First Impressions: St. Petersburg 2018

1. For the second consecutive year Sébastien Bourdais and Dale Coyne Racing leave the first race of the IndyCar season as the surprise championship leaders but unlike last year it did not come from a dominating run when it was thought Honda teams would be languishing behind the Chevrolets and most notably Team Penske. Dale Coyne called another gem of a race. An early flat tire did not derail the team. Coyne's ability to adapt in face of adversity has won him a handful of races and it worked out today, with help from an incident in turn one. Bourdais made fuel mileage and caught a few breaks with cautions but he was put into a position where victory was possible, something that seemed unlikely from 14th on the grid.

After his first 33 victories came from starting positions inside the top ten, this is Bourdais' fourth consecutive victory to come from outside the top ten. He has evolved in a sense in his second stint in IndyCar. The series has changed and it took a few years for him to change as well. Since he has returned Bourdais has never been with the top team like he was with Newman-Haas Racing in the final years of Champ Car. He has had to pull results out of thin air. Once again, this is the man who finished ninth at Barber in a Lotus. That is how you know Bourdais didn't lose his gift after a period split between Formula One and sports cars. Last year, we wondered how long the Dale Coyne Racing fairy tale could last. We knew it had an end date because the superior Chevrolet package was going to regain control at some point during the 2017 season. One year later and with the universal aero kit this fairy tale may end on a stage in September in Sonoma County.

2. Bourdais won the race but Robert Wickens was the driver of the day. Unfortunately for him, it ended in a side-by-side collision with Alexander Rossi on the final restart with two laps to go while battling for the lead. Even worse, the driver who dominated the conversation never uttered a word over the air waves and no one knows what he looks like.

My uncle came over after the race and he was an IndyCar fan before the split and has never gotten back into. He said he watched this race and was impressed by Wickens and had no idea where he came from. Maybe this race ignites an interest in him to watch more in 2018 and he could not have been the only one in awe of the Canadian but there are plenty of people who may have found their favorite driver and have no clue what he looks like. Yes, ABC had an NBA game to get to and if Rick DeBruhl was going to do the victory lane interview then it should have had Jon Beekhuis sprint to the end of pit lane to get to Wickens after he crossed the track. Not only would they get him in what has to be one of the worst moments of heartbreak in his career but people would have actually gotten to see him and hear him for the first time.

I thought Wickens would struggle a bit considering he has not been in an open-wheel car in almost seven years but that was not the case. This could have been a flash in the pan and the rest of his season might not come close to the heights of today but it appears that will not be the case. The ovals will be new but we have seen drivers succeed from the start on ovals. It might come down to how mental prepared he will be at Phoenix and Indianapolis. He has yet to have a hard hit on an oval and that could knock him down a few pegs but we will have to wait and see. All I could think of after Wickens' dream day ended in a nightmare was the line from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, "You lost today kid, but it doesn't mean you have to like it."

3. As for the incident between Wickens and Rossi, it is a 50-50 call. Rossi was alongside Wickens. I don't think either driver was in the wrong. It was unfortunate it happened. They were the two best drivers all day and neither finished in the top two positions. Rossi was on the move from the start and had he not been penalized in qualifying and prevented from running in the top six he might have won pole position and dominated this one. A third place finish is a respectable start considering how he has faired in his first two seasons.

4. Lost in the Bourdais victory, the Wickens disappointment and the Rossi no-call is that Graham Rahal finished second from 24th on the grid. He did have his own bit of contact with Spencer Pigot and that was a little more on his side but he was making up positions from the get go. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was not the class of the field that everyone expected it to be. Most days it seemed to be struggling and Takuma Sato at least started fifth on the grid. This could have been an off-weekend for the team and things will turn around at Phoenix but what appeared was going to be a disappointing start to the season for Rahal has him second in the championship to his first IndyCar teammate.

5. James Hinchcliffe finished a quiet fourth. I was harsh on Hinchcliffe and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in its team preview and the fact is we have seen Hinchcliffe have a good start and then have three poor races. He needs to build on this result and that is something we have not seen him do consistently in his career.

6. Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five after he had to enter the pit lane while coming to the green flag. Hunter-Reay had a difficult three seasons during the aero kit epoch and when he was on pit lane when the rest of the field was buzzing toward turn four all I could feel was Hunter-Reay has an inescapable amount of bad luck and no matter what he does he will still get the short straw. Fortunately, he turned it around and made a few passes and was in the middle of the pack. From there he clawed into the top ten. Hunter-Reay had long periods of droughts during the aero kit epoch. He won a championship in the first year of the DW12. Could the universal aero kit at least bring him back into the championship conversation?

7. Let's go over Scott Dixon's day: He ran into the back of Takuma Sato, was handed an avoidable contact penalty for that and then got a pit lane speeding penalty on his final stop and he still finished sixth! Bravo! This was an odd day; an odd weekend actually. I never once thought Dixon was going to win. Maybe that is just St. Petersburg. He could win the next ten races and I wouldn't be surprised.

