Power holds off Hunter-Reay in St. Petersburg

Will Power

Will Power driving the #12 Verizon sponsored Penske Chevy gave new IndyCar title sponsor Verizon a big win in the 2014 IndyCar season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Power took the lead around the 1/3 mark during a pitstop and dominated the remainder of the event.

Matching him qualifying lap for qualifying lap, Power held off the Andretti Autosport Honda of Ryan Hunter-Reay and his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves.

"I'm pretty tired; mentally tired. Stocked to get the first win for Verizon as a series sponsor," said Power, who started fourth after earning the pole the previous four years. "We executed well."

"Man, I’m mentally tired. That was physical and hard, but pretty stoked to get the first win for Verizon as the series sponsor with the Verizon car. It’s a great day, a great stop there when we all pitted at the same time, the boys got me out there. Really happy with that and we executed well. I worked so hard in the offseason.

"We came into the season wanting to win a championship for Roger, and the way it went down last year was really disappointing for Helio (Castroneves) not to win. Between the three of us – Juan (Montoya), Helio and myself- we’ve been working really hard to get the car right.

"The field is so tight that I’m just happy we had a good race car today. Didn’t quite have the pace in qualifying. That’s how you want to start the season. Last year was horrible, and this year it’s good to get a points lead."

Scott Dixon and Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top-5. Dixon never runs real strong at St. Pete so he was happy with a 4th place finish.

The IndyCar driver had not raced since last October, but the start of the 2014 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg had the cleanest start we can ever remember. Sato jumped out to an early lead ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan.

Sato controlled the race at the front on red tires, but on the first stop he switched to the harder black tires and his car never quite had the same pace after that.

There was controversy over a restart that saw Jack Hawksworth lose control when he had to checkup because Will Power brought the field down to the green slower than usual. Hawksworth, made a rookie mistake and ended up taking out an innocent Michael Andretti who could not avoid the spinning black Charter sponsored car of Hawksworth.

Will Power, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet IndyCar V6, races to victory

LAT/ Russell LaBounty for Chevy Racing

Power admitted that he let off the accelerating instead of accelerating hard like other leaders normally do and the accordion effect that resulted caught the rookie off-guard.

Though not illegal, Power was roundly criticized for the move.

"They threw the green early, I thought we were meant to go in that zone. So that was – I was surprised. I don’t really know what happened behind me, what happened?"

Did he brake check Helio? "I left it a little, I didn’t touch the brake at all. They can look at my data, I did not touch the brake."

It is Power’s second win at St. Petersburg, winning here in 2010. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second, matching his best finish at St. Petersburg (2009).

Mike Conway finished 16th while making his debut with Ed Carpenter Racing. After a three and half hour delay, due to severe weather and tornado warnings, he drove the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet to 12th on the starting grid, which was the team’s best start at St. Petersburg.

By the middle of the 110 lap race, the talented 30-year-old had battled his way from 12th to third and looked to be closing on second place Hunter-Reay. However a radio communication mishap ended Conway’s chances of achieving this. With the yellow flag being shown on lap 76, the team asked him to pit the next lap, however Conway didn’t hear the radio and stayed out. On the final lap of yellow, he thought the safety car was waving him through and so passed it to enter the pits. Unfortunately, this wasn’t meant for him but Hinchcliffe and was therefore given a ‘drive through’ penalty for the confusion, which ended Conway’s hopes of a podium and instead was left with 16th.
"
As the day went on, we steadily moved up and we got to third," said Conway. "I think we had a different strategy from other teams. We made some big gains on the red tires and passed a lot of cars, so that was very positive. I didn’t need a yellow for my final stop; I wanted to hold the gap when we went to the black tires. I never heard the radio communication to come into the pits and thought the safety car had waved me by but they were waving (James) Hinchcliffe by instead. I don’t know if there was a communication problem there too, but that was it. It messed up our whole day and that was definitely a frustrating end after driving to third."

Quotes

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "Man, I'm mentally tired. That was physical and hard, but pretty stoked to get the first win for Verizon as the series sponsor with the Verizon car. It's a great day, a great stop there when we all pitted at the same time, the boys got me out there. Really happy with that and we executed well. I worked so hard in the offseason. We came into the season wanting to win a championship for Roger, and the way it went down last year was really disappointing for Helio (Castroneves) not to win. Between the three of us – Juan (Montoya), Helio and myself- we've been working really hard to get the car right. The field is so tight that I'm just happy we had a good race car today. Didn't quite have the pace in qualifying. That's how you want to start the season. Last year was horrible, and this year it's good to get a points lead. (About the controversial restart on Lap 82): "They threw the green early, I thought we were meant to go in that zone. So that was – I was surprised. I don't really know what happened behind me, what happened?" (Did he brake check Helio): "I left it a little, I didn't touch the brake at all. They can look at my data, I did not touch the brake."

