Power: Long Beach tough for Indycars

The Penske driver, who won the final Champ Car race at Long Beach last season, says the Indycars will not be as well suited to the track and believes the former Champ Car teams could be at an advantage.

"I would expect us to be three to four seconds a lap slower this year, it might be a different story with these cars," said Power.

"With the push-to-pass feature in Champ Car, we had no problems getting a run on someone or passing. That might be a bit harder in the Indycar because down the front straight into Turn 1 is the only place you can pass, unless you take a big risk or the other guy makes a mistake.

"I've always found it's quite a tough track to get a good balance on because of the variance in corners and track surfaces and you have to have a good strategy in the race. I'm not sure how much of the Champ Car setup will carry over to IndyCar but some teams like Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing seem to have that place nailed."

Power also expects the management of the alternate tyres to be significant throughout the weekend.

"I think the alternate tyres will make a difference on a track like Long Beach," he said. "It certainly made things tougher in qualifying at St. Petersburg.

"The tyres definitely made a difference and made the car better over a run, but we won't know what is going to happen in the race. Will the tires go off badly, or are they going to be quicker over a run? We just don't know. It definitely throws the balance off; that's why it seemed to suit some cars better than others in qualifying."