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Graham Rahal wins the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg...

Race winner Graham Rahal, only 19 years old, driving the Hole in the Wall Camps, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Dallara Honda shown in Friday practice.

Here's Graham on the pit podium being debriefed after this morning's warm up session.

***

This race will start under "wet" conditions, so all bets are off as to who just may win this thing. In truth, even under the best of conditions, and with ZERO caution flags, "local" or full-course, there is no chance at all of running more than 90 laps. The way these teams plan pit stop sequences is to work backwards from the last lap of the race, or in this case the expected last lap. Also in this case it is entirely possible to run this race on one stop at around lap 45 (that would be an impossible 81 miles, lots of caution help would be needed). Some might hedge their bets and stop on lap 40 (72 miles, close to the oval track max) or a little later if there are several caution laps run. Other teams starting out of the top-10 will do the opposite of what the leaders do, just to get off sequence for caution help, and others will stop on almost all full-course cautions to keep fresh tires on the car and full of fuel in anticipation of a long green flag run.

The race started under the caution flag, there was too much standing water on the course. Mike King on IMS Radio mentioned clearing to the west and south of town. It would take several laps to bust up the puddles and in doing so they'll put a lot of heavy mist in the air, making it tough to see as well. Eight laps into the ride-around under caution there little rain and no puddles outside the window at the Media Center, but it is real wet at the north end of the course and also in the turns 11-13 area. They went so far as to bring out the sweeper truck out to pick up the excess water. Green flag on the start of the 11th lap, a single file start.

(Lap 11) Going green in single file order at the start of lap 11. Even before getting the green flag, coming of turn 14 under acceleration Ryan Hunter-Reay spun into the pit entrance chute out of his 6th starting position, no contact and Ryan got back underway. At the end of lap 11 Ed Carpenter also spun coming off turn 14 with no contact. Danica Patrick stopped at the head of the runoff area in turn ten when she couldn't make an inside pass on Jay Howard on lap 12, and couldn't make the corner either. Danica got restarted and was running 25th and last once back underway, still on the lead lap. On lap 14 Mario Moraes and Marco Andretti had unrelated problems in turn 4. Moraes went into the tires in the runoff area and Marco spun, also in the runoff area and perhaps intentionally to get turned back around, as he missed the corner. Also on lap 14 there was a full-course caution officially attributed to Bruno Junqueira in turn 9a (the ballpark kink), not Andretti/Moraes.

(Lap 16) Castroneves, Kanaan, Mutoh, Patrick, Hunter-Reay Junqueira, Andretti, and Moraes pitted. Everyone continued to run the rain tires TCGR was setup to pit, but further back in the pack, they opted to do the opposite of what the leaders are doing. Here is a look at the top-10 after 14 laps, just before pit stops began. They will go green at the start of lap 20, with Justin Wilson in the lead followed by Will Power, who went wide in turn one and lost several positions.

Pos	Driver	Best Time	Best Speed	Best Lap	Last Lap
1	Tony Kanaan (11)	1:19.2836	81.732	11	14
2	Justin Wilson (02)	1:18.8974	82.132	13	14
3	Helio Castroneves (3)	1:19.2528	81.764	13	14
4	Will Power (8)	1:19.5492	81.459	12	14
5	Ryan Briscoe (6)	1:18.8746	82.156	12	14
6	Oriol Servia (5)	1:19.6186	81.388	12	14
7	Graham Rahal (06)	1:19.2459	81.771	13	14
8	Dan Wheldon (10)	1:21.1283	79.873	12	14
9	Darren Manning (14)	1:21.0302	79.970	13	14
10	Scott Dixon (9)	1:21.1697	79.833	13	14

