Barber Motorsports Park

Simona De Silvestro holds out her hands to show there's hardly a sign that they were seriously burned in a racing crash two years ago. "I wish I had a cool scar because it was really miserable," De Silvestro joked in reference to her car catching fire, "but [the doctors] did a really good job. " De Silvestro, now in her fourth season in the Izod IndyCar Series, hopes to do a good job herself Sunday in the 39th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The 24-year-old Swiss driver is seeking to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event since 2008, when Danica Patrick scored her only victory in her seven-year IndyCar career.

Simona De Silvestro holds out her hands to show there's hardly a sign that they were seriously burned in a racing crash two years ago. "I wish I had a cool scar because it was really miserable," De Silvestro joked in reference to her car catching fire, "but [the doctors] did a really good job. " De Silvestro, now in her fourth season in the Izod IndyCar Series, hopes to do a good job herself Sunday in the 39th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The 24-year-old Swiss driver is seeking to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event since 2008, when Danica Patrick scored her only victory in her seven-year IndyCar career.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was born in Texas and now lives in Florida, but the reigning IndyCar champion traces many key moments of his life - the highs and the lows - to Southern California. Hunter-Reay lived in Dana Point when his IndyCar career was teetering in the mid- to late-2000s. Then a comeback win in Long Beach in 2010 finally secured him a ride with a top team. That led to his capturing his first IndyCar title at a dramatic season finale in Fontana last September, making Hunter-Reay the series' first American champion in six years.

Helio Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, earned 27 career victories overall and he even placed first in the "Dancing with the Stars" contest one year. But there's one thing missing from the veteran driver's resume: an IndyCar championship. Hoping to fill the void this year, Castroneves is leading the Izod IndyCar Series standings entering the 39th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. "I'm really pushing and the good news is we have a great team," Castroneves, 37, said of Team Penske, whose other driver is Australian Will Power, the 2012 Long Beach winner who narrowly lost the IndyCar title last year.

Can anything slow IndyCar racing's top driver at the moment, Australian Will Power? How about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Power won his third consecutive race Sunday, on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, giving Team Penske four wins in four races so far this year in the Izod IndyCar Series. His teammate Helio Castroneves won the other race. Power, 31, also won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach two weeks ago and at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., on April 1. But all those races were on twisty street and road courses.

Australian Will Power held off a charging Simon Pagenaud to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, Power's second consecutive win in the Izod IndyCar Series. Pagenaud finished second, James Hinchcliffe was third and Tony Kanaan took fourth. With five laps left in the 85-lap race on Long Beach's seaside streets, Power was about five seconds ahead of Pagenaud. But Power was running low on fuel, and as he slowed slightly in the final laps to conserve fuel Pagenaud slashed his lead to less than one second.

Helio Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, earned 27 career victories overall and he even placed first in the "Dancing with the Stars" contest one year. But there's one thing missing from the veteran driver's resume: an IndyCar championship. Hoping to fill the void this year, Castroneves is leading the Izod IndyCar Series standings entering the 39th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. "I'm really pushing and the good news is we have a great team," Castroneves, 37, said of Team Penske, whose other driver is Australian Will Power, the 2012 Long Beach winner who narrowly lost the IndyCar title last year.

This year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach perhaps was best summed up by James Hinchcliffe, who finished third, when the driver was asked to describe the IndyCar race: "I don't know where to start," he said. Indeed, in a race that at times bordered on chaotic because various pit-stop strategies, penalties and accidents kept shuffling the leaderboard, Australian Will Power emerged with his second Long Beach victory. Power, who won the race on the city's ocean-side streets in 2008, was running low on fuel and had to slow slightly in the closing laps Sunday but held off a charging Simon Pagenaud.

It's all anyone in Indy car racing can talk about, and arguably just what the sport needs to help boost its popularity. "Double-file restarts" were implemented this season in the Izod IndyCar Series, a change that has sparked some hair-raising moments in the season's first two races and probably will again Sunday in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "Every restart now the fans are [saying], 'Oooh, what's going to happen here?' " said reigning IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti . "It's definitely created more opportunity for passing, more drama.

