Photo of Will Power by Nate Toering

The 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is finally upon us!

Join the LBPOSTSports.com staff as we bring you this live blog from the track as IndyCar drivers prepare to do work on the streets of downtown Long Beach. Australian driver Will Power will lead the field from pole position as the biggest names in motorsports like Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and more take to the streets today.

Who you got? Power has been impressive all weekend but fellow former ChampCar drivers like Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson and E.J. Viso are accomplished drivers on this street course.

Of course, you’ve also get the superstars like Kanaan and Helio Castroneves. It’ll be a field packed with talent on a very short race course, anything can happen and we’ll be here to bring it to you!

DRIVERS, START YOUR ENGINES!!!!

START: Will Power stays in front after turn one, as Tony Kanaan moves up two spots to four.  It goes Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson , Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon.

Lap 5: It remains Power, Hunter-Reay, Wilson at the top.  All three former ChampCar drivers.

Lap 10:  The top three are pulling away, Kanaan is in fourth, but a full 5.5 seconds behind the lead pack. Everything else is very close, and it will get even closer in a few laps when pit row opens for business for the first time today.

Lap 15: Distance is growing between Power, Hunter-Reay, Wilson and the rest of the pack still led by Kanaan. The gap is now more than seven seconds.  However the distance between Power and Hunter-Reay is now less than a half a second.

Lap 18: Huge move from Hunter-Reay and Wilson after a mistake from the Verizon car.  Report is still not in, but the media think it was a missed shift after the hairpin turn.  The fastest car is not leading, so the race has officially started.

Lap 21:  Danica Patrick has moved up two spots running in 20th, and is the first to pit as they put the red tires on.  The team is obviously trying to cycle her to the top, but it’s going to take some real fancy fuel conservation for this strategy to work.

Lap 27: Hunter-Reay has built a 5 second lead, and Power has taken second as Wilson went to the pits. On lap 28, Hunter-Reay pits.

Lap 30: Power pits and it isn’t pretty.  He spins the tires trying to get out and it’s a 10+ second stop.  So, it goes Hunter-Reay (+3.200) Wilson, Power, Kanaan, Briscoe, Dixon, Castroneves, Tagliani, Moraes, Andretti.   REPORT: Word is Power hit the ‘pit-speed button’ when he was passed back on the 18th lap. The button is there so you don’t violate the pit row speed limit, not for when you come out of turn 11, obviously. 

Lap 43: We’ve reached the halfway point and Hunter-Reay is still leading by 3 seconds.  

Lap 47: The gap between the top three and the chase pack has returned.  Wilson and Power are behind Hunter-Reay by about five seconds, while Kanaan (fourth) and Briscoe (fifth) trail by 21 seconds.
 
Lap 53: Patrick pits again, while in turn eight the leaders catch up to the back of the field.  Hunter-Reay makes the move around Alex Lloyd and Wilson tries to do the same, but the 22 car clipped the right rear tire of Lloyd and Wilson has to come into the pits for a 21.5 second stop to but a new nose on the car. That could mean the end of his chances to get on the podium.

Lap 57: Hunter-Reay and Power go to the pits and the leader maintains the lead with an 8.3 second stop.

Lap 60: So much for a clean race.  First full-course yellow as the rookie Mario Romanchini tries to go under and past Graham Rahal at turn one.  Both drivers go into the tire barrier, and Rahal has a few words for the first-year driver.  Rahal has such bad luck at Long Beach it’s really not that funny.  Bad news for him and Sarah Fisher Racing, but great news for everyone else.  All those pit stops and that fuel conservation talk is now by the wayside.  This race is now a sprint to the finish.

19 Laps To Go: Wilson has looked good since the restart, and he passes Power for second.  He trails Hunter-Reay by 3.8 seconds.

15 Laps To Go: Here’s how they’re running: Hunter-Reay (+4.700) Wilson, Power, Dixon, Kanaan, Moraes, Castroneves, Briscoe, Wheldon, Conway, Meira, Franchitti, Muton, Andretti, Viso, Patrick.

10 Laps To Go: No change in the running order, but Hunter-Reay is now +5.542 seconds on the field.

LAST LAP: The 37 car started second, passed Power on the Lap 18 mistake, and led from that point on. The media coverage will be full of stories about Hunter-Reay getting engaged in Long Beach, and how he hasn’t won since Watkins Glen in 2008, and how his mother passed away in the winter.  But all that is just the backdrop to a great (near error free) weekend for an up-and-coming driver.

Long Beach has been a breeding ground for some of open-wheel’s greatest drivers.  Did we just see the beginning of another one?