Juan Pablo Montoya has a knack for making it look easy behind the wheel, and he did just that, besting teammate Simon Pagenaud on a restart at the lap 64 mark, to win the IndyCar season opener for the second year in a row at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
“I felt this morning we had a really good car,” stated the always-confident Montoya. “The Chevy was good all day.”
Pagenaud, who led 48 laps, was disappointed, yet diplomatic, paying tribute to the winner afterward while jokingly referring to him as an “Old Dog.” The race saw just two caution flags, which was a record low for the event, but unfortunately featured a multiple car pileup that, for all intents and purposes, ended the day for all the cars involved.
Ryan Hunter-Reay soldiered home third, giving Honda a podium finish on a day otherwise dominated by those with Chevrolet power plants. Helio Castroneves appeared to be heading toward the podium and providing Team Penske a sweep of the top three positions before worn tires allowed Hunter-Reay to slip by him, forcing him to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Mikhail Aleshin, in a rather spirited ride, brought his Honda home in fifth.
Polesitter Will Power was forced to withdraw from the race due to sustaining what was termed a mild concussion from a practice crash two days earlier. It’s safe to say Power qualified for the pole the next day under the same diagnosis, which IndyCar officials stated was undetectable at the time due to Power also having the flu.
Hard to imagine one of the finest groups of doctors in the business missing this, and it looks as if Power will be fine.
Long time IndyCar driver Oriol Servia replaced Power and drove admirably.
Conor Daly raced quickly all day and had the Dale Coyne Jonathan Byrd-sponsored entry up front for a total of 15 laps. IndyCar sure could use a hard-charging American driver, and Daly just might be the guy, along with Graham Rahal, whose day was terminated when he was hit from behind by Carlos Munoz.
The ever-popular Sarah Fisher drove the snazzy Chevrolet Corvette that paced the contest and was smiling widely as she climbed into it before the race.
The legendary A.J. Foyt looked pretty darn good as he sat in the pit box overlooking his ABC Supply race team. It was great to see him doing well as he obliged many an autograph-seeker before the race.
Roger Penske’s organization, which is celebrating an incredible 50 years in the sport, captured its 179th IndyCar victory when Montoya took the checkered flag. The unparalleled greatness demonstrated by Team Penske will never be duplicated (in the humble opinion of this scribe) and remains the benchmark for all competing in motorsports.
The next race on the IndyCar circuit is April 2 as the series returns to Phoenix.
You can watch it on NBC Sports Network or listen to it on the IMS radio network.
The green flag drops at 8:35 p.m.
Danny Bridges, who thinks the combination of multimillion-dollar yachts and IndyCar racing along the water in St. Petersburg is a beautiful thing, can be reached at (317) 370-8447 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
