Make sure you leave your comments as we update the race as it happens….
Prix-Race
Here is the starting line up, brought to you by the qualifying session
#12 Will Power
# 10 Dario Franchitti
#2 Raphael Matos
#13 EJ Viso
#18 Justin Wilson
#9 Scott Dixon
#02 Graham Rahal
# 3 Helio Castroneves
#34 Alex Tagliani
#6 Ryan Briscoe
#11 Tony Kanaan
#21 Ryan Hunter-Reay
Start!
Will Power is the man! He just pulled a drag race start by tapping his brakes and controlling the pace.
Lap 5
It’s clean so far, and if you noticed the lack of Danica Patrick at the top, that’s because she’s running second to last right now. Will Power is slowly pulling away. Ohhh! Matos just passed Franchitti for second, and Danica is now third to last.
Lap 11
It’s nearing 100 degrees outside, which means that it’s probably closer to 110 or more on the track itself. When a track is that hot, it gets very slippery, which can cause a lot of problems on a tight street course like Long Beach. Luckily, the drivers have behaved themselves so far, but look for the heat to be a factor. Tires will wear out more quickly, which means that we could be looking at a lot of pit stops for cars running their red tires (which have more tread but need to be changed more often).
The leading cars are running their laps in the area of 1:12.000 or so, relatively slow compared to yesterday’s qualifying times. If the race stays clean, drivers will eventually get a little bit of separation from each other and open up the throttles, so you’ll see faster times then.
Lap 14
Tony Kanaan is making a move. He is now running tenth.
Lap 17
Here are the top three best laps that have been posted so far:
1. Rafael Matos – 1:12.095
2. Dario Franchitti – 1:12.158
3. Graham Rahal – 1:12.163
Franchitti just took second place back from Matos on the long Shoreline straightaway.
Lap 19
We’ve got our first yellow as Mike Conway hit the Turn 1 tire wall but made it back to Pit Lane. EJ Viso was on the wrong side of a duel for position and was forced into the runoff zone, where he’s currently sitting and awaiting help.
Meanwhile, Franchitti took the opportunity to pit and switched to black tires. Apparently the red tires are already wearing out, so look for those drivers to pit very soon.
NEW LEADER!
Rafael Matos is now your race leader. Power seemed to be in control of the lead, but the announcers are saying that something is wrong with Power’s car, as Matos passed him easily on Turn 5. They’re under a full course caution at the moment.
Lap 20
Nearly the entire field just pitted, and Tony Kanaan is your new leader with Ryan Briscoe behind him.
Lap 24
Several cars hit a traffic jam in the Turn 11 hairpin, and five cars are sitting there motionless. Justin Wilson, Mario Moraes and more are being pushed back to their pits. It was not violent, and it looks likely that most if not all of those involved will be able to restart.
Still waiting for Kanaan, Rahal and others to pit for the first time.
Lap 27
Officially, the temperature outside is 88 degrees, and 121 degrees on the track. No wonder those tires are wearing out so quickly. The pits are closed for the field as they clean up the carnage from the accident.
Here is your updated running order…
Andretti, Franchitti, Carpenter, Patrick, Power, Castroneves, Matos, Rahal, Dixon, Tagliani
Lap 33
More pits, more changes in the running order…
Franchitti, Patrick, Power, Matos, Castroneves
Lap 35
Franchitti is really looking good, and I have to believe he’s right in the position he wanted to be. He pitted early and can stay out longer without pitting, and his car ran spectacularly during qualifying despite Franchitti complaining that he couldn’t put together the lap he wanted.
Lap 37
Running in fifth, you can’t help but admire the effort that Helio Castroneves has put forth considering everything he’s been through in the last three days.
Patrick and Will Power are now each more than three seconds behind Franchitti, who has really hit a groove and is just dominating his laps.
Lap 40
Full course caution as Ed Carpenter makes contact with the Turn 1 concrete. Well, there goes that lead for Franchitti. Here’s the running order as we enter yellow.
1. Franchitti
2. Patrick
3. Power
4. Castroneves
5. Rahal
Lap 50
Looks like everyone is just holding position, waiting for that final pit. Waiting to sprint to the finish.
Lap 52
Patrick and Power pit, in an unfortunate alliteration. She beats him onto the track, but it may be a disadvantage for both of them. There are 33 laps remaining in this race, and they’ll likely have to stop again before the end.
Power gets by Patrick in Turn 1 of the next lap. Could he be running with just a splash of fuel in an attempt to save weight and get that little extra half-second? If so, it’s an interesting strategy, since he’s going to have to pit again anyway. We’ll see if it works.
Franchitti pits as well, just as Mike Conway goes into the Turn 7 tires. We’re under caution with Castroneves in the lead, unfortunately for him. More good luck for Franchitti.
Lap 57
Bad luck in Long Beach continues for Graham Rahal, as the #02 car driver left his pit position too early, with the fuel hose still attached to his car. A crew member quickly doused the car in water to avoid sparking a fire, and another crew member was knocked down as Rahal jolted forward. He seems to be alright, and the car managed to leave the pits soon after. Could be a costly loss of position.
Still under yellow.
Lap 61
Within the first lap of going green, Franchitti opens up a lead by more than a second.
Lap 62
In a bizarre situation, we received word that Rahal would be assessed a drive-through penalty. Then, we were told that the penalty had been cancelled. So why did we just look up to see Rahal leaving the pits?
“Looks like they updated the wrong people,” Mike says.
Lap 70
Let’s put it this way: Franchitti has a four second lead over Power, and Power has a four second lead over the next six cars. That’s how far Franchitti is ahead, and how close cars two through eight are running.
Lap 73
I just turned to Mike and Zoomy and said, “this race has been too clean for too long.” Sure enough, Mario Moraes rolled over the rumble strips and took out the tires on turn five. That’s just what second thru eighth place wanted, a yellow to make the last 10 laps interesting.
Lap 75
We don’t know exactly what happened, but Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon seem to have collided. Dixon‘s car is motionless on the track, and Briscoe‘s is limping around the track and being passed by everyone.
So, we’ve got a caution as Dixon‘s car is removed from the front straightaway. If Franchitti can avoid pitting or crashing, it looks like he’s in a great position for the win. We’ll see if he gets a benefitial restart when we go green.
Checkered Flag
Your 2009 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach winner is Dario Franchitti. He put together an absolutely brilliant weekend, and dominated this race from start to finish.
Will Power finishes second, making this the third straight Long Beach Grand prix with Power on the podium. Tony Kanaan is third and Danica Patrick fourth, redemption for their Andretti team that looked to be dead in the water coming into the race.
We’ll be back soon with photos, quotes, and much more!