Andretti team starts back, finishes well

The team of Andretti Green Racing enjoyed a strong run in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach after appearing poised for a disappointing day.

AGR’s Tony Kanaan finished third Sunday, Danica Patrick was fourth and Marco Andretti sixth. The fourth driver on the team, Hideki Mutoh, finished 20th after being involved in a crash.

The results were a sharp reversal from how the drivers started the race. After poor qualifying efforts, Kanaan started 11th in the 23-car field, Mutoh began 17th, Andretti 19th and Patrick 22nd.

“We work better under pressure, I guess,” Kanaan said. “We had a rough weekend up until today but we were able to pull through.”

It was Kanaan’s 11th consecutive top-10 finish, the longest active streak in the IndyCar Series.

“This weekend we learned a lot about what we need to work on the rest of the season,” Andretti said.

Slow start

Scott Dixon, the reigning series champion and teammate of race winner Dario Franchitti, is off to a slow start in defending his crown.

The New Zealander finished 15th in Long Beach after opening the season with a 16th-place finish on another street course in St. Petersburg, Fla.

After starting sixth Sunday, Dixon was running in the top 10 with only nine laps remaining when Ryan Briscoe ran into the back of Dixon’s car during a caution period. Dixon spun and then stalled on the course, dropping him deep in the pack.

“To get spun like that was pretty terrible,” Franchitti said. “I expect [Dixon] to be back and up front next week” when the series races at Kansas Speedway, he said.

Wilson’s woes

Long Beach wasn’t kind to Justin Wilson for a second consecutive year.

Wilson, driving for Dale Coyne Racing, was involved in the wreck that collected Mutoh and others on Lap 24. Although Wilson tried to continue, his car’s rear suspension soon broke and he was done for the day.

“There was a lot of traffic in close quarters going into the [Turn 11] hairpin and someone tried to pass about three cars ahead of me, which caused everyone to check up,” Wilson said. “I’m very disappointed for the team.”

A year ago, Wilson was the pole-sitter in the Long Beach race for Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing but suffered engine failure only 13 laps into the race.

Wilson, the IndyCar Series’ tallest driver at 6 feet 3, later won the Detroit Indy Grand Prix but lost his ride at the end of the season.

It wasn’t clear whether he would compete this year until Coyne hired him shortly before this season opened.

And finally

Pole-sitter J.R. Hildebrand of Sausalito led from start to finish to win the 45-lap Firestone Indy Lights race.

Richard Philippe was second and James Hinchcliffe third.

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james.peltz@latimes.com