Juan Pablo Montoya stormed to a dominant victory in the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, becoming the first driver since teammate Helio Castroneves in 2007 to secure back-to-back victories around the Florida street course.
The Colombian racer was followed home in second place by Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud, who started the race from pole position after Will Power missed the race through illness.
Pagenaud led the race confidently during the first half ahead of Montoya, but lost out to his teammate on a restart after a full course caution, leaving him to settle for second come the end of the race.
Ryan Hunter-Reay grabbed third with two laps to go after a gutsy overtaking manoeuvre on Castroneves into Turn 4. Castroneves was forced to settle for fourth ahead of the returning Mikhail Aleshin and Takuma Sato, having struggled with his first set of tyres.
The Brazilian racer dropped through the order prior to the first round of pit-stops, being overtaken by the likes of Scott Dixon and Hunter-Reay.
Reigning champion Dixon could only finish seventh for Chip Ganassi Racing, after suffering from overheating issues during the latter stages of the race and being forced into an extra pit stop.
Carlos Munoz, Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top 10, with Munoz having caused a huge multi-car wreck at Turn 4 on Lap 57 involving 10 cars.
Kimball suffered a brake issue after the chequered flag, making contact with the barrier at Turn 1, but was still classified 10th.
The first full course caution appeared on Lap 46 following contact between Marco Andretti and Luca Filippi, with both drivers managing to continue.
Rookie Conor Daly found himself leading after electing not to pit under caution, heading the field on the restart ahead of Kanaan and Pagenaud.
On the restart Daly maintained his lead, whilst Montoya stormed into the lead at Turn 1 ahead of Pagenaud.
No sooner had the race been resumed before the second caution was caused after the incident sparked by Munoz. The Andretti driver punted Graham Rahal into a spin, which in turn caused Oriol Servia to collect the stricken #15 car. Behind the duo, carnage ensued as Kimball, Sebastien Bourdais, Jack Hawksworth, Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe all ploughed into the melee.
Remarkably, no-one was forced into retirement, although the majority of the drivers involved required a trip to the pits for repairs.
Although Daly managed to lead several laps following the first caution, he was soon overtaken by Montoya on the restart on Lap 64.
The American rookie initially held second ahead of Pagenaud for several laps, before an overheating issue forced him to make an unscheduled stop on his way to 13th overall.
Fellow rookies Alexander Rossi, Spencer Pigot and Max Chilton ended the race 12th, 14th and 17th respectively.
Josef Newgarden's race came to an early end after an electrical issue, while Bourdais was the only other driver to retire.
The next IndyCar race takes place at Phoenix International Raceway on April 2.
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG RACE RESULTS (INDYCAR)
| Pos | # | Driver | Team (Engine) | Time | |
| 1 | 3 | Juan-Pablo Montoya | Penske (C) | ||
| 2 | 1 | Simon Pagenaud | Penske (C) | 2.3306 | |
| 3 | 5 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti (H) | 8.8764 | |
| 4 | 2 | Helio Castroneves | Penske (C) | 9.3237 | |
| 5 | 17 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt (H) | 9.7167 | |
| 6 | 10 | Takuma Sato | Foyt (H) | 26.0373 | |
| 7 | 4 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi (C) | 40.7056 | |
| 8 | 12 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti (H) | 55.9459 | |
| 9 | 19 | Tony Kanaan | Ganassi (C) | 59.1204 | |
| 10 | 13 | Charlie Kimball | Ganassi (C) | 1 Lap | |
| 11 | 9 | Jack Hawksworth | Foyt (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 12 | 18 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti/Herta (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 13 | 20 | Conor Daly | Coyne (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 14 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | Rahal (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 15 | 14 | Marco Andretti | Andretti (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 16 | 6 | Graham Rahal | Rahal (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 17 | 16 | Max Chilton | Ganassi (C) | 1 Lap | |
| 18 | 22 | Oriol Servia | Penske (C) | 1 Lap | |
| 19 | 8 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt (H) | 1 Lap | |
| 20 | 15 | Luca Filippi | Coyne (H) | 2 Laps | |
| 21 | 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH (C) | 23 Laps | |
| 22 | 11 | Josef Newgarden | Carpenter (C) | 63 Laps |
Winner's average speed: 89.006 mph
Time of Race: 2:13:28.4650
Margin of victory: 2.3306 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 16 laps
Lead changes: 4 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders
Pagenaud 1 – 48
Daly 49 – 63
Montoya 64 – 81
Hunter-Reay 82-84
Montoya 85 – 110
Verizon IndyCar Series Point Standings: Montoya 51, Pagenaud 43, Hunter-Reay 36, Castroneves 32, Aleshin 30, Sato 28, Dixon 26, Munoz 24, Kanaan 22, Kimball 20.
