Mikhail Aleshin advanced 14 positions in the 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – his second Verizon IndyCar Series race – to finish sixth.

"We had a really good day in Long Beach despite everything that happened in a very eventful race," Aleshin said. "We knew we were going to have a good race pace after morning warm-up. I had a good start, but our strategy got thrown off when we pitted only two laps before the first caution. On the second restart, I broke my front wing when a car spun in front of me. We made more contact throughout the race battling with other drivers, but we held on and finished sixth."

Click it: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach tire usage

Following a 12th place in the opener at St. Petersburg two weeks earlier, the Long Beach event was another stepping stone for the Moscow native in the No. 7 SMP Racing car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In all the action of the 80 laps, one move stood out.

"On the last restart, my teammate (Simon Pagenaud) got around me," said Aleshin, who will join Pagenaud for testing April 16 at Texas Motor Speedway. "It was a really good move and showed me that I still have a lot to learn on rolling restarts. I want to congratulate the team on collecting our first top-10 finish this season."

Seven drivers made double-digit moves relative to their starting position, including winner Mike Conway’s 16 spots gained in winning for the second time at Long Beach. Runner-up Will Power, the winner at St. Petersburg, advanced 12 spots along with Team Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who placed fourth.

Sebastian Saavedra moved up 13 positions after starting on the last row, and fellow Colombia Carlos Huertas picked up 11 spots for his first top 10. Graham Rahal, who also started in the rear of the field, finished 13th.

A drive-thru penalty late in the race for passing before the restart potentially negated a top-five finish for Huertas in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car.

"The team helped me learn the track and it was a ‘coulda’ weekend that should have been even better," he said.