Helio Castroneves may have earned an important pole position for the third race of the 2015 season at the famed Long Beach street circuit, but he was unable to turn it into a win.
Castroneves of Team Penke got a great jump at the drop of the 41st green flag over the Long Beach circuit and Dixon started his campaign right away as he moved into second position in turn one.
The first and only full course caution of the race came early; on lap four, Gabby Chaves made contact with Jack Hawksworth in turn nine, losing a big amount of his front wing in the process.
The race flowed more smoothly than the other two of the year so far given this being the only yellow of the 80 lap event.
After a poor qualifying result, Will Power's day went from bad to worse when he was involved in a traffic jam on the entrance of pit lane that saw both he and Luca Filippi stall their cars.
Castroneves continued to lead the race with Dixon behind him. Dixon assumed the lead when Helio entered the pit lane on lap 30. At the halfway point of the race, Scott Dixon led from the three Penske cars of Castroneves, Pagenaud, and Montoya.
With ten laps remaining, a battle began to heat up between the drivers in positions 3-6. Montoya ran in position to take the final spot on the podium while Penske stablemate Pagenaud heavily pressured him from behind. Behind Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan joined followed later by KV Racing's Sebastien Bourdais.
The running order between these drivers stayed the same as they took the white flag and finally the double checkers, with Scott Dixon leading them all, taking his first ever victory in the historic Long Beach Grand Prix.
Reigning series champion Will Power ended in 20th position - six spots worse than his worst result from last season.
Next up for the Verizon IndyCar Series is the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama next weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.