Franchitti wins race and bragging rights at Long Beach

A creative pit strategy, some luckily timed cautions, and smooth, clean driving made Dario Franchitti's return to Long Beach a memorable one. The Scotsman, who had finished 2nd twice in his previous outings here prior to the open wheel split, ironically at the hands of the team he now drives for, enjoyed the taste of victory for the first time since 2007.

“I got lots of Champ Car street and road course wins, but I haven’t had one in the IndyCar Series, so to finally get one feels good for all kinds of reasons. After everything we went through last year and then Chip (Ganassi) coming up and saying, 'Hey, do you want to drive my Indy car?’ And now we’re back here winning together. Having finished second to his cars here twice I said to him last night, 'If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,’ and here we are. Thanks to my crew and the whole Target team. It’s good to be back and see full grandstands and see a buzz at the track. Great day.”

Not only was he victorious in the race, but he was also victorious in a side bet with pal Tony Kanaan, giving him bragging rights and a continued full head of hair. More on that later.

Polesitter Will Power had a strange day, capping off a strange weekend. After posting the fastest time in practice on Friday, the Aussie, who had been brought in to temporarily fill the seat of Helio Castroneves, had to turn over the car to the Brazilian who was exonerated of tax evasion charges prior to the weekend. On Saturday, Power put his replacement car on pole. This afternoon, as the cars fired up and headed off the grid for the installation laps, Powers car wouldn't start. The crew managed to get him started and he wound his way through the field to his rightful spot. Getting a huge jump on the start, everything was looking good, until a miscue following an off by Mike Conway saw Power slow for a full course yellow that never came, allowing several cars to get by him. He would battle back, despite a lack of radio and telemetry. and though he had nothing for Franchitti, he was able to hold off a hard charging Kanaan to take second.

“It was a great day. We had no radio and no telemetry, so I was doing it off the steering wheel and off the pit board. I’m very happy," said the appreciative Power. "Second is very good. I feel happy for all the guys. They put a lot of effort in. I really want to thank Roger Penske and Tim Cindric for bringing this Verizon Wireless car here for me. I really appreciate it. They’ve given me a fantastic ride, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Now essentially out of a ride except for the Indy 500, it is rumored that Verizon is looking to step and support the talented Australian driver, ensuring that the 500 won't be his last race this season. Time will tell.

Rounding out the podium was Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, marking a positive turn around for both the driver and the team who have been struggling for results since last season.

“We work better under pressure, I guess," said Kanaan. "It’s a good day for Andretti Green Racing. Great job for the 7-Eleven team. That’s how we count points and move forward. When we have a car to win, we win, and when we don’t we finish on the podium.”

More on that side bet. While Kanaan may have won a podium spot, he lost a bet which he himself put into play with pal and fellow competitor Franchitti. By virtue of Franchitti beating Kanaan to a win this season, Kanaan will now have to allow his hair to grow out until he himself takes the checkered flag. (Franchitti's loss would have brought out the clippers) This could make for an interesting season.

It wasn't all fun and fuel strategy this afternoon however. There were several messy moments on track, which could be chalked up to shaking off the winter cobwebs or just pure bad luck.

Scott Dixon, who's season is off to a disastrous start, was involved in several on-track incidents, first punting the unsuspecting Viso while trying to avoid the slowing Power, then getting into the back of Graham Rahal in the hairpin, which caused a chain reaction as the field bottle-necked behind him. Moraes, Manning, Mutoh, Meira and Wilson would find themselves caught up with each other, Wilson getting the worst of it with a race ending broken rear suspension. The third incident was almost an exact repeat of the bizarre caution period rear ending between he and Brisco at Watkin's Glen in 08, only this time Dixon was the victim. Other notable incidents included Conway, Carpenter and Moraes all finding the tires, and both Tagliani and Rahal dealing with premature pit releases while refueling.

All in all, there were five caution flags which slowed the race for 18 laps, and eighteen of the 23 cars that started the race were running at the end.

Next weekend the series makes it's first 09 appearance on an oval track when it rolls into Kansas for the Road Runner Turbo 300. This will place the advantage back in the courts of the oval specialists, and put pressure on the street/road course specialists to up their games and continue their strides forward.