ROGER PENSKE (Owner, Team Penske): "It was just a great run by Team Penske. Obviously, Will (Power) had the car under control all day and Helio. Great to see Chevrolet come in 1-2. Also for Verizon, who just took over as series sponsor. It couldn't be a better day."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "Overall we had a good race. Historically we haven't had the best start to the season here at St. Pete. But the crowd was great and I'm really impressed with the turnout today here. It's such a great event here. We had a lot of fun and the Target team bringing two cars home without any damage to start off our year is a small win. We're looking forward to improving and heading to Long Beach in a few weeks."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "It was a pretty tough race just with the tires and our balance wasn't quite where we needed it to be. Then I didn't help the situation either running into the back of Montoya exiting the pits and damaging our front wing. We ran about three fourths of the race with a broken front wing, which really didn't help us at all. Despite the issues we faced today though, we were able to hang in there and get a top 10 result to start the season off. We're looking forward to even better results moving forward."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "It was encouraging that we had that much pace in car but it was obviously disappointing that we had some mechanical issues early in the race. We lost quite a bit of ground dealing with those issues. Overall though the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen crew really fought hard today and had some really clean pit stops. I have complete faith in the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing crew and the Chevrolet team that they'll figure out the issue we faced today and get us ready to have a great race in Long Beach."

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "I need to thank the Target team really. Everyone was so close out there it was all about track position. Then we caught on our out lap and lost a position on track as well. The No. 28 almost put us in the wall after that and overall I think we lost maybe half a second and that equates to two positions out there. I think we had a car to finish in the top five and we finished sixth. Not the start we wanted, but we'll take it."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "We had a good start. The first stint I had a nice rhythm going but we struggled a bit on the blacks on the next two stints, but we tried hard. It was difficult to gain on the track today. After a great qualifying, we're a little disappointed with the finish but we came away with some points for the ABC Supply team."

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay Andretti TV.com HVM): "Our race was good until I crashed on the front straight (Lap 82 restart); I'm don't really know what happened, a guy in front of me wrecked and then I couldn't really do anything about it. I think I was doing quite good before staying in the top 10 looking forward to a top-10 finish. It's racing. I learned a lot today, but it's just a shame I couldn't do much after the crash. Thanks to my Cinsay crew for working hard all weekend."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): ""I got a good start. I saw that it was going green and there was a stack-up in front of me and I knew you could go on green so I pulled off to the right and went straight on down the inside so it worked out for me. After that we struggled all day with a lack of grip. I could never attack the car; it was driving me more than I was driving it. There is a lot of work to be done but I think we had some highlights this weekend. We've just got to keep working on it."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): ""At the end there, the United Fiber & Data car got even better. We were going to be so strong at the end of this race if we had been in contention. You could see at the end there we were keeping pace with some of the guys; it's unfortunate to see it like that. More yellows might have helped keep us on the lead lap, maybe. We could have taken advantage if some more guys have problems with their tires in the end. At the end of the day, that is the way it goes. I think getting to still run and know what the chassis was going to do and learn a little bit about the tires again helps. We have another street race in two weeks, so all of this stuff still applies in Long Beach, and that is what we have to look at as a positive to come from this."

