Will Power scored the victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener Sunday afternoon at St. Petersburg. Photo by Chris Owen
Will Power made a statement in the Verizon IndyCar Series opening race that will resound throughout the season.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the second time since 2010. He’s also won the past three races bridging seasons, and has led at least 16 laps in the past six races. He has registered 22 victories in 122 Indy car starts, but has yet to win a series championship.
“I’m stoked to get the first win for Verizon as a series sponsor,” said Power, who started fourth after earning the pole the previous four years. “That’s how you want to start the season. Last year was horrible, and this year it’s good to get a points lead.”
Power held off Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 driver champion, in a 22-lap sprint following a restart to prevail by 1.9475 seconds. Hunter-Reay overtook Power’s teammate, Helio Castroneves, in Turn 1 on Lap 88 for second. Castroneves, a three-time winner on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit and the runner-up in 2013, placed third.
Scott Dixon, the reigning series champion, finished fourth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car and Simon Pagenaud garnered a top five in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car.
Takuma Sato, the pole sitter who led the first 30 laps of the 110-lap race under a cloudless sky, finished one place behind sixth-place Tony Kanaan.
The race was twice slowed by cautions. The yellow flag flew for the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing car driven by Charlie Kimball sliding off course in turn 1. On the lap 82 single-file restart, the cars of Marco Andretti and Jack Hawksworth made contact, bringing out a second full-course caution.
Seven different teams were represented in the top 10.
Verizon IndyCar Series
St. Petersburg Street Circuit – St. Petersburg, FL
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – March 30, 2014
1. (4) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
2. (3) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
3. (10) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
4. (5) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
5. (14) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
6. (2) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
7. (1) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
8. (16) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
9. (22) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
10. (9) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
11. (11) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
12. (15) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
13. (13) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
14. (21) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
15. (18) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
16. (12) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Running
17. (7) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 110, Running
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19. (19) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 109, Running
20. (20) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 108, Running
21. (8) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 83, Contact
22. (6) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 82, Contact
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 93.572
Time of Race: 02:06:57.6288
Margin of victory: 1.9475
Cautions: 2 for 10 laps
Lead changes: 7 among four drivers
Lap Leaders:
Sato 1 – 26
Castroneves 27 – 28
Sato 29 – 30
Power 31 – 52
Sato 53 – 57
Power 58 – 76
Conway 77
Power 78 – 110
Verizon IndyCar Series Point Standings: Power 53, Hunter-Reay 40, Castroneves 36, Dixon 32, Pagenaud 30, Kanaan 28, Sato 28, Wilson 24, Newgarden 22, Briscoe 20.
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