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Five things to watch during the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18:

Penske street power

In four previous races in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Will Power has never finished out of the top 10. Power won the pole last year, jumping into a different car after Helio Castroneves entered the race. Power then went on to finish second, so this is obviously one of his best-scoring tracks. After winning the first two races, Power is attempting to rebound from fourth place at Barber Motorsports Park. “If you average that out, it’s only second every race,” Power said. “Unfortunately, the guys I’m racing with in the championship finished ahead of me. As I say, a bad day at Penske Racing is fourth place.” Team Penske has won this race four times.

Looking for victory No. 6

Target Chip Ganassi Racing has five victories at Long Beach -- Jimmy Vasser kicking off a streak in 1996, followed by Alex Zanardi in 1997 and ’98 and Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999. Dario Franchitti recorded another win last year. Franchitti and Scott Dixon will compete for Target Chip Ganassi Racing this weekend.

Marco looking to extend streak

Marco Andretti could become the first third-generation winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. His grandfather, Mario, is the only driver to win when it was a Formula One race in 1977 and later in CART in 1984, ’85 and ’87. Marco’s father, Michael, was the race winner in 1986 and 2002. Marco started 19th in his first Long Beach race last year and finished sixth so he certainly knows how to make forward progress.

Forward progress

Four of the top six finishers last year started outside of the top 10. Tony Kanaan started 11th and finished third, Danica Patrick began 22nd and finished fourth, Dan Wheldon lined up 14th and finished fifth and Marco Andretti started 19th and finished sixth. One way to achieve this is through pit strategy. If drivers at the back of the field can get out of sequence with the leaders, it can play in their favor depending on how the yellow flags fall. But, of course, it helps to start up front as Franchitti started second and won the race just ahead of pole winner Will Power.

Hitting the brakes

The cars are flying when they exit the Turn 11 hairpin and race down Shoreline Drive. Then it’s back on the brakes hard in Turn 1, making a left-hander onto Aquarium Way. That leads into the most picturesque portion of the track in Turn 2, which winds around a circular fountain, giving this course a feel of another great street event – the Monaco Grand Prix.