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Mike Conway passed Ryan Briscoe for the lead with 13 laps to go and went on  to win Sunday’s IZOD IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix race through the streets of Long Beach, Calif.

The pass came just two laps after Conway’s Andretti Autosport teammate, slowed and left the track with a mechanical problem while battling Briscoe for the lead.

It turned team-owner Michael Andretti’s frown upside down.

“He impressed me right away,” Andretti said after the race. “The first time we put him in a car. I knew he was going to win races.”

Briscoe of Team Penske finished second – over 6 seconds behind Conway – and defending series champion Dario Franchitti was third.

“For a while I thought I was going to win today,” Briscoe said. “But Conway was lightening fast today. I had nothing for him on the restart. Conway was just in a class of his own.”

James Hinchcliffe was fourth and Alex Tagliani was fifth.

It was Conway’s first victory in IndyCar. A year ago, he sat out the second half of the season after going airborne and crashing dramatically in the Indianapolis 500.

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Results Sunday of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

2. (12) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

3. (7) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

4. (11) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

5. (9) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

6. (4) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

7. (20) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

8. (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

9. (13) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

10. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

11. (19) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

12. (6) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

13. (16) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

14. (15) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

15. (23) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

16. (25) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

17. (27) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running

18. (8) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running

19. (26) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 83, Running

20. (18) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 82, Running

21. (22) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 81, Running

22. (5) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 78, Running

23. (2) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 72, Mechanical

24. (24) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 66, Mechanical

25. (17) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 59, Contact

26. (14) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 37, Mechanical

27. (21) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 27, Contact

Race Statistics

Winners average speed: 88.676

Time of Race: 1:53:11.1000

Margin of victory: 6.3203 seconds.

Cautions: 3 for 12 laps

Lead changes: 7 among 6 drivers

Lap Leaders: Power 1-27, Tagliani 28-31, Briscoe 32-55, Hunter-Reay 56-57, Power 58-59, Dixon 60, Briscoe 61-71, Conway 72-85.

Point Standings: Franchitti 122, Power 115, Kanaan 87, Servia 80, Conway 74, Tagliani 73, Dixon 66, Briscoe 66, De Silvesto 66, Meira 64.

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