Ryan Hunter-Reay lead most of the race, with team mate James Hinchcliffe right behind until 25 laps to go.
Josef Newgarden came out the pits with cold tires in front. Ryan Hunter-Reay saw Josef Newgarden have wheels spin so when they were entering corner 4 Ryan went for the pass that caused contact Josef Newgarden which then collected 5 other cars including team mate James Hinchcliffe.
7 Lead cars out the race put Scott Dixon on the lead at restart and he was able to hold off the rest of field until lap 78 when he pulled into the pits for fuel only. Car 20 Mike Conway Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet took over the lead fro Dixon and kept position until the checkered flag.
Mike Conway had the race come to him by just ‘hanging in there’, by missing the big crash and keeping the pressure Scott Dixon.
Car 12 Will Power Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet was in 2nd place followed by the Rookie Car 34 Carlos Munoz Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda in 3rd place, 4th place Car 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, followed by Car 77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda in 5th place.
This is Mike Conway’s first win of 2014 and the third win of his Indy car career. His first win came here in Long Beach in 2011. He also won at Belle Isle-1 in Detroit. This is Ed Carpenter Racing’s second win in the Verizon IndyCar Series. It previously won with Ed Carpenter Racing at Auto Club Speedway in 2012.
TOYOTA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH RACE SPECIFICS:
The race 80 laps, 157.4 miles on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street course.
The race was a standing started after one parade and a formation lap. Car 27 Hinchcliffe had a slow start from the front row, Car 17 Saavedra does not roll off the grid. Leader was Car 28 Hunter-Reay.
Some driver quotes:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “It’s a tough day. It’s a difficult day when you have an incident, especially at the front. I never expected to leave here with a crashed race car. There are positives to take away. We had an incredible car, the crew was solid all weekend. When you leave [the pits] on cold tires and you have guys coming up behind you on hots you’re definitely a sitting duck. The problem is, we just came out of the pits, we got the lead, you’re struggling to control the car because you’re on cold tires. It’s too difficult to place the car. On top of that, an incident in Turn 4 should never happen. You just can’t pass in 4 no matter what, it’s never happened before, it just doesn’t work. So I was surprised that we ended up in the fence. It definitely ruined a lot of guys days. It’s just a shame for us that it had to happen there. I knew we were a sitting duck probably later on in the lap, but would have never expected something to happen in Turn 4.”
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): “It’s a tough break, just because obviously we didn’t have a great start, but we made some moves to get back up to P2 there, we were chasing Ryan and the Andretti Autosport cars were rocking it… and to be running up front in the United Fiber & Data car, we were so happy. I guess at the end of the day patience is a virtue and someone wasn’t very virtuous today and it cost both of us, and this team, a lot. I feel bad for everyone involved. I just sucks to throw away such a strong race. But we’ll bounce back and get the UFD car up front again. (About hand injury): “When I made contact, I was in full opposite (wheel) lock and the wheel just snapped around and sprained (my hand). Nothing is broken, so we’ll be OK I think.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): “We had a strong car and (Josef) Newgarden came out of pit lane and I knew he was on cold tires. He was really struggling to get up to speed through Turn 1, and then through Turn 3 he had some wheel spin so I went for it. I started to back out because he was closing the door – I could have waited a little later, maybe that’s my fault but at the same time I had at least a half a car up along sides of him so I went for it. If we had given each other a little bit of room we both maybe would have gotten through there. It’s down to me to make the pass I guess, I’m not sure… a lot of people say that was my fault. I made the decision at that split second, when he had some wheel spin, to go for it knowing that I was on hot tires. That’s the type of driver I am, I go for it. I feel bad for everybody involved. Obviously it was a bit of a bottle neck there, and it got others involved that didn’t deserve to be involved and that’s what I feel really bad about. But thank you to DHL and Honda; the 28 car was so strong today… just very, very disappointed. I’ll look at it again, but a racing driver, when he’s in the moment, and he sees a chance to go for it… I went for it because I want to win the race.”
Verizon IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Results Sunday of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (17) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
2. (14) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
3. (11) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
4. (16) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
5. (6) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
6. (20) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
7. (12) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
8. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
9. (22) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
10. (21) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
11. (9) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
12. (7) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 80, Running
13. (23) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
14. (3) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 77, Running
15. (5) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 77, Running
16. (10) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 64, Contact
17. (18) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 60, Running
18. (13) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 55, Contact
19. (4) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
20. (1) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
21. (2) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
22. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 55, Contact
23. (19) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 41, Off Course
Race Statistics
- Winners average speed: 82.362
- Time of Race: 01:54:41.6418
- Margin of victory: 0.9005 of a second
- Cautions: 4 for 18 laps
- Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers
- Lap Leaders: Hunter-Reay 1-26, Dixon 27-28, Hunter-Reay 29-53, Newgarden 54, Saavedra 55-57, Dixon 58-77, Conway 78-80.
- Point Standings: Power 93, Conway 66, Pagenaud 60, Castroneves 55, Hunter-Reay 53, Dixon 51, Munoz 48, Montoya 47, Aleshin 46, Saavedra 42.