8. Josef Newgarden was the top Chevrolet in his title defense with a seventh-place finish, one better than last year. Like Dixon I never thought Newgarden was going to win this weekend. He salvaged a result after today and sometimes that is what you need to do. Championships aren't just about winning races or finishing on the podium but taking a day where you are 12th-best and finishing seventh.

9. For the second consecutive year Ed Jones quietly finished in the top ten and this year he was eighth. You didn't hear from him much. He kept his nose clean, which he did for most of 2017. Gnosis will be happy.

10. Marco Andretti finished ninth and was in the top ten for most of the race. He made a few moves and got up to third at one point and then made a pit stop that seemed smart as he had open racetrack and fresh tires and had a chance to claw into the gap from Wickens and Rossi and potentially jump them during a pit cycle. Unfortunately, Andretti never made up that gap and lost ground from that strategy. Either way, it was a solid day for him.

11. Rounding out the top ten was Will Power, who somehow was not run over after he spun in turn two on lap one. He never recovered from that and it is baffling how someone like Dixon could have multiple things go from, all of his own making and one of which occurred late in a race and still recover to finish sixth but Power had one thing go wrong and he never could make it up. Even Bourdais had a bit of adversity in a flat tire only a few laps after Power's spin and he ended up winning the race. I think that is something that should be broken down. Why do some overcome hiccups and some can't?

12. Quickly through the rest of the field: A.J. Foyt Racing had the air let out of its balloon today. Tony Kanaan finished 11th but I can't recall one moment he stood out today, other than when Zach Veach spun him. I guess that was a good recovery for Kanaan. Matheus Leist had what had to be an electrical issue knock him out of the top five and then the young Brazilian slammed the wall exiting turn three. New drivers, same results for Foyt. Takuma Sato finished 12th after being punted by Dixon. Simon Pagenaud had an odd day and finished 13th. He was never a factor. The good news for the Frenchman is he finished on the lead lap and he has 21 consecutive lead lap finishes dating back to Texas 2016. Gabby Chaves finished 14th and was in the back half of the top ten for a fair portion of this race and was mentioned once on the broadcast. Good day for Harding Racing.

13. The lapped cars: Spencer Pigot was spun and then was in sixth and appeared to be one of these drivers that would overcome early adversity but in the middle of the race he disappeared and he ended up making six pit stops. I have no idea what happened. Zach Veach spun Kanaan but outside of that he didn't embarrass himself. Zachary Claman De Melo looked good when he was at the front but the same strategy that won his teammate the race had De Melo finish 17th. Wickens was classified in 18th.

14. Now the bottom of the field: It was not a great day for Carlin. Make that weekend for Carlin. They are behind and it is early but Max Chilton stalled out at one point and so did Charlie Kimball. It is a look way to the mountaintop. Jordan King was in the top five when he walloped the wall and had to make a pit stop. René Binder was off the pace all weekend but he wasn't a hazard. He did bring out the caution that bunched up the field for a restart with four laps to go but he didn't embarrass himself. Jack Harvey had a hard accident in an odd part of the track exiting turn 12. I am sure Michael Shank was hoping to avoid crash damage this early into the season.

15. A couple things from this weekend and the first thing has to do with qualifying. We saw a handful of penalties handed down for interference and many seemed to be perplexed at the penalties handed down. I don't have the numbers and I could be wrong but it feels like IndyCar hands down a few penalties during qualifying in the first few races but then by May penalties are few and far in-between. There are two things to take into considering when it comes to interference during qualifying, a car on a flyer could still be causing interference and there is a difference between that and deliberately trying to slow down a competitor.

It is no secret a car ahead is disrupting air and slowing down a trailing car. If two cars are on flyers and the trailing car feels the wake of the car ahead then it is going to be slowed down but the leading car is doing nothing wrong. It has all the right to be there and should not be penalized. I feel like the rule for interference has evolved from something that should be more for preventing someone from deliberately staying on the racing line when significantly off the pace. That should be penalized but if a car is on a qualifying run and not appearing to be nefarious then no penalty. Either way, these drivers get ten minutes to set a lap time. There is plenty of time to find clean track.

16. Indy Lights grids have returned to pre-IL-15-era levels and that is a good thing. Many point to IndyCar needing to come up with a way to incentivize teams to fielding entries in the second-tier series but instead of looking for incentives, why not just make the series more appealing? Indy Lights had no television coverage this weekend and the current television deal with NBCSN isn't that great. If the series got more exposure and looked better to sponsors then more teams would get involved. This is something to take into consideration when it comes to the pending IndyCar television contract. It has to help not only IndyCar but Indy Lights as well and that is a tougher sell for the series. This is something that should get a more in-depth look and I think I will break it down at a later time but it something to keep in mind.

17. One race down and now three weeks off. It isn't ideal but there is plenty to fill this gap. We got the 12 Hours of Sebring and the MotoGP season opener next week. The week after that is the Formula One season opener and then it is Easter week. We get a break and we IndyCar returns there will be three consecutive weeks of racing from Phoenix to Long Beach to Barber. Don't be disappointed because come April 23rd you will be asking for a break.