Cruising through the early part of the race, pole sitter Will Power tried to shift out of first gear as he rounded a corner.
Nothing happened. The gear got stuck and he had to pull aside, giving eventual winning Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson room to pass.
One little mishap, maybe three seconds worth of racing, and Power's chances of winning a third IndyCar race were all but done.
``Two cars went past me and bam! it went in gear,'' Power said after Sunday's Grand Prix of Long Beach. ``I thought I'd lose a lot more positions than that.''
Power's consolation? He still has the points lead headed into the oval portion of the IndyCar season, 42 ahead of Helio Castroneves after finishing third at Long Beach.
The hottest driver on the circuit, Power has yet to finish out of the top 5 this season, winning the opening two races in Brazil and Florida, finishing fourth at Alabama last week. Power also has a streak of three straight poles - one off the IRL record - heading in Kansas race on May 1, the last race before the Indianapolis 500.
``I'm really looking forward to Kansas; I'm pretty sure well have a good car,'' he said. ``I'm well aware the guys I'll be racing against will have more experience than me actually racing in the race, but I'll be disappointed if I'm not running at the front.''
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TROUBLE IN BACK: British driver Alex Lloyd never had a chance at winning the race, finishing 19th, but he had a big impact on the end result.
Running 23rd in the middle of the race, he slowed leader Ryan Hunter-Reay down by not letting him pass, then did the same to Justin Wilson in second.
Wilson saw Hunter-Reay go around Lloyd and tried to do the same on Lap 53, but got tangled up and suffered severe damage to his front wing. With the left side of the wing flapping, Wilson was forced to the pits for a replacement, raising his arms in digust as he entered. One of his crew members also shouted at a track official immediately after the contact.
``The door slammed in my face and I didn't have time to even back out of it,'' Wilson said. ``I was pretty frustrated and thought it was poor racing.''
Wilson recovered from the mishap, making up the time lost replacing the wing to finish second, his second runner-up finish this year.
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INDY LIGHTS: James Hinchcliffe led from start to finish to capture his first Indy Lights Series title in 18 career races.
Hinchcliffe, from Toronto, earned the pole on Saturday and stayed in front of Charlie Kimball and rookie J.K. Vernay to earn the win in his second Indy Lights season.
``You see that a lot in motor racing in all levels when the guy gets that first one off his back,'' he said. ``I've won races at similar levels to this before, so I knew I wasn't completely new to it. But to get it in Firestone Indy Lights was a great relief.''
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PIT STOPS: Dale Coyne Racing's Milka Duno started at the back of the pack after opting out of Saturday's qualifying so the team could work on a race setup after struggling in practice. It didn't do any good; she lasted just 10 laps before going out because of handling problems. ... Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne was a guest of Alex Tagliani in the pits. Tagliani started 7th, but suffered front-end damage twice, the second one sending him off on Lap 65. ... A season-best 17 cars were on the lead lap at the finish. ... Ryan Hunter-Reay was the first American to win an IndyCar race at Long Beach since team owner Michael Andretti did it in 2002. ... Defending Long Beach champion Dario Franchitti was never a factor, starting and finishing 12th. ``Disastrous weekend for us,'' he said. ``Not what we expected at all.''
