ST. PETERSBURG, Fla—In his first start as an IRL driver, 19-year-old Graham Rahal took the victory at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix, becoming the youngest driver ever to win an Indy Car race.
The race started under a full-course yellow, as rain, which had been threatening all weekend, finally came, creating some large puddles on the track.
After ten laps under caution, the rain had abated somewhat, and trackworkers had cleared the track sufficiently, that the race could go green.
Rahal started in ninth spot, but quickly worked his way up to fifth by lap 16.
Knocked into a spin by Will Power of the KV Racing Tech team early in the race, Rahal kept focused and battled back from 18th place to eventually take the lead in lap 64.
Rahal spent the final laps trying to both conserve fuel and protect his lead. Rahal, driving for the low-budget Newman-Haas-Lanigan team, managed to keep a few seconds gap between himself and two-time race winner and defending champion Helio Castroneves, driving for the huge and powerful Team Penske.
Rahal had the speed to keep his lead, but his team was uncertain if he had enough fuel to finish the race. His team had gambled by not taking another pit stop; now the race hung on that decision.
Then, on Lap 77, Franck Perera of Conquest Racing tried to squeeze under Panther Racing's Vitor Meira entering Turn Ten. It was an ill-advised maneuver, which led to Perera's right front tire hitting Meira's left rear, pushing Meira into the wall. Then, as the two cars slid to a halt, Townsend Bell, (driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing,) clipped Perera's nose while trying to edge by the stopped car.
This accident brought out a full-course yellow. With only a few laps left in the race, it seemed as though the racing was over. However, the safety crew was able to move the damaged vehicles so that the race could go green with five laps to go.
While the caution had ended Rahal's fuel worries, it also gave Castroneves a chance to close up on Rahal. The race would now be decided by the restart.
When the green flag dropped, both drivers shot off together. Rahal dove deep into Turn One, braked too hard for his cold tires, and locked up his right front. This pushed him wide, but not quite wide enough for Castroneves to squeeze by.
Castroneves never got another chance, as Rahal drove with a calm beyond his experience, opening up a gap of several car-lengths by the end of the race.
Graham Rahal's record-setting win was his first in an Indy car; he ran fourteen races in the Champ Car World series last year, without success.
Two-time St. Pete GP winner and defending champion Helios Catroneves had to be satisfied with second this year.
Pole-sitter and fastest-lap-setter Tony Kanaan finished third, the third time in three years he has finished third at this race.
Second- and third-place finishers Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan congratulated Graham Rahal after his win. Kanaan told Rahal about racing against Rahal's father, Indy Racing legend Bobby Rahal (who owns Rahal-Letterman racing; their driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay was in fourth place when he ran out of fuel on the last lap, dropping him to 17th.)
Kanaan said he felt old, relating stories of the past the Rahal, who had not even been born when Kanaan started racing. Rahal told reporters, "These are all the guys that I've watched for so long and admired for so long, and to be here racing against them, it's pretty cool. To hear them say, great job, that certainly feels nice."
Danica Patrick, arguably the most popular Indy driver, had a difficult weekend. It seemed that her team couldn't quite find the setup in practice and qualifying; she started in 19th position. Then she spun twice, both times in Turn Nine, during the rainy part of the race.
Once the track dried, however, she seemed to find her rhythm, working her way up through the field to finally finish tenth.
 Victor Meira (#4) chases Japanese rookie Hideki Mutoh (#27) through Turn Two. The large puddle just off the racing line attests to the conditions the drivers faced at the start. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 Graham Rahal (#06) prepares to pass Will Power (#8) for the second time. Again, note the puddle just inches from the racing line. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 Buddy Rice (#15) leads Hideki Mutoh (#27) and Justin Wilson (#02) through Turn One, halfway through the race. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 Mario Moraes (#19) runs over the curb in his pursuit of Ed Carpenter (#20). (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 The field lines up during the second-to-last caution: Scott Dixon (#9), Enrique Bernolde (#36), Dan Wheldon (#10) outside of him, and Tony Kanaan (#11). (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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 Graham Rahal (C) talks to an interviewer while Tony Kanaan looks at some of his fans. (Sherwood Liu/The Epoch Times)
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