# 2014 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2014 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first race of the 2014 IndyCar Series season, the race took place on March 30 in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the city's temporary street course. The race was won by Will Power for Team Penske. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second ahead of Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, and Simon Pagenaud. The top finishing rookie in the race was Mikhail Aleshin, in 12th position.

## Report
### Background

Scott Dixon entered this race as the defending series champion, having won his third Indycar title in the 2013 IndyCar Series season from Hélio Castroneves.
This was the first race for 3 Indycar rookies. Jack Hawksworth raced in the number 98 for Bryan Herta Autosport after moving up from the Indy Lights series. Mikhail Aleshin and Carlos Huertas, who both raced in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013, made their debuts as well, with Aleshin racing for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports and Huertas Dale Coyne Racing. Carlos Muñoz was the 4th rookie in the field with 3 Indycar races in the 2013 IndyCar Series season, most notably the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
Returning to American open wheel racing, since his last race in 2000, is Juan Pablo Montoya, the 1999 CART Champion and the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner. In 2014 he will drive for Team Penske in the number 2 car.
This was also the first race for Chip Ganassi Racing using Chevrolet engines after the switch from Honda, with Tony Kanaan replacing Dario Franchitti, after his career ending crash in the second Houston race last year. Other drivers racing for a new teams are; Ryan Briscoe with Chip Ganassi Racing, Mike Conway with Ed Carpenter Racing, Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastián Saavedra with KV Racing Technology.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos | Name | Grp. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Firestone Fast 6 |
| 1 | Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:12.0073 | 1:03.0131 | 1:01.8686 |
| 2 | Tony Kanaan | 1 | 1:13.4961 | 1:03.2674 | 1:02.1637 |
| 3 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 1 | 1:13.7241 | 1:03.1647 | 1:02.2167 |
| 4 | Will Power | 2 | 1:12.2248 | 1:03.2183 | 1:02.3955 |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | 2 | 1:12.0083 | 1:03.3753 | 1:02.3955 |
| 6 | Marco Andretti | 1 | 1:14.7209 | 1:03.2406 | 1:02.9595 |
| 7 | Carlos Muñoz (R) | 2 | 1:12.0603 | 1:03.3955 | |
| 8 | Jack Hawksworth (R) | 2 | 1:12.1556 | 1:03.5738 | |
| 9 | Ryan Briscoe | 1 | 1:15.6860 | 1:03.6206 | |
| 10 | Hélio Castroneves | 1 | 1:14.8811 | 1:03.6635 | |
| 11 | Sebastián Saavedra | 2 | 1:12.3060 | 1:03.8374 | |
| 12 | Mike Conway | 1 | 1:13.9450 | 1:03.9618 | |
| 13 | Sébastien Bourdais | 1 | 1:15.8337 | | |
| 14 | Simon Pagenaud | 2 | 1:12.3741 | | |
| 15 | Mikhail Aleshin (R) | 1 | 1:15.9111 | | |
| 16 | Justin Wilson | 2 | 1:12.5890 | | |
| 17 | Carlos Huertas (R) | 1 | 1:16.8105 | | |
| 18 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 2 | 1:12.6994 | | |
| 19 | James Hinchcliffe | 1 | 2:34.4862 | | |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | 2 | 1:13.0048 | | |
| 21 | Graham Rahal | 1 | no time | | |
| 22 | Josef Newgarden | 2 | 1:13.1170 | | |

### Race results

| Pos | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| 1 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | 2:06:57.6288 | 3 | 4 | 74 | 53 |
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | + 1.9475 | 3 | 3 | | 40 |
| 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | + 7.8716 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 36 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | + 15.9685 | 3 | 5 | | 32 |
| 5 | Simon Pagenaud | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | Honda | 110 | + 17.3937 | 3 | 14 | | 30 |
| 6 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | + 20.3882 | 3 | 2 | | 28 |
| 7 | Takuma Sato | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 110 | + 20.8561 | 3 | 1 | 33 | 28 |
| 8 | Justin Wilson | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 110 | + 21.0622 | 3 | 16 | | 24 |
| 9 | Josef Newgarden | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing | Honda | 110 | + 21.5544 | 3 | 22 | | 22 |
| 10 | Ryan Briscoe | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | + 23.9897 | 3 | 9 | | 20 |
| 11 | Sebastián Saavedra | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 110 | + 34.4041 | 3 | 17 | | 19 |
| 12 | Mikhail Aleshin (R) | Sam Schmidt Motorsports | Honda | 110 | + 34.9969 | 5 | 15 | | 18 |
| 13 | Sébastien Bourdais | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 110 | + 35.3526 | 4 | 13 | | 17 |
| 14 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 110 | + 38.9881 | 4 | 21 | | 16 |
| 15 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | + 40.3350 | 4 | 18 | | 15 |
| 16 | Mike Conway | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | + 40.9140 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 15 |
| 17 | Carlos Muñoz (R) | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | + 44.6244 | 4 | 7 | | 13 |
| 18 | Carlos Huertas (R) | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 110 | + 47.5637 | 4 | 17 | | 12 |
| 19 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 109 | + 1 Lap | 3 | 19 | | 11 |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 108 | + 2 Laps | 4 | 20 | | 10 |
| 21 | Jack Hawksworth (R) | Bryan Herta Autosport | Honda | 83 | Contact | 3 | 8 | | 9 |
| 22 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 82 | Contact | 3 | 6 | | 8 |

#### Notes

Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Will Power | 53 |
| 2 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 40 |
| 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 36 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | 32 |
| 5 | Simon Pagenaud | 30 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 122 |
| 2 | Honda | 72 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included.