39th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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franchitti

 

Sato led pretty much the entire race, but a few laps before the end of the race Charlie Kimball tried to make a run on Sato.  Using the Push-to-Pass button he tried to pass Sato on the outside of one.  He had the distance and passed Sato, but he carried too much speed into the turn and was not able to hold it.  He grazed the barrier and kept going, but finished 21st.

 

indycar, tony kannan
Tony Kannan was the only car on the blacks in the top 5.  Though he was on the blacks, he was still keeping up with the top 4 cars and not dropping off.  This meant he could possibly be in a good position to make a run towards the end of the race when the reds on the other cars started dropping off.  Then with 6 laps to go Kannan was running out of time and the top 4 were not slowing down.  The team's gamble was not looking like it would be paying off.  On the second to last lap Tony tries to stay on the outside of turn 1 as Oriol Servia was trying to pass him on the inside and ran out of room.  It was a disappointing finish as he was the leading Chevy car and it would have given some much needed season points.   

 

Tony's crash brought out a full course yellow just as Sato was approaching the end of the back straight on his last lap.  The race ended under yellow, but it was a decisive win for Sato and AJ Foydt Racing.

 

 

The win is Sato's first win ever (F1 or Indy) and it was also the first win that AJ Foyt Racing has celebrated in over 10 years!

 

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