ST. PETERSBURG, FL (93.7 The Fan) -- A good start to the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season for Chip Ganassi Racing. The Ganassi cars started side-by-side on the second row of the grid in Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Rookie driver Felix Rosenqvist starting third in the No. 10 NTT Data Honda and Five-time Series Champion Scott Dixon starting fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
It didn't take long for the series to see that Rosenqvist, 27, is the real deal as he jumped to second at the drop of the green flag beating Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, who qualified second, to the first turn. Not long after that Rosenqvist was pressuring leader Will Power for the lead.
Rosenqvist grabbed the lead on Lap 18 by out-braking Power going into turn one, locking the tires ever-so briefly, before rocketing towards turn two of the 1.8-mile temporary street course that utilizes a runway at Albert Whitted Airport.
Rosenqvist led 31-laps on the day before settling for a fourth because Newgarden extended his second race stint longer than the other frontrunners, enabling him to leap-frog both Rosenqvist and Power.
"Top five is for sure is satisfying, I think there was a bit more in it," Rosenqvist said after the race. "I think it was a good enough package to win the race. Just some small things didn't go our way, but the NTT Data Honda was really good today."
Dixon stayed out longer than his teammate and Power on that second stint and that enabled him to jump-ahead of those two, but it was not enough to get in front of Newgarden.
"All in all, a great day for the whole PNC Bank crew," said Dixon. "Pit stops were phenomenal. Great points. Obviously, we were going for a win, so we just came one stop short, but congrats to Josef (Newgarden). Drove a hell of race there and great strategy."
Dixon trails Newgarden by 13-points going into the second race of the year, The IndyCar Classic at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday, March 24 in Austin, Texas.
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