Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

An article by New Track Record    No Comments

Well, look at that! Someone else outside of Team Penske won the race! Finally some of my prayers have been answered (still waiting on the Powerball win). Not only was it a non Penske driver, but it was Ryan Hunter-Reay from Andretti Autosport! Yes, the same Ryan that figuratively and literally carries the IZOD series sponsorship. The IZOD IndyCar series couldn’t have written this outcome any better. The racing at the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was O.K. but there were enough storylines throughout the race that kept it interesting enough. The event itself looked amazing as you could just tell that there was an enthusiastic atmosphere at Long Beach. Hollywood seem to really embrace and have fun with the IICS. Watch the highlight here if you want to know what I am talking about.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Ryan Hunter-Reay (RHR) can add his name to the long list of great drivers that have been in victory lane at Long Beach. It is no secret that I have been a big fan of RHR. He hasn’t had the easiest career in the IICS which makes me appreciate what he is doing out there even more. Things look promising for RHR when he won his first IndyCar race at Watkins Glen in 2008 driving for Rahal-Letterman racing. When that team failed to secure primary sponsorship for the 2009 season, RHR found himself as the personal spokesperson for IZOD without a ride. Tony George quickly tried to salvage the situation and put a second car together for him at Vision Racing but it was too little too late. His car was painfully slow at the IMS throughout the entire month of May. He barely put it in the field (some of the most dramatic bump day qualification efforts that I have personally seen). When the 2009 season came to a close an opportunity at Andretti Autosport opened as Hediki Mutoh left the team. He is finally at a good team and I expect him to grow into one of the series stars. He still doesn’t have a full-time ride at Autosport but I wouldn’t be surprised if IZOD made an announcement this week or early May that RHR has earned his full-time ride.

Another winner is Andretti Autosport. The last time this team tasted victory was when Tony Kanaan won in Richmond 2008. That is a very long time for one of the “big three” teams to race and not bring home a victory. TK is only going to benefit and get better with having RHR on the team. I look at RHR as more of an equal with TK than his other two teammates and they can build off of each other. The past two seasons saw TK in more of a team leader role that I believe held him back. Look for the both of them to lead this team by example throughout the 2010 season.

Biggest Step Forward:

Here is something impressive. The 6th place finisher beat two Penske drivers, a Target driver and started in the 15th position. What’s even more impressive, the 6th place driver was Mario Moraes. I guess when he is not focused on taking out Marco he can post some good results. He also needed this finish as a momentum builder going into the ovals. Remember last year, his #5 KV Racing machine was scary fast on the ovals. He is not the pilot of the same #5 car, but I would assume KV Racing can apply the same racing set up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the young Moraes in the top ten again next weekend.

Biggest Step Backward:

So what’s up with Danica? I know she doesn’t like Road/Street racing and would rather be out on an oval but I cannot understand as to why she not producing somewhat better results. She qualified an embarrassing 20th and advanced 4 positions to finish 16th. With all of the hype and hoopla she created before the season when she dipped her toes into the NASCAR water, she has had a cold and quiet start to the 2010 series. Let’s face it, the IICS needs for her to make big splashes (good and I guess even bad) to keep ESPN interested in showing racing highlights on Sportscenter. Let’s see if a change of racing will help her out.

Wanker Move of the Race:

I do not want to be hard on Alex Loyd as I am personally a fan of his however he didn’t help build his fan base on Sunday. I can understand why he was racing hard in front of RHR to remain on the lead lap but once he was passed, he needed to get out-of-the-way of the lead cars. He cut down on Justin Wilson (running second at the time) breaking Wilson’s front wing forcing him to make a pit stop. Wilson was able to recover and finish second but he should have never been put into that position. Alex is off to a tough start with Dale Coyne racing and oval racing is only going to present another challenge for him.

Fist Pump Worthy Pass of the Race:

Will Power may be dominating as of late but Justin Wilson was having none of that with 19 laps to go as he brilliantly set up and passed Will coming into turn 1. There is no question that Justin is one of the top road/street course drivers. I will be shocked if he doesn’t win at least one race this year.

Overall Dissertation:

The IZOD IndyCar Series needed RHR to win this season. I don’t think it could have happened at a better track (outside of IMS). We now have a new star (and who is American) on the rise. It will be interesting to see how IZOD rallies behind him.

As for the race itself, Long Beach was O.K at best. I enjoyed watching the party and the outcome but I am in need of speed and action. I found myself bored during this race and considering that I am an IndyCar fan, I am sure that average viewer either took a nap or did some channel surfing. I do not even know where to start on fixing that because I do not think there is necessarily something ‘wrong’ with the race but it was simply not exciting. Thankfully, the road/street racing is behind us as the series returns to the ovals the next four races.

Next Race: Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 (Kansas City, KS) May 1st at 1:30pm EST.