IndyCar: Montoya continues Penske dominance

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.— There seemed little doubt that a Team Penske driver would win the IndyCar season-opening race even after Will Power was sidelined Sunday with a concussion.

Juan Pablo Montoya won on the streets of St. Petersburg for the second consecutive year to continue the Team Penske dominance at this event.

The win by Montoya was the eighth in 12 tries for Penske drivers. Simon Pagenaud finished second to make it a 1-2 Penske finish, but Ryan HunterReay spoiled the sweep by passing Helio Castroneves with three laps remaining.

“It’s nice to start the year with a win. You know what I mean?” Montoya said. “When you’re in Team Penske, there’s always that pressure that you’ve got to win races. You have to win. You’re in the best car, you’ve got to win races. So to start the year with a win, it’s like, ‘Oh, I got that one out of the way.’”

Castroneves finished fourth as Chevrolet and Penske drivers took three of the top four spots. HunterReay in third was the highest-finishing Honda. Mikhail Aleshin and Takuma Sato were fifth and sixth for Honda.

James Hinchcliffe, racing for the first time since a near-fatal crash before last May’s Indianapolis 500, finished 19th.

But it was a Penske show the entire weekend, and the four drivers dominated nearly every session to set up the eventual victory. Team Penske, which is celebrating its 50th year of racing, has a record 179 wins in open wheel racing.

The day got off to a rocky start for the Penske organization, though, because pole-sitter Power was diagnosed with a concussion that made him a Sunday morning scratch. He wrecked during a Friday practice session but was medically cleared to drive. Power broke his own track record three times in Saturday qualifying to lead a 1-2-3-4 Penske sweep in qualifying, but he was ill every time he exited the car.