Will Power resumed a predominant position in the opening IZOD IndyCar Series practice session of the weekend in Long Beach. This time, though, the Penske driver waited until the final moments of the morning to put in a 1m11.410s lap to take the top spot from Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay – the race's defending champion.
Scott Dixon grabbed third for Target Chip Ganassi, with Justin Wilson in fourth. The Dreyer & Reinbold man had been quickest in the opening 45 minutes – reserved for rookies and drivers outside the top 10 – and stayed on top for a long time even when the championship leaders came out.
Ryan Briscoe caused the first yellow of the weekend when he spun into the tires after 20 minutes. He was able to make his own way back to the pits, and Penske had him back on track with a new rear wing within 10 minutes. He went on to take fifth, ahead of Andretti's Mike Conway.
Alex Tagliani was briefly fastest for Sam Schmidt Motorsports amid a late flurry of quick laps and position changes. He was pushed back to seventh by the flag. Helio Castroneves (Penske), Graham Rahal (Ganassi) and Tony Kanaan (KV) completed the top 10. Returnee Paul Tracy was in the top 10 for a while for Dragon Racing but ended the session in 15th.
Drivers having early issues included Dale Coyne Racing's James Jakes and Dreyer & Reinbold's Ana Beatriz, who both had incidents, and James Hinchcliffe, who had a small fire on his Newman/Haas car.
A second session follows later this afternoon.