Two drivers whose races were ruined on the first lap at Barber last week battled it out on the streets of St. Petersburg for victory.
Two-time champion Josef Newgarden, who started the riot at Barber Motorsport Park a week ago, was rightly denied victory by the first driver to hit his spinning car that day – Colton Herta.
The Andretti driver comfortably reached pole position yesterday and took control of the procedure from the start of the race. He ran on the “alternative” tires and, together with his colleague Jack Harvey, moved away from the front row on the same rubber from the Penske duo of Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud, using the harder tires.
Sebastien Bourdais, who nearly missed the start due to delayed repairs on his Foyt bike, collided with Pagenaud at turn one. The couple went on, but Bourdais had a damaged nose.
Since most drivers wanted to finish the 100-lap race with just two pit stops, fuel management was the order of the day in the first few laps. On lap 17, Herta came on the radio to warn his team that the track surface was beginning to break at turn nine.
Herta held Harvey back at the start. The first drama of the day, however, took place on the final hairpin where multiple NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson slipped and stalled. After several unsuccessful attempts to drive back, the security team was dispatched to rescue him and the race proceeded with caution.
Herta retained his lead when the race resumed, but towards the end of the first stint, Harvey’s soft tires began to fade, bringing the Penske duo within reach. Newgarden picked him up quickly, but Pagenaud was more careful and stopped while a line formed behind them, led by Bourdais.
Graham Rahal had passed Alexander Rossi on the first lap, and this couple also boarded the train, which was followed by Scott Dixon. On lap 35, Newgarden had seven seconds ahead of them in just three laps and Harvey eventually pitted.
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Herta and Newgarden also came in without losing positions. However, Newgarden’s pursuit of the guide was inadvertently compromised by a collision between Rahal and Rossi.
Johnson slid against the wall and couldn’t reverse. The couple had swapped places again, which prompted Rahal to place another bid in turn four to overtake the Andretti driver. But they made contact, Rossi suffered a puncture front right and couldn’t turn into the next corner to come to a standstill with Rahal. The RLL driver quickly put into reverse and sped away, but it took Rossi longer to get back on track and briefly held Newgarden up by juggling a punctured tire and an overheat brake.
Newgarden continued to lose ground when he and Herta came under the green flag for their final pit stops. Herta was now 10 seconds up the street, far enough that Newgarden, when the couple arrived on the same lap, was delayed by the departing Herta.
A second spin for Johnson at the end of the third corner, however, triggered a warning phase that allowed Newgarden to put new pressure on Herta. After Newgarden had taken the alternative tires for the last stint, he chased the primarily fogged Herta in vain when he restarted.
Herta has now won as many IndyCar races as father Bryan. The process was repeated after Jones raised another warning on lap 82. After bumping into O’Ward at Turn One, the Coyne driver became the second driver to attack James Hinchcliffe, who had already been hit by Takuma Sato earlier in the race. While Jones was rattling in Hinchcliffe, O’Ward came on stage and spun the Coyne machine at full speed.
At the last restart, Herta Newgarden was again at sword length. In the final laps, Newgarden’s soft tires began to fade and Herta reduced his lead to over two seconds, sealing his fourth win in the series.
Pagenaud completed the podium behind Newgarden, followed by Harvey. Dixon worked his way up to fifth place ahead of Sato. Will Power, who finished a low 20th place, moved up and finished eighth behind Marcus Ericsson. Rinus VeeKay and Bourdais completed the top 10.
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