MIKE CONWAY (Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): ""As the day went on, we steadily moved up and we got to third. I think we had a different strategy from other people. We made some big gains on the red Firestone tires drove by many people today. So that was very positive. I wasn't really hoping for a safety car there around lap 80. I was hoping to hold the gap when we went to the black tires. I didn't hear a radio communication to come into the pits then. I thought the safety car waved me by but they were waving (James) Hinchcliffe by instead. I don't know if there was a communication problem there too. I didn't know if they waving at me or both of us. Then they said it was only for Hinch. And that was it. It screwed up our whole day. Then on the restart, there was a big pile up. With the single file restarts, you can't see around the big rear wings because you can't pull out to pass before the green flag. And we can't see the green flag with these rear wings and we bunched up single file. So we have to rethink that area I believe. We have to be able to see around the other cars. It definitely needs to be looked at in the future."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "We made some big improvements in the warm up this morning and I really felt we had a strong car to get after it. The Boy Scouts of America car was running pretty good. The Dale Coyne Racing guys did a great job giving me the clear track early on because the car was fast. I was just hoping to get a bit more of a clear track! It seemed really difficult to get by people today. With the alternate strategy, we were running hard in clean air and I was just trying to make the most of it. At one stage I was managing fuel, managing tires and managing the brakes, as well as trying to run as fast as I could! So it was a tough balancing act trying not to use up too much of the car early on."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 98 Charter / Castrol Edge): ""It wasn't the end to the race that we wanted, unfortunately. It was really out of our control and took us out of the race. I just want to say that the guys did a great job. We had some really good pace on the reds and I think that's promising, going forward. Now we just go to Long Beach and hopefully we get what we deserve but overall it was a positive day up until then."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "It was a good day a little strange at times. Not really sure where we were at times but we just hung in there position wish and kept pushing 110% and just had a good little fight with Helio (Castroneves) there and got by him. Will was really good! We were matching each other there at the end lap for lap so I was pushing as hard as I possibly could. I couldn't catch him. But good points today for the #28 DHL Honda. We are happy to start the season out this way and happy to go to Long Beach."
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): "I think the biggest struggle was the start. After the start I was close to being lost in the first corner but we had good strategy and a quick pace that helped us climb through the field. I think the team did a great job today. The car was very good and all of our pit stops were smooth. We were a bit unlucky with the yellows but that's just racing. Overall I'm very happy because we were close to a top-10 and we know we have a good race car. And now that I have experience with how a rolling start works I'll be ready for it the next race. I'm happy to be the highest finishing rookie today too."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Florida Lottery/SFH Racing Honda): "Today was a good day. A great points day. We started really buried in the field. Starting 22nd is not ideal and we had a really tough go on Saturday. That just put us on the back foot for the race. What we need to do is qualify better and have a better weekend as a whole. We kept fighting, there are a lot of fighters on this team who never give up. We scored a top-10 finish which is wonderful. It's good points, you have to be scoring top-10 finishes every weekend. I'm really pleased with that, it's a great way to start the year. It was nice having Florida Lottery on the car this weekend, they were really supportive, and everyone involved in our effort this weekend I think is pretty happy with our finish."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): "I will take it. Obviously I started the race, the qualifying was a little tricky for us but I knew I had a very fast car, no question. And I was pushing as hard as I could during the race. Unfortunately, one of the restarts was a poker game with Will. But you know its ok, its good. He was fast in the end and it was very difficult to push it. Plus with the tires that we had to scuffed at the end, it turned out to be a great race. I have to thank Roger for a great, great start and the Hitachi boys for great pit stops. I was pushing so hard, I was even thinking and at the end with about 10 laps to go I had a big moment in Turn 10 , I said RP I think this is the end of the tires and we just need to bring it home. Great effort for everyone and certainly we want to win the championship so this is a good start.

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda): "It's important when you are going for a championship, you realize you can't compete for the win to get everything out of it. And today we got the best out of the car. We certainly had a Top 5 car and finished 5th. So it isn't a bad day when you build championship contention. Power won today but were in rally good shape. Happy to start this way"

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "I think it went pretty good. We were just burning up the rear tires with the setup that we decided to run. It was just a little too aggressive. You know, we will learn and pass some people and some people passed us. There are a few things we have to do better but I didn't feel my pace was too bad there at the end. I was keeping up with everybody and it was good. (How does it feel to be back in open wheel?): "Fun! It's going to be a lot of work but I am very excited."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 AFS KVAFS Chevrolet): "I am happy with how the first race of the season went. Unfortunately we didn't have the pace at the end but after where we started at the weekend, I am pleased with the 11th position points in the bank. At the end it was a survival race. We had a strong stint on the reds, the blacks were not very quick and that really caused us to drop places and that last stint was a big battle to the end. I'm very proud of my KV AFS boys, everybody did an amazing job in the pits. We just need to keep focusing and prepare for Long Beach in a couple of weeks' time."
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing Chevrolet): "It was a tough race. Guys from back of the grid ruined the start of the race and I lost four positions on the first lap. I also bumped into Juan Pablo Montoya when the field checked up in Turn 8. I ended up having to pit to replace my front wing on lap 12, which was very early and forced me to save a lot of fuel for the entire race. Despite all that, we were going to have a really good result because we had a rocket ship for a car. Then just as I was going to make my third stop the track went yellow, so I had to stay out. When I finally pitted I was out of fuel and the car stalled, but we were still in a good position and I knew I had a fast car. Then I was penalized for not packing up fast enough, which was pretty rough because I was packed up before the pits opened and no one was harmed. That really set us back, but we kept digging. It was such a valiant effort by the whole team and to finish where we started is very frustrating. I really feel bad for the guys because they worked so hard and for all our sponsors who came to the race and supported us. The only positive note is that we have a fast car so our time will come."

Results

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.