Scott Dixon has historically struggled at Long Beach, and the famous street circuit did not seem to be a good place to right the ship after a tough start to 2015. However, the three-time champion drove a brilliant, smooth race, overtook polesitter Helio Castroneves during the first pit stops, and cruised home to take his victory at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "This is huge," Dixon asserted afterward. "I love the event, but as far as coming here and doing well it hadn't been on that list. That pit stop exchange definitely helped us get to the lead but the car was fast and all we had to do was maintain that lead."

Castroneves followed Dixon home in second, while Juan Montoya survived a late charge from Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan, and Sebastien Bourdais to take third. Pagenaud and Kanaan completed the top five, with Bourdais unable to make a pass in the closing laps.

A clean start saw Castroneves hold the lead while Dixon immediately jumped around Montoya to take second. They held positions until lap five, when the race's only caution came out after Gabby Chaves broke a front wing trying to pass Jack Hawksworth. Chaves' wing landed in the exit to turn nine.

Under caution, several cars at the back of the field, beginning with Luca Filippi, pitted. But, Filippi stalled on pit entry, and his problem caused a traffic jam that also saw Will Power stall. He later explained that he could not engage the clutch in time. Even though both cars resumed, the incident ended their chances of running well. Power lost a lap getting refired, whole Filippi lost two laps. "I feel bad for the Verizon Chevy Team," said a dejected Power. "They worked so hard and me finishing P20 was a result of a bad day in qualifying. I didn't get it done and it was snow ball effect from there. Today I made mistakes and I stalled the car on pit road during the first pit stop. Was hoping for a top ten finish but it didn't happen. It makes me more motivated to make up for it the next couple races."

Racing resumed on lap nine with Dixon again on the charge. He attempted an outside pass on Castroneves, but the Penske driver held him and he fell back in line. The order remained largely unchanged until the opening round of pit stops. When Castroneves pitted, his crew held him for an extra second to allow Kanaan into his pit stall. While the move prevented contact between the drivers, it opened the door for Dixon to grab the lead. The Ganassi driver pitted the previous, had a fast out lap, and capitalized on Castroneves' misfortune to take the lead.

Dixon held it without a challenge from there and was elated to finally win at Long Beach. "I like coming here, I love the event. But as far as an event and coming and doing well and looking forward to it, it was never really on that list," Dixon added. "To finally conquer it- a lot of credit goes to a lot of people. That pit stop exchange there definitely helped us get to the lead, but the car was fast and we needed to maintain it. All in all, this is huge"

Castroneves settled into second and, even though waiting during his first pit stop cost him the lead, he understood the need for it. "The guys did a great job in the pits and especially the incident between me and Ganassi. It was just perfect. It was better to be safe than sorry, but it was a great job overall for Team Penske. At the end of the day, second place is not bad," he explained

Behind Dixon and Castroneves, Montoya and Pagenaud waged an aggressive battle for third. Montoya jumped inside of his teammate on his outlap after final stops, while Pagenaud regrouped and quickly mounted a counter attack a couple laps later. Multiple attempts to pass, however, were thwarted, which allowed fifth place Kanaan and sixth place Bourdais to close in. The final laps saw all four cars nose to tail, but no one could complete a pass and they held their positions to the checkered flag.

Montoya explained that his tires started going off, which helped Pagenaud, Kanaan, and Bourdais close in. "(Pagenaud) had a little less rear wing. To be honest with you, I was surprised my tires were going off and not his. But mine went off and I saw him coming so I just had to not make a mistake, make sure I came out of the last corner (well)," he detailed. "He was a little quicker down the straight so just pay attention how close he was and use the button, stuff like that. He was never really that close. He got close, maybe his nose to my rear tires, but that was about it. He never got next to me or anything."

Behind the top six, Marco Andretti was the best of the Honda drivers, running a solid race to finish eighth. Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, expected to be Honda's lead driver, faded in the second half and finished 13th.

Dixon's victory comes after a difficult start to 2015, in which had finished outside of the top ten in the opening races. He now sits fourth in the championship. Montoya continues to lead, with Castroneves three points behind in second.

The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Barber Motorsports Park next week for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

Long Beach