As the Izod IndyCar Series arrives in Long Beach this weekend, Danica Patrick might be driving her last IndyCar race on the city's coastal streets. Patrick, the series' most popular driver, in the last 14 months has been trying her hand at NASCAR stock-car racing in and around her IndyCar schedule and will continue doing so later this year. And with her contract with the IndyCar team of Andretti Autosport up for renewal after this season, speculation keeps mounting that she'll jump to NASCAR full time in 2012.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was born in Texas and now lives in Florida, but the reigning IndyCar champion traces many key moments of his life - the highs and the lows - to Southern California. Hunter-Reay lived in Dana Point when his IndyCar career was teetering in the mid- to late-2000s. Then a comeback win in Long Beach in 2010 finally secured him a ride with a top team. That led to his capturing his first IndyCar title at a dramatic season finale in Fontana last September, making Hunter-Reay the series' first American champion in six years.

Can anything slow IndyCar racing's top driver at the moment, Australian Will Power? How about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Power won his third consecutive race Sunday, on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, giving Team Penske four wins in four races so far this year in the Izod IndyCar Series. His teammate Helio Castroneves won the other race. Power, 31, also won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach two weeks ago and at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., on April 1. But all those races were on twisty street and road courses.

This year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach perhaps was best summed up by James Hinchcliffe, who finished third, when the driver was asked to describe the IndyCar race: "I don't know where to start," he said. Indeed, in a race that at times bordered on chaotic because various pit-stop strategies, penalties and accidents kept shuffling the leaderboard, Australian Will Power emerged with his second Long Beach victory. Power, who won the race on the city's ocean-side streets in 2008, was running low on fuel and had to slow slightly in the closing laps Sunday but held off a charging Simon Pagenaud.

Australian Will Power held off a charging Simon Pagenaud to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, Power's second consecutive win in the Izod IndyCar Series. Pagenaud finished second, James Hinchcliffe was third and Tony Kanaan took fourth. With five laps left in the 85-lap race on Long Beach's seaside streets, Power was about five seconds ahead of Pagenaud. But Power was running low on fuel, and as he slowed slightly in the final laps to conserve fuel Pagenaud slashed his lead to less than one second.

It's all anyone in Indy car racing can talk about, and arguably just what the sport needs to help boost its popularity. "Double-file restarts" were implemented this season in the Izod IndyCar Series, a change that has sparked some hair-raising moments in the season's first two races and probably will again Sunday in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. "Every restart now the fans are [saying], 'Oooh, what's going to happen here?' " said reigning IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti . "It's definitely created more opportunity for passing, more drama.

As the Izod IndyCar Series arrives in Long Beach this weekend, Danica Patrick might be driving her last IndyCar race on the city's coastal streets. Patrick, the series' most popular driver, in the last 14 months has been trying her hand at NASCAR stock-car racing in and around her IndyCar schedule and will continue doing so later this year. And with her contract with the IndyCar team of Andretti Autosport up for renewal after this season, speculation keeps mounting that she'll jump to NASCAR full time in 2012.

Will Power started up front and never relinquished his spot to win the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, capturing a race that escaped him last year and doing so without a misstep. "I can't think of a race where I've been so cool, so physically fine and where I had everything go so right," Power said. Power extended his wire-to-wire lead enough for some comfort in the final laps and finished 3.38 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon , and Dario Franchitti was third on the 2.38-mile road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.

Tony Kanaan of Brazil took the lead with four laps remaining to win the Indy Japan 300 on Saturday at Motegi, Japan. Kanaan, who started from the second row, crossed the finish line at the 1.5-mile Motegi oval 0.4828 seconds ahead of England's Dan Wheldon to give Andretti Green Racing its first win of the Indy Racing League season. Kanaan took the lead for good on the 196th lap.

Will Power started up front and never relinquished his spot to win the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, capturing a race that escaped him last year and doing so without a misstep. "I can't think of a race where I've been so cool, so physically fine and where I had everything go so right," Power said. Power extended his wire-to-wire lead enough for some comfort in the final laps and finished 3.38 seconds ahead of Scott Dixon , and Dario Franchitti was third on the 2.38-mile road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.