IndyCar: Montoya Wins Race In St. Pete

The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season is officially underway and the first race, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, is in the books. It was a terrific start for some teams and a rough beginning for others. We’ve got the full results and analysis as the series turns its attention to round two at Phoenix International Raceway.

Despite losing its top driver Will Power to sickness and replacing him with Oriol Servia on Race Day, Team Penske’s 50^th season is off to a roaring start. Team drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, and Helio Castroneves finished in the Top Five with Montoya picking up the win. Montoya was able to drive around teammate Pagenaud on a restart and overcome a broken steering arm to find his way to victory lane. Servia, who was able to run in the Top Ten for a time, got caught in a stack-up and ended up finishing 18^th.

Six Chevrolets and four Hondas made up the Top Ten. Andretti Autopsport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay was the fastest Honda and finished third in the race.

Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

The next fastest Honda, and one of the surprises of the race, was Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Mikhail Aleshin who finished fifth. Another surprise from the Honda camp, A.J. Foyt Racing’s Takuma Sato was able to shoulder his way into the sixth position.

One other note from the stable of Honda teams, Dale Coyne Racing had its hopes of a fantastic finish dashed when Conor Daly fell out of the lead pack after the final round of pit stops. Daly had to return to pit lane because of damage and ended up dropping to the middle of the field. Prior to the problems, Daly had been leading the race and keeping pace after he was passed by eventual winner Montoya. Daly finished in the 13^th place.

And finally, Honda’s troubles also found their way to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team. Graham Rahal was storming toward a solid start to 2016 and a brilliant step up from last year’s season when he was hit from behind and spun around. The contact with Carlos Munoz led to a parking lot situation and ruined several teams’ races. Rahal fell from the top half of the field and finished 16^th.

In the rookie race, Andretti/Herta Autosport driver and current reserve Formula 1 driver Alexander Rossi took the top spot by finishing 12^th. Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Spencer Pigot wound up finishing 14^th and Chip Ganassi’s Max Chilton finished 17^th.

All in all, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ended up being a solid race. Team Penske flexed its muscles, smaller teams like Dale Coyne Racing and A.J. Foyt Racing cracked the Top Ten, and the competition between the engine manufacturers shook in a relatively equal manner.

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG UNOFFICIAL RESULTS:

Juan Pablo Montoya – Team Penske
Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Autosport
Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
Mikhail Aleshin – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Takuma Sato – A.J. Foyt Racing
Scott Dixon – Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Carlos Munoz – Andretti Autosport
Tony Kanaan – NTT Data/Chip Ganassi Racing
Charlie Kimball – Novo Nordisk/Chip Ganassi Racing
Jack Hawksworth – A.J. Foyt Racing
Alexander Rossi – Andretti/Herta Autosport
Conor Daly – Dale Coyne Racing
Spencer Pigot – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Marco Andretti – Andretti Autosport
Graham Rahal – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Max Chilton – Gallagher/Chip Ganassi Racing
Oriol Servia – Team Penske
James Hinchcliffe – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Luca Filippi – Dale Coyne Racing
Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology
Josef Newgarden – Ed Carpenter Racing

Next: What the IndyCar Title Really Means

Now the paddock turns its attention to the first oval race of the season. Phoenix International Raceway returns to the Verizon IndyCar Series for the first time since 2005. The Phoenix Grand Prix is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on April 2 and it will air on the NBC Sports Network.