Juan Pablo Montoya leads Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Ryan Hunter-Reay through turn 10. [Joe Jennings Photo]
By Joe Jennings
St. Petersburg, Fla. – For second year in a row, Juan Pablo Montoya was the class of the field as he handily won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, leading 44 of the 110 laps through the 14-turn street course.
Driving the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Montoya earned his 15th career Verizon IndyCar Series victory and scored the 179th win for the Penske organization.
For the initial 48 laps, Montoya bided his time first behind teammate and leader Simon Pagenaud and then trailed the surprising Conor Daly before overhauling the young upstart on the 64th circuit and riding off into the sunset. His margin of victory was 2.3306 seconds.
Said Montoya, “We had a problem with the steering this morning during the warm-up, barely clipping the wall. The guys fixed it and we started the race really good, and then halfway through the race, the steering started acting up but it wasn’t too bad. With a five second lead, I backed off.
“The car had a lot of speed today even though we were slow in the morning warm-up. Starting behind Helio (Castroneves), I passed him when he started having a problem. Running behind Simon (Pagenaud), I didn’t try to catch him as I was trying to save fuel. After the first stop I went from six to two seconds but our choice of tires seemed to make the difference. With experience you learn that it is not how fast you are for one lap but the whole race counts.”
Pagenaud held on to finish second.
“Montoya is an old dog and he pulled a good trick on me when I decided to be aggressive on a restart, and it took quite a bit of aerodynamic out of my car,” Pagenaud commented. “A great job by him to get by me. For me, it was a great way to start the season.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay survived a lengthy battle with nemesis Helio Castroneves to take third near the end.
“It is always physical here and to finish on the podium is a good way to start the season,” the Floridian stated. “We got everything out of it; there was nothing left in the car. I did have some good battles out there, including with Helio, and it was good to get by him at the end and get the podium. It was a small, tiny victory for us. To be on the podium with the Penske boys is a big accomplishment.”
Castroneves held on for fourth.
Comeback driver Mikhail Aleshin came from 17th to fifth.
Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Takuma Sato, Scott Dixon, Carlos Munoz, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball.
Daly, who seemed head for a top finish, ended up 13th after needing an extra pit stop to have his car adjusted.
Two caution flags slowed the race for 16 laps with the second one involving some dozen cars that took place shortly after a restart. It started when Munoz ran into Graham Rahal, who, in turn, was hit head-on by Oriol Servia.
Servia was subbing for pole winner Will Power, who was sidelined after being diagnosed with a mild concussion after a second evaluation. Power suffered the concussion after crashing hard during a practice session on Friday.