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Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins Race at Long Beach

After 3 wins in a row recorded by Team Penske in this season's IndyCar Series, it was now Andretti Autosport's turn to return to its winning ways in the championship, thanks to a wonderful performance by Ryan Hunter-Reay. The North American driver, who is still struggling to secure sponsorship for a full campaign with Michael Andretti's team, made no mistakes on Monday to take the chequered flag of the race at Long Beach.

Hunter-Reay ran in a strong second place by Lap 17, when a mechanical error from leader Will Power – whose car got stuck in 1st gear in a corner exit – helped him surge to the leading spot. From that point on, the Andretti Autosport driver didn't let go of the lead until the finish line, while plenty of action took place behind him.

He quickly got away from 2nd placed Justin Wilson by the mid-race, but the 5-second gap between the two racers was reduced to zero once the leader got stuck behind lap-down driver Alex Lloyd. The Dale Coyne Racing driver did not want to let Hunter-Reay pass him and the leader needed no less than 5 laps to finally overtake him, something that Wilson found particularly hard (at least in one piece).

When trying to pass Lloyd so he could continue trailing Hunter-Reay for the lead, Wilson's front wing was severely damaged. Luckily, he managed to make it to the pit box in time for his last stop, but lost a lot of time (as the mechanics had to fit him with another wing). He emerged on the track in 3rd place, behind Power, as Hunter-Reay built in enough of a lead to take car of business to the chequered flag.

Following the yellow flag waved late in the race, due to Conquest driver Mario Romancini's contact with Graham Rahal (Sarah Fisher Racing), Wilson pulled one last attempt to regain his 2nd place in front of Power, and succeeded in Turn 1.

4th place belonged to Ganassi's Scott Dixon thanks to a good work in the pits by his team, as the former Indy champion emerged on the track just ahead of Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan. The top 10 was completed by KV's Mario Moraes, Team Penske's duo Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, Panther's Dan Wheldon and Mike Conway (Dreyer & Reinbold).
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