On lap 26 I was in turn 10 -- the left hand corner before the hairpin -- when everyone stopped suddenly. I managed to slow but went into the back of Mario Moraes and within a split second Hideki Mutoh hit me. It didn’t stop there. Everyone behind made some sort of contact. I was told that one of the front-runners looked to pass into the hairpin. It’s really tempting, but a bad idea!

Justin was caught in the middle of a Moraes and Mutoh sandwich in the hairpin. The race for "Bad Ass" would come to an end when his rear suspension broke moments later. (LAT)

The two soon thought the better of it and had to slow down quickly not make contact, but it was too late for the rest of us as the chain reaction behind grew! The first few cars checked up, the next few made light contact, by the time it got to me it turned into a wreck. The same way accidents happen on the highway, but with more expensive parts!

Once the safety crew restarted my engine I set about catching the pack. My car felt ok and I thought I had got away with minor damage until I was just about to brake for turn one! The rear wishbone snapped; it could not have happened at a worse time, at the highest speed on the track. Fortunately it didn’t get out of control and I was able to bring the car back to the pits.

Overall, it was not a great day for the Dale Coyne Z-Line Designs team, but I’m pleased for Dario. He did a smart job all weekend and if it isn’t me, I’ll cast my vote for him to win the championship. It's also looking like TK has to grow his hair! I’m looking forward to reading Dario’s comments on this…

It’s been a great couple of weeks as my brother Stefan was racing in Indy lights. He showed great promise in St. Pete but things didn’t work out for him there. This weekend, in only his second start at this level of motorsport he drove extremely well. Derrick Walker’s operation did an unbelievable job with the baseline set-up and working with Stefan to develop it from there.

As much as I give Stef a hard time with some “brotherly love”, he did impress me by qualifying 3rd. It was his first time at Long Beach and the drivers around him have more experience with the car and this track, which is known for being difficult to master.

I also have to thank iRacing for letting him spend a few hours learning the track with their simulator on Thursday. He lost a place at the start, but then ran fourth all race and was closing on third in the final stages, but unfortunately he had some bad luck too - the input shaft broke just three laps from the end. He did set the 2nd fastest lap of the race and he too showed his potential. My day ended earlier than his, but Long Beach had a similar theme for the Wilson brothers.

Stefan and Justin Wilson. Young 'Stef' is showing the kind of promise in Indy Lights you'd expect from a member of the Wilson family. (LAT)

The task of sponsorship hunting for Stef continues and hopefully they will be able to keep their season going.

We’re off to Kansas this weekend and everyone is hopeful our early season form on the street courses will follow us onto the ovals. I’ve been incredibly impressed with the work from my team and from my engineer – this is a group that’s punching well above its weight. We’ll see how things go in round three!

~Justin

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

Justin Wilson drives for Dale Coyne Racing in the 2009 IndyCar Series. Wilson first came to prominence in his native England, winning the Formula Palmer Audi championship before graduating to the International F3000 Series. After claiming the 2001 F3000 title, Justin would earn a ride in F1 with Minardi in 2003, completing the season with the factory Jaguar F1 program.

After transitioning to the ChampCar Series, Wilson continued his winning ways, taking four victories between 2004-2007, and finishing 2nd in the championship in 2006 and 2007. His first season in the unified IndyCar season earned Justin another win and 7 top-10’s with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.

Wilson lives in Colorado with his wife and young daughter.

Learn more about Justin at www.justinwilson.co.uk and about his team at www.dalecoyneracing.com. Learn more about the unique investment program created to support Justin early in his career at www.justinwilsonplc.com


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