franchitti, Conway and Briscoe celebrate after the race. "It feels awesome," Conway said. "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 enough 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." 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.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Earlier in the day, Conor Daly won the Firestone Indy Lights race behind the wheel of the No. 77 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Mazda Road to Indy machine. It was his first win in the series in just his third race. Daly inherited the lead when the car of teammate Josef Newgarden (No. 11 RoboPong/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) nosed into the Turn 8 tire barrier of the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit and went on to win under caution. Esteban Guerrieri (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsport) finished second, and Stefan Wilson (No. 5 Andretti Autosport) finished third.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Conor Daly celebrates with his parents in Victory lane. "It's pretty unbelievable," Conor said. "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." "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," exclaimed Conor's father, Derek, afterward. "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." 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.

(Image © 2011 - John Thawley)
The story at Long Beach for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón was the furious battle in GT. Joey Hand (with Dirk Mueller) delivered the win in the No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT over the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R driven by Jan Magnussen (who set a new GT race lap record of 1:20.552) and Oliver Gavin. Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo were third in their Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia after starting from the back of the grid. It was the BMW team's second consecutive win. “If you don’t like ALMS GT racing, you don’t like racing,” Hand said of the spectacular GT race. “If I was a spectator, I’d love to see what is going on out there. At one point I was in third and Long was going to the inside of Gavin into a turn and I was thinking, ‘This isn’t going to work out for them.’ I race to put on a show for people watching at home, and I think that’s what we all did.” A full-course caution brought the race to a close behind the safety car as Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf cruised to the overall win in their Muscle Milk AMR/ Lola Coupe B08. Gunnar Jeannette’s ORECA FLM09 finished third overall for the win in LMPC with Ricardo Gonzalez and Tim Pappas and Jeroen Bleekemolen (Black Swan Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) won GTC for their second straight victory of the season. MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge honors went to LMP1 winner Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing and GT winner BMW Team RLL. Check out all of John Thawley's superb images from Long Beach here.

 The ALMS. The next ALMS race here in the U.S? Round 3 is the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park, on July 9 after ALMS teams take their annual break to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pretty hard to establish continuity in a racing series schedule when you have almost a two-month gap, no?

(Dennis Ashlock)
Rick Mears with Derek Hill and Alma Hill, receiving the 2011 Phil Hill Award in front of a capacity crowd of 400 guests at the RRDC Evening with Roger Penske presented by Firestone in Long Beach, Calif., on April 14. The event was the third annual Road Racing Drivers Club's West Coast banquet, held prior to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and emceed by RRDC president Bobby Rahal. The Phil Hill Award has been presented annually since 1993 to the person who the RRDC feels has rendered outstanding service to road racing. The recipient may be a driver, entrant or outstanding member of a sanctioning body. The award is named in honor of America’s first Formula One World Champion (in 1961), and is not only a tribute to his masterful accomplishments on the race track, it also recognizes his contributions as a great ambassador for the sport. Hill passed away in 2008.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD

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