Danica Patrick Finished 16th In the 36th Toyota Grand Prix

Danica Patrick seemed to fall further from relevance. The most popular driver of the IZOD IndyCar Series, and the only woman to win a major closed course car race, Danica Patrick finished 16^th in the 36^th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. It's the third time in four races Patrick has failed to finish better than 15^th; she took seventh at St. Petersburg in the second race of the season. Danica Patrick qualified 20^th and was one of only three drivers to incorporate a three-stop strategy.

In her last five races of 2009, she had only one top-10 finish. Though she finished 5^th in the series championship, she was closer to 10th place than she was 4^th place. Over her last 9 IndyCar races, she has two top-10s, including sixth in last year's race at Motegi, site of her historic victory in 2008, when Helio Castroneves ran out of fuel on the last lap. However, seven of her last nine finishes have been 12th or worse. And that doesn't include her performances in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where she finished 35^th at Daytona, 31^stt at California Speedway and 36th at Las Vegas.

And that doesn't include her performances in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where she finished 35^th at Daytona, 31^st at California Speedway and 36th at Las Vegas. The next race is at Kansas Speedway, where she finished 5^th last year, and then Indianapolis, where she has been exceedingly strong. 

 “Today’s race was definitely challenging, and the result doesn’t show how hard the GoDaddy crew worked. It’s been a frustrating weekend all around for the #7 car. But I’m so happy that my teammate Ryan (Hunter-Reay) won. His win is great for the #37 guys and Andretti Autosport as a whole.” said Danica Patrick, who became a media sensation with a fourth-place finish in her inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 2005.

Danica Patrick's teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay became the first American driver to win an IZOD IndyCar Series race since he won in July 2008 at Watkins Glen, which was his first career victory.

Below are the results Sunday of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.968-mile Streets of Long Beach circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out: 

 

1. (2) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
2. (3) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
3. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
4. (8) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
5. (6) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
6. (15) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
7. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
8. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
10. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
11. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
12. (12) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
13. (11) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (9) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
15. (17) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
16. (20) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
17. (13) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running 
18. (19) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running 
19. (21) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running 
20. (18) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
21. (7) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 65, Contact 
22. (22) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 58, Contact 
23. (23) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 58, Contact
24. (24) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 45, Mechanical 
25. (25) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 10, Handling

Ryan Hunter-Reay, is the newest member of the Andretti Autosport quartet, received a bear hug from the CEO in Victory Circle. That meant a lot coming from a racing champion - Michael Andretti.