Power proves streetwise around Long Beach

As Will Power was decisively winning the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Danica Patrick -- who made history hours earlier with her own victory in Japan -- arrived in Long Beach to see the closing laps Sunday.

And when the race ended, the two drivers embodied how the long-sought reunification of U.S. open-wheel auto racing had finally taken full effect.

The Long Beach race was the last event sanctioned by the Champ Car World Series, which was recently absorbed into the Indy Racing League after a 12-year civil war between the circuits.

But the series temporarily split one last time -- with races in Long Beach and Japan -- because of prior scheduling commitments.

Patrick, 26, won the Indy Japan 300 at the Twin Ring Motegi track to become the first woman to win a major U.S.-sanctioned open-wheel race.

She won in her 50th start with a fuel strategy that enabled her Andretti Green Racing car to stay on the track at the finish while other leaders had to pit for fuel.

Then, in Long Beach, Power dominated the 20-car field and the 27-year-old Australian closed Champ Car’s books with his third series win.

Rookie Franck Montagny was second, five seconds behind Power, and Mario Dominguez was third in the timed race of 1 hour 45 minutes. Power led 81 of the 83 laps.

“It just all fell together; it was just a relaxing race,” Power said.

“We had a really good car, good pit strategy and we were very quick,” he said. “I feel really happy . . . to win the last Champ Car race.”

Power and several other former Champ Car drivers have joined the IRL’s IndyCar Series to race against Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and others, and the Long Beach race will be on the IndyCar calendar starting next year.

“I’m really happy to be coming back to Long Beach; it’s such a great event,” Patrick said at a news conference after Sunday’s race.

Patrick shot to stardom three years ago by nearly winning the Indianapolis 500 in her rookie year. But as her winless streak grew longer, she was constantly dogged about when she would finally reach Victory Lane.

“I’m really glad I don’t have to answer that” anymore, she said. “I wish it could have happened a long time ago, but I’m not going to argue with the program.

“Dreams really do come true. You just have to be persistent enough. I’m definitely a persistent one.”

The series now moves to its next race, at Kansas Speedway next Sunday, as a unified sport that struggled badly during the split and now hopes to chip away at the popularity of NASCAR stock-car racing.

“It looks like we have the right momentum at the right time,” said Castroneves, a two-time Indy 500 winner who finished second to Patrick in Japan and then also flew to Long Beach to watch the race.

“Everything is happening for a reason,” said Castroneves, a Team Penske driver who leads the IndyCar standings after three races. “Next year [the Long Beach race] will be even stronger.”

Sunday’s race provided IndyCar Series championship points to those Champ Car drivers who have moved over, including Power, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.

Power’s win lifted him to fifth in points, 25 behind Castroneves, but Wilson and Rahal had disappointing days.

After starting on the pole, Wilson was running second on the 13th lap when something on his Newman-Haas-Lanigan car broke as he drove down Shoreline Drive, ending his race. He finished 19th.

And Rahal, the 19-year-old son of former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, was running in the top 10 until the final lap, when he spun out while trying to end with a flourish. He finished 13th.

Rahal, whose father was the race’s grand marshal, dropped to ninth in IndyCar points. He made history as well two weeks ago by winning an IndyCar race in St. Petersburg, Fla., becoming the youngest winner of a major U.S. open-wheel race.

Veteran Paul Tracy, a four-time winner at Long Beach, struggled all day and finished 11th. Jimmy Vasser, another former winner who came out of retirement just for this race, finished 10th.

Patrick is third in the IndyCar championship standings, only 14 points behind Castroneves and two behind second-place Scott Dixon.

“We have a shot at it,” she said of the title but noted that with the merger expanding the field to 25 or more drivers, “it’s going to be challenging.”

Power’s name might sound like a poor joke, but he’s been one of Champ Car’s stronger drivers in the last two years. He was the series’ rookie of the year in 2006, then won twice in 2007 at Las Vegas and Toronto.

Perhaps appropriately, Power drives for KV Racing Technology, a team co-owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, a former principal of the Champ Car World Series who agreed in February to merge the series with the IRL to reunite American open-wheel racing.

Now, Champ Car is history.

“It’s a very sad moment right now that it will be the last Champ Car race in history . . . this is where I made my career,” Dominguez said.

But he too applauded the merger, saying “there has to be only one series” to boost the sport’s popularity.

And before the race started, Jim Michaelian, chief executive of the Grand Prix Assn. of Long Beach, which conducts the event, made this announcement to the crowd: “To all of the Champ Car family, thanks for the memories.”

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james.peltz@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Race results

Lap length: 1.968 miles (start position in parentheses):

*--* PL ST DRIVER LAPS 1. (4) Will Power 83* 2. (6) Franck Montagny 83 3. (10) Mario Dominguez 83 4. (8) Enrique Bernoldi 83 5. (12) Oriol Servia 83 6. (3) Franck Perera 83 7. (2) Alex Tagliani 83 8. (18) David Martinez 83 9. (14) E.J. Viso 83 10. (13) Jimmy Vasser 83 11. (5) Paul Tracy 83 12. (11) Bruno Junqueira 83 13. (9) Graham Rahal 82 14. (16) Alex Figge 82 15. (7) Nelson Philippe 80 16. (15) Antonio Pizzonia 80 17. (17) Roberto Moreno 63** 18. (20) Juho Annala 42** 19. (1) Justin Wilson 12** 20. (19) Mario Moraes 5*** *--*

* -- 92.964 mph; ** -- mechanical; *** -- contact; Note: All cars are Cosworth/DP 01/Bridgestone

RACE STATISTICS

* Time of race: 1 hour 45 minutes 25.415 seconds.

* Margin of victory: 5.094 seconds.

* Caution flags: Three for nine laps.

* Lead changes: Three among three drivers.

* Lap leaders: Power 1-30, Viso 31, Moreno 32, Power 33-83.

* Point standings: 1. H.Castroneves, 112. 2. S.Dixon, 100. 3. D.Patrick, 98. 4. T.Kanaan, 89. 5. W.Power, 87. 6. D.Wheldon, 85. 7. E.Bernoldi, 74. 8. O.Servia, 74. 9 (tie). G.Rahal and E.Carpenter, 70.