Watchin' and bloggin' - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

It was 10 years ago that my family took our spring break vacation out to the west coast. We took in some of the sights, visited the Queen Mary and Disneyland. We also attended the IndyCar race on the streets of Long Beach. It was my one and only time at the race.

I sure wanted to go back Sunday for the 39th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and not just because I was jealous of the 70-degree and sunny weather.

The first thing the broadcasters addressed during race coverage wasn't who was on the pole, the past winners at Long Beach or the starting grid. They talked about the security measures in place for the weekend in light of the bombings earlier in the week at the Boston Marathon. They also mentioned that the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the biggest sporting event in the country this weekend, with more than 200,000 people showing up.

I wrote this entry throughout the race, so this as close to a live blog as you might get from me.

Start your engines
Dario Franchitti got the pole position, which was interesting since he's had a tough start to the season for the dominant Target Chip Ganassi team. The Andretti name has also had plenty of success in Long Beach, so I was hoping Marco could continue what his grandfather Mario and father Michael had started. Unfortunately, Marco started third from the back in 26th position due to a penalty in qualifying.

The field got through the first turn cleanly and even the first couple of laps before a full-course caution as Sebastian Saavedra hit the tires hard after he tried to make a pass on Simona de Silvestro. It looked like Ryan Hunter-Reay got a great jump on the restart and grabbed the lead from Franchitti, but the pass didn't last into turn one.

Takuma Sato finally got by Hunter-Reay and set his sights on the lead. It reminded me of last year's Indianapolis 500 on the final lap. Franchitti and Sato got tangled up in turn one which sent Sato flying into the wall. I thought for certain they'd both go, but Franchitti managed to stay on track for the last couple of turns and the checkered flag.

Alex Tagliani and Charlie Kimball raced side by side and had a good battle going before they made contact with each other for another caution around lap 30. Too bad NBC Sports cut away from that action to show leader Franchitti in the pits. Oh well. There will always be that second-guessing of broadcasts.

Bring out the yellow again
The restart at lap 35 was short lived, as turn one finally caused some carnage. It was a slow start at the line, though leader Sato got a good jump. James Hinchcliffe got squeezed on the inside. Contact was made and parts went flying. E.J. Viso was also involved but quickly spun around and got going again. Hinch's day was done for the second race in a row, however, after he won the opener on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Back to green racing, Justin Wilson got around Will Power for seventh position. Then Oriol Servia was right on Power as well. It didn't look like Power's car had a good day. You don't expect such a dominant racer to hold up traffic and get passed consistently.

The rookie who's already impressed this season, Tristan Vautier, used some strategy to his advantage. He started dead last in 27th but was running in third with less than half of the race remaining. There was plenty of position shifting throughout the race with the restarts, good passing and pit strategy. Wilson didn't have a qualifying time putting him near the back, but he worked hard to run up in the top five.

Hunter-Reay got into the tires in turn eight with 30 laps to go after he went in with too much speed. That brought out another yellow, and a bunch of drivers into the pits for their routine stops. Power and Vautier had contact in the pits as Power was going into his box at the same time Vautier was leaving in their bordering pit boxes.

Movers on the restart
With 25 laps to go, Sato cleanly kept the lead. Drivers were on their push-to-pass buttons on the straightaways as they either defended their positions or tried to get close enough for passes. Andretti, still with a couple pushes left, got by Simon Pagenaud, who had used all his pushes for the race.

Graham Rahal had a good day. In the remaining laps, he was in second chasing down Sato in hopes of taking the lead. Sato held a two-second lead over Rahal with 11 laps to go, and that gap seemed to get bigger. Make that a five-second lead with three laps left.

Servia and Tony Kanaan got together in turn one with two laps to go. It started out as a local yellow, but the full-course caution came on the final lap. Too bad such a great race couldn't finish under green.

Another first-time winner
Sato gets the win. And his boss, the legendary A.J. Foyt, wasn't there to celebrate with him, as he's scheduled to have surgery soon. It was the first win for Foyt's team since Kansas in 2002. Sato was clearly excited on his victory lap. This was 52nd career start.

Other drivers that got their first career victory on the streets of Long Beach include current drive Mike Conway, Juan Pablo Montoya, Paul Tracy and Michel Andretti.

Three races so far in 2013. Two drivers with their first-ever IndyCar win. It's kind of refreshing to have some new blood in victory lane.

What a great finish for Wilson as well. From not even getting a qualifying lap in, to a spot on the podium. That's a pretty good rebound to wrap up the weekend. It's good proof that anything can happen on race day. Rahal finished second.

Pretty good race overall.