ST. PETERSBURG, Florida — Juan Pablo Montoya gave Team Penske a victory Sunday in the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, where the driver showed how far he has come a year after returning to the IndyCar Series. Montoya grabbed the lead away from teammate Will Power during a cycle of pit stops and held off one strong challenge from Power to win for the second time since he left NASCAR after the 2013 season. Montoya, who won last year on the oval at Pocono in his first season driving for Roger Penske, won an IndyCar race on a road or street course for the first time since Vancouver in 1999. “When I needed to push, I could push,” Montoya said. Power, the reigning IndyCar champion, settled for second after leading 75 laps. He lost the lead to the Colombian driver when Montoya made a routine pit stop one lap before Power's scheduled stop. The Australian chased his teammate for several laps before seizing what he believed was his only shot to reclaim the lead. Power dipped inside of Montoya as they entered the 10th turn with 11 laps remaining, but Montoya quickly closed the opening. The two Chevrolets made contact, which broke off a piece of Power's wing. Montoya didn't think he did anything wrong. “I saw him make the move, but he was way too far and I wasn't going to give him the position,” Montoya said. Penske had no problem at all with the hard racing between teammates. The Penske organization still celebrated a 1-2 finish, and one of the most dominating weekends in recent series history. The four-car contingent was the heavy race favorite since arriving in St. Petersburg. All four Penske drivers were fast in every session, and they swept the top four starting spots for Sunday's race. Tony Kanaan broke up the Penske party with a third-place finish Chip Ganassi Racing, but he was followed by Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud as Penske put all four drivers in the top five. “We broke up the Penske 1-2-3-4, so we're happy about that,” Kanaan said. Sebastien Bourdais was sixth for KVSH Racing as Chevrolet took the top six spots in the debut race for manufacturer-designed aerodynamic bodykits. Ryan Hunter-Reay was seventh in an Andretti Autosport Honda, and Jack Hawksworth was eighth in a Honda and his debut race for A.J. Foyt Racing. The new aero kits contributed to many yellow flags because contact between the cars caused broken parts to fly onto the racing surface in several instances. Much of the damage was from front and rear wings being clipped. — AP
