Still, Sato was headed for a podium in Bobby Rahal’s Honda before being punted by Ryan Hunter-Reay and settling for eighth.

"They can kick us but they can’t keep us down,’’ said James Hinchliffe, who started 16th and scored his initial IndyCar podium in the Go Daddy Chevrolet of Michael Andretti. "Chevy needs big props for pulling off what happened here today.’’

The flag at HPD, which builds the Honda engines, might be hanging at half mast for a while but nobody was slapped, fired or even fell on their sword.

In the big picture it was just another race, the third of 16, and it’s not like Honda and Chevrolet aren’t pretty evenly matched.

But, other than Indianapolis, nothing on the schedule is more prestigious than Long Beach. And Honda and its teams managed to lose this one with a stacked deck.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

*** There were a few chippy comments from people because of Honda’s affection for Pagenaud and wanting him back in open-wheel, but Sunday surely silenced them.

The personable Frenchman led a race-high 26 laps and damn near ran down his former teammate in the closing laps to give Sam Schmidt/Davey Hamilton HP Motorsports its best result ever.

"We’re not Penske or Ganassi but we gave them a run for their money,’’ said Pagenaud, who qualified sixth for the season opener but suffered the first 10-spot penalty for an unapproved engine change. "I know Will is the guy to beat and I wish we could have had one more lap.’’

So the little 1-car team is third in the standings with its rookie driver who is new to some of the tracks but hardly a rookie in terms of talent.

*** For all the critics of the double-file restarts, all they did Sunday afternoon was make for some of the most exciting moments in Long Beach history. Chief steward Beaux Barfield opted to leave the pace car on the track until the last minute to pack up the field and it resulted in the first several rows lined up perfectly and snarling into the first turn.

The drivers, who did a splendid job for the third consecutive race, had the Shoreline grandstands standing and screaming with their flying starts – which bodes well for next month’s Indianapolis 500.

*** Like St. Pete and Barber, it was also the third straight race with lots of passing – more than I’ve seen in my 37 Long Beach Grand Prix’s and, once again, many of the drivers tipped their helmet to Firestone for making it possible.

*** Marshall Pruett will go into detail tomorrow but Honda wanting to go with a stronger turbocharger has been met with major resistance from Chevrolet and it sounds like it could get real ugly.

*** John Judd Jr. claimed his Lotus engine wasn’t anywhere close to being 50 horsepower down to Chevy and Honda, but one Lotus team said it was seven mph slower at the end of the Shoreline straightaway. Hope those Lotus teams get some help for Indy.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Long Beach 2012



Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED