Nineteen-year-old Graham Rahal, in his first ever IndyCar race, has won the Grand Prix of St-Petersburg and his victory made him the youngest winner ever in a major open-wheel race - 74 days younger than Marco Andretti was when he won at Infineon Raceway in 2006.
"It doesn't get any sweeter than this," Rahal said. "I knew we had the pace and I knew if we stayed calm; if I could attack the car, we could pull away. You don't want your focus to get off the car and the race, and we never did."
Helio Castroneves who was able to challenge Rahal the late stage of the race finished second in front of pole-sitter Tony Kanaan, who led early as the race started under wet conditions but fell behind as his team tried a different strategy.
The race began with 10 laps under caution while sweepers attempted to reduce large puddles on the track following a downpour minutes before the scheduled start.
Six of the first 10 drivers were from the former Champ Car Series.
Race results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan Racing 2h00:43.5562
2. H.Castroneves Team Penske + 3.5192
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing + 5.5134
4. Ernesto Viso HVM Racing + 8.8575
5. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing + 9.6360
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing + 10.0071
7. Oriol Servia KV Racing Technology + 11.2871
8. Will Power KV Racing Technology + 12.8493
9. Justin Wilson Newman Haas Lanigan Racing + 14.3598
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing + 16.7298
11. AJ Foyt IV Vision Racing + 20.8319
12. Dan Wheldon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 24.7800
13. Darren Manning AJ Foyt Enterprises + 45.8601
14. Jay Howard Roth Racing + 1 Lap
15. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 1 Lap
16. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne Racing + 1 Lap
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing + 2 Laps
18. Ed Carpenter Vision Racing + 3 Laps
19. Vitor Meira Panther Racing + 8 Laps
20. Franck Perera Conquest Racing + 8 Laps
21. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 8 Laps
22. Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 9 Laps
23. Ryan Briscoe Team Penske + 27 Laps
24. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing + 39 Laps
25. Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing + 42 Laps
26. Marty Roth Roth Racing ---
"It doesn't get any sweeter than this," Rahal said. "I knew we had the pace and I knew if we stayed calm; if I could attack the car, we could pull away. You don't want your focus to get off the car and the race, and we never did."
Helio Castroneves who was able to challenge Rahal the late stage of the race finished second in front of pole-sitter Tony Kanaan, who led early as the race started under wet conditions but fell behind as his team tried a different strategy.
The race began with 10 laps under caution while sweepers attempted to reduce large puddles on the track following a downpour minutes before the scheduled start.
Six of the first 10 drivers were from the former Champ Car Series.
Race results:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan Racing 2h00:43.5562
2. H.Castroneves Team Penske + 3.5192
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing + 5.5134
4. Ernesto Viso HVM Racing + 8.8575
5. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing + 9.6360
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing + 10.0071
7. Oriol Servia KV Racing Technology + 11.2871
8. Will Power KV Racing Technology + 12.8493
9. Justin Wilson Newman Haas Lanigan Racing + 14.3598
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing + 16.7298
11. AJ Foyt IV Vision Racing + 20.8319
12. Dan Wheldon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 24.7800
13. Darren Manning AJ Foyt Enterprises + 45.8601
14. Jay Howard Roth Racing + 1 Lap
15. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 1 Lap
16. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne Racing + 1 Lap
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing + 2 Laps
18. Ed Carpenter Vision Racing + 3 Laps
19. Vitor Meira Panther Racing + 8 Laps
20. Franck Perera Conquest Racing + 8 Laps
21. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold Racing + 8 Laps
22. Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing + 9 Laps
23. Ryan Briscoe Team Penske + 27 Laps
24. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing + 39 Laps
25. Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing + 42 Laps
26. Marty Roth Roth Racing ---