Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti edged pole sitter Will Power (Penske) to win the IndyCar series Grand Prix of Long Beach just three races into his series comeback.Having qualified on front row, Franchitti lost some ground at the start when he was pat by Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne) and Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon) right at Turn 1.But Franchitti wasted no time in getting back at the front by first passing Wilson on lap four and repeating the move on Matos 10 laps later. Ganassi then made what proved to be the winning strategy call, bringing Franchitti straight in for his first stop when Mike Conway crashed his car into the Turn 1 wall.Meanwhile, Will Power - whose radio had broken - believed that there would be a yellow flag and slowed, allowing Matos and Wilson to pass him. After the full field had pitted, Franchitti was the in front, followed by Danica Patrick (AGR), Power and Castroneves (Penske).As Franchitti quickly managed to open up a 3-5s lead after every yellow, Power had to turn his attention to resisting Kanaan for third - the Andretti Green driver having vaulted up the order thanks to a long first stint and pitting before the crucial late yellow.Patrick took fourth from 22nd on the grid, with Panther driver Wheldon fending off Marco Andretti to take fifth. Race results: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1h58m47.4658s 2. Will Power Penske + 3.3182s 3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 4.0537s 4. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 5.0742s 5. Dan Wheldon Panther + 6.5655s 6. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 7.5900s 7. Helio Castroneves Penske + 8.6332s 8. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 9.4835s 9. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 9.9583s10. Alex Tagliani Conquest + 13.6185s11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision + 15.2097s12. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 15.8507s13. Ryan Briscoe Penske +1m05.1013s14. Vitor Meira Foyt + 1 lap15. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 1 lap16. Darren Manning Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap17. Stanton Barrett 3G + 1 lap18. Ed Carpenter Vision + 3 laps
Retirements: Driver Team Laps Mario Moraes KV 71 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 60 Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 51 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 24 EJ Viso HVM 16 Championship standings (after 2 races) 1. Dario Franchitti 84 2. Will Power 69 3. Ryan Briscoe 67 4. Tony Kanaan 65 5. Ryan Hunter-Reay 59 photo: Charles Gauthier
Retirements: Driver Team Laps Mario Moraes KV 71 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 60 Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold 51 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne 24 EJ Viso HVM 16 Championship standings (after 2 races) 1. Dario Franchitti 84 2. Will Power 69 3. Ryan Briscoe 67 4. Tony Kanaan 65 5. Ryan Hunter-Reay 59 photo: Charles Gauthier