Franchitti's winning return

Qualified second on the grid behind Will Power, Dario Franchitti missed his start, was overtaken by Raphaël Matos and Justin Wilson, but quickly recovered by passing these two drivers before the 15th lap. Will Power still remains in the lead, but the Scottish driver refuels while Mike conway exits at the first turn. Believing that the yellow flags were out and unable to contact his team due to a broken radio, Will Power let the two drivers behind him pass, thus allowing Dario Franchitti to build his victory.

The Scottish driver is obviously delighted with his performance? “I had to save a little fuel during my second stint while still managing to keep up with the pace of my rivals, but my car was working perfectly. » He returns in great shape in Indycar, after an interlude in Nascar more than a year. “At the end of 2007, I wanted to see something else and change horizons. Nascar was a great opportunity. But we had a complicated year because sponsors were difficult to find. While until now we were used to winning many races, the disappointment was great. Chip Ganassi lost a lot of money, I lost my steering wheel and some of the staff was laid off. During 2008, I also realized that I missed the Indycar championship. And since Chip Ganassi was also determined to return to this discipline, are we back? »

Danica Patrick had a great race, finishing 4th, after starting from 22nd place on the grid. She also owes this great result to a perfectly adapted racing strategy, just like that of Tony Kanaan who climbed to the third step of the podium.

For his part, Will Power finished second, despite his difficulties in reaching his team for a good part of the race.

Ryan Briscoe was unable to repeat his St Petersburg victory. He hit Scott Dixon under yellow flags, damaged his nose, took a 30-second penalty and finished 12th.

Another big loser in this Long Beach round, Justin Wilson lost time during his first refueling and then gave up, despite a good start to the race.