Simon Pagenaud crosses a line, just slightly, but gets his first Long Beach Grand Prix victory

Simon Pagenaud knew a win for Roger Penske was overdue, and he finally got one at Long Beach.

Pagenaud, who entered Sunday’s 42nd Toyota Grand Prix as the IndyCar points leader, used a controversial maneuver out of the pits to hold off Scott Dixon and eventually earn his first victory since joining Team Penske last season.

“Compared to last year, we’ve [taken] a big step forward,” Pagenaud said. “I believe there’s more to come. It feels great . . . first win for Roger, so you guys can’t ask me anymore if I’m going to win. That feels great too, because I can just focus on the job now.”

Pagenaud started in third and made an early pass of Dixon for second. Pole sitter Helio Castroneves led for a total of 47 laps, but had a so-so pit stop that eventually slipped him to third, a spot from which he couldn’t recover.

After Pagenaud exited his second and final pit stop of the day, he tried to cut off a quickly approaching Dixon. In doing so, he went slightly over the yellow line that drivers aren’t supposed to cross. The IndyCar race stewards conferred about a possible penalty, but decided on a warning. That didn’t sit well with Dixon, who made a late run at Pagenaud, but finished .3032 seconds behind the winner.

“I thought we were done with warnings and all this sort of wish-wash stuff, and thought we were going to stick to hard rules,” Dixon said. “Obviously that wasn’t the case today. . . . I was even a little mad at Simon after the race, but it’s not his fault. You’re going to try and take an advantage whenever you can, but he doesn’t make the rules or put the rules forward.”

Castroneves, a teammate of Pagenaud’s, declined to comment on whether the right call was made. Pagenaud, as expected, had no qualms with how things unfolded.

“IndyCar has made it really clear this year what you can and cannot do,” Pagenaud said. “It was certainly on the verge of being a stronger penalty, but I did get a warning. I only did it once in the race.”

IndyCar defended the ruling after the race, issuing a statement that referred to “Lane Usage rule 7.10.1.1.”

“The penalty for this infraction ranges from a warning [minimum], putting the driver to the back of the field [mid] and drive-through or stop and go/hold [maximum],” the statement read in part. “INDYCAR race stewards determined his actions were not deemed severe enough to warrant a harsher penalty than the warning that was issued.”

Except for the pit-stop debate, this year’s Grand Prix was devoid of much extracurricular activity. There were no accidents and zero caution flags. It was the first caution-free IndyCar race since 2013, and the first at Long Beach since 1989.

There also wasn’t much movement up or down from the original positions — five of the six top qualifiers crossed the finish line in the top six. After Pagenaud, Dixon and Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya took fourth, Takuma Sato was fifth and Tony Kanaan was sixth. Three-time Long Beach champion Sebastien Bourdais tied with Max Chilton for biggest jump of the day, each advancing five spots —Bourdais to ninth, Chilton to 14th.

Some of the drivers, including Kanaan and Graham Rahal (15th place), argued for changes to be made to the track setup in order to create more parity.

“It’s such a great place to race, the crowd is unbelievable every year, so I think the fans deserve a little bit better,” Kanaan said. “I think we should maybe extend the race a little bit.”

Sunday marked Pagenaud’s fifth career IndyCar victory. His previous best Long Beach performance came in 2012, when he finished second. He extended his points lead over Dixon to 14.

“Consistency is key for me in this championship,” Pagenaud said. “For the way I drive, it might not be exciting to watch, it might not be the most fun to watch, but it works. So I’m going to stick to what I believe in.”

Other races

Johnny O’Connell won the Pirelli World Challenge at Long Beach, with pole sitter Alvaro Parente finishing second. It was O’Connell’s second victory at Long Beach; he also took the title in 2014. . . . Sheldon Creed, 18, won both Stadium Super Trucks races at Long Beach over the weekend and extended his commanding advantage in the points standings.