…In which the double-file restarts left much to be desired, a comeback was completed, and an old theory — that a great finish can overcome a poor race — was proven true once again.

You’ll never find anybody hatin’ on Mike Conway. One can argue that it’s a direct result of his calm demeanor. And one can also argue that it’s because of the tough road he’s been on since nearly losing his life at last year’s Indianapolis 500.

But no matter which thought process you subscribe to, there’s no denying this feel-good story. Conway’s win at Long Beach was truly refreshing. On top of providing a heart-warming conclusion to his comeback, the triumph also gave us a break from the routine Ganassi-Penske domination — always welcome to the fan base that’s hoping for different things in 2012.

However, as inspiring was Conway’s victory was, it was just as galling to see IndyCar’s new, much-hyped, double-file restart rule utterly punked out not once, but multiple times. Beyond the leading handful of cars, everyone else was horribly strung out for the start of the race and subsequent restarts in an apparent attempt to prevent another first-turn crackup a la St. Petersburg. Even the last few Indianapolis 500 starts — which have carried little to no resemblance to the traditional “rows of three” — looked better than the starts on Sunday.

I’m starting to believe that this rule should have never come to fruition. But to my shock, it isn’t because of a growing pile of carbon fiber. If the drivers don’t want it, then just get rid of it and get on with the season.

—

So much for that

The double-file restart rule is starting to look like more trouble than it’s worth, even with Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart’s backing. We knew that it would take some time for the drivers to get used to things, but nobody was expecting them to have such ragged starts on Sunday. And as we head into another street course in a week and a half at Brazil, will we see more troubled attempts to stay clean? MINUS 25.

“Weezy” does it

For the second straight year at Long Beach, an emotional victory. One wonders whether the victory has set in for Conway yet — not to mention joining a veritable Who’s Who of American motorsports that has won in the past at the famous street course. This much is certain: He won’t be flying under the radar anymore. PLUS 15.

Parade at the Beach

Good for floats, bad for race cars (unless you’re leading the parade, of course). Yes, things got a lot more interesting in the final third of the contest, but you have to believe that a lot of people tuned out on Versus in the preceding two-thirds. MINUS 10.

Newman-Haas continues to perform

They’re back. The veteran-rookie combo of Oriol Servia and James Hinchcliffe kept on paying dividends for the legendary open-wheel team this past Sunday, as Hinchcliffe scored his first IZOD IndyCar Series top-five and Servia came home sixth. Now the question is whether one of them or both can bring N-H back to Victory Lane for the first time since Justin Wilson took Detroit in 2008. PLUS 8.

Oh No, Helio (part two)

After helping create the season-opening wreck at St. Petersburg, Helio Castroneves once again faltered on a restart when he ran into the back of teammate and points leader — make that former points leader — Will Power on a restart at Lap 66. With two crashes in the last three weeks, the notion that Castroneves is pressing too hard in trying to catch up with Power in the championship could be gaining some steam. And oh yeah…How in the world was he not penalized for his spin-out on Justin Wilson? MINUS 10.

RHR gutted

Defending Long Beach champ Ryan Hunter-Reay was once again in contention to win in SoCal until a sudden gear selector failure on Lap 70 forced him and his No. 28 machine off the track. The post-race interview on Versus said everything: As glad as he was for his teammate Conway, he just looked too heartbroken over how Sunday got away from him. He can’t be blamed for that. MINUS 5.

Briscoe saves season?

Forever considered the odd man out should Roger Penske ever decide to downsize to two cars, Briscoe found himself once again behind the 8-ball on Sunday after getting caught in incidents in the first two races. But by pitting on Lap 23 — two laps before the first full-course yellow of the day — Briscoe wound up at the front of the field. He wasn’t able to hold off Conway for the victory, but his runner-up finish gave him plenty of much-needed points. PLUS 5.

E.J. Viso wrecks…again

It’s becoming more of a when, not if. MINUS 10.

THIS WEEK: -32 beans.

SEASON TALLY (after 3 races): -17 beans.

1. Ryan Hunter-Reay scores big win. Will a victory at the biggest open-wheel event outside of the Indianapolis 500 be enough to help him nail down funding for a full season? Let’s hope so. Because after his dominating effort on Sunday, he seems in line to finally become the true American contender that the series has lacked since Sam Hornish Jr. departed for NASCAR. PLUS 20.

2. Justin Wilson vs. Alex Lloyd. Their contact at Lap 53 essentially dashed Wilson’s hopes for victory and left him and his Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team livid. Meanwhile, Lloyd insisted that Wilson was at fault for being impatient in trying to get by his lapped car. Wilson would fight back to get second place at the checkers, but regardless of who you think should be blamed for the incident, it definitely ruined what could have been a fantastic fight between him and Hunter-Reay for the win. MINUS 15.

3. Will Power’s screwy shifter. The No. 12 Verizon car stuck in first gear for Power as he came off of Turn 11 on Lap 18, allowing Hunter-Reay to blow by him for the lead he wouldn’t relinquish outside of pit stops. Prior to that, chances seemed good that Power would claim his third win of the season, but he had to settle for third place in the end. Let’s see if the beast of the streets can expand on his championship lead through the upcoming stretch of ovals (Kansas, Indianapolis, Texas, Iowa). EVEN.

4. Parade by the Beach. Much of the race was a parade; I wound up making a “Music Man” reference on Twitter about it. Let’s just say Long Beach is lucky to have as much history and ambience as it does to override the lack of on-track action. That being said, the Wilson-Lloyd incident did rob a lot of drama from this year’s running. MINUS 15.

5. Versus milestone. Sunday’s event at Long Beach scored a 0.5 rating on the Tube for Versus, making it their highest-rated and most-watched (average of 490,000 viewers; peak of 525,000 viewers) IZOD IndyCar Series event. Baby steps… PLUS 5.

6. Changes on the horizon. IRL CEO Randy Bernard told the press this weekend that an announcement will be made in the next two weeks about ramping up excitement for other races outside of the Indy 500. His comments seemed to hint at creating multiple “majors” on the schedule, which leads to the obvious question: Is this the rebirth of the sport’s “Triple Crown”? And if so, would this new version stick to ovals or feature one or two road/street circuits? EVEN.

7. Hard chargin’ Mario Moraes. It’s not easy to gain nine positions on a course as tough as Long Beach, so let’s give a call to the Brazilian racer for his sixth-place effort. It sure beats having your car on top of someone else’s, right? PLUS 9.

8. IZOD brings the heat. Their little shindig last Thursday night in Hollywood (with celebrities, a pit stop demo, and a concert) was streamed worldwide and really showed just how much effort they’re putting into promoting the series. Something tells me this is just the tip of the iceberg. PLUS 10.

This week’s tally: +14 beans.

Season tally (after four races): +55 beans.