Coming out of caution after several drivers pitted, the running order was Wilson, Power, Servia, Rahal, Wheldon, Kanaan, the first of those that pitted, Manning and Briscoe who hadn't pitted, Castroneves who did, then Dixon, Perera, Viso, Bernoldi, Rice, Bell, Howard and Foyt, all of whom had stayed off pit road before Hunter-Reay, another who had pitted slotted in 19th. For Kanaan and some the others who stopped to get back in mid-pack, the field, already under caution for a couple of laps, was strung out more than it should have been, AND the pace car was going very slowly. Before they went back green Kanaan was moved back 4 spots for blend line issues, as was Castroneves. The race resumed on lap 20, with still considerable moisture showing on the course. Dixon gained 3 positions coming off turn 14 on the restart when Mike Hull called out "green, green, green" on the radio from the pit podium. After being shown 24th after pitting, Danica Patrick again had traffic problems going into turn 10, , this time she was outside of the slower car of Mario Moraes late, wheel-to-wheel, he forced her outside, and when it was clear she couldn't make the corner, she stopped, it was a very smart move. Again had to have her engine restarted, but she still stayed on the lead lap, obviously last of those cars still running. Once underway, the next time down the airport runway you can see the leaders Wilson, Briscoe, Servia, Power, Rahal Wheldon and Dixon closing in on her quickly

(Lap 23) Townsend Bell into the turn 10 tires, it's raining again as well. This is my first rain tire race, and I'm impressed at how fast they can still run. Watching the leaders on the track, those that stayed off pit road, it is interested to note that Wheldon and Dixon are running in 6th and 7th with the leaders in sight. For the most part Danica Patrick is doing well holding off Justin Wilson to keep on the leader lap. Clearly she is holding Wilson up a little at times. Here is the lap 30 top-10 according to the screen crawl, Wilson, Briscoe, Rahal, Servia, Power, Dixon, Wheldon, Perera, Viso and Kanaan. While Wilson continues to try to get past Danica, Briscoe fell back a little. FULL COURSE YELLOW, LAP 32, a TV confirmed debris caution (Dixon left front tire into Will Power's attenuator). Patrick to the back of the leader lap.

(Lap 35) Pit stops, In to the pits were Wilson, Rahal, Servia, Power Viso, Bernoldi, Servia, Power, Viso, Patrick, Manning, Howard, Moraes, Meira, Bell and Dixon. Wilson was out first, but Ryan Briscoe, having remained on the course, is in the lead. Here is the T&S chart at the yellow flag.

Pos	Driver	Best Time	Best Speed	Best Lap	Last Lap
1	Justin Wilson (02)	1:15.9747	85.292	31	33
2	Ryan Briscoe (6)	1:15.8401	85.443	30	33
3	Graham Rahal (06)	1:16.6070	84.588	30	33
4	Oriol Servia (5)	1:17.1240	84.021	23	32
5	Scott Dixon (9)	1:16.9860	84.171	30	32
6	Will Power (8)	1:17.1508	83.991	22	32
7	Franck Perera (34)	1:17.2038	83.934	29	32
8	Dan Wheldon (10)	1:17.2397	83.895	23	32
9	Ernesto Viso (33)	1:16.7353	84.446	31	32
10	Tony Kanaan (11)	1:16.3516	84.871	31	32

Here is a post-stop visual running order, Briscoe, Rice, a lapped car, Wheldon, Perera, Kanaan, Castroneves, Andretti, Carpenter, Junqueira, Foyt, Mutoh, Ryan Hunter-Reay and then Wilson. Meira is the first on "slicks," along with Ernesto Viso, and Townsend Bell. Here is the first screen crawl after the restart, Wilson, Wheldon, Perera, Kanaan, Castroneves, Andretti, Carpenter, Junqueira, Foyt, Mutoh (10th) Shortly after the restart in turn 14 Will Power made a move to the inside of Graham Rahal, who was a little wide in the turn and made left front to right rear contact, turning Rahal around. Rahal was 14th at the time after pitting, and dropped to 22nd.

(Lap 41) Some of those committed to a two-stop strategy are beginning to make their first stops, this time they will be switching to slicks too. These stops will be under green, but with laps taking 63-65 seconds, no laps will be lost. Also Team Penske made the first confirmation this race will be a timed event. Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick were the first in, along with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Buddy Rice. Yes, they all went to slicks and Marco broke a half shaft and is out of the race. Briscoe is still out, still on his original rain tires. On lap 42 Bruno Junqueira came onto pit road in a top-10 position and never ran another lap, first it was thought to be a clutch issue, as it turned out it was a gearbox issue. Bruno Junqueira was out of the race and furious. Also pitting for fuel and slicks on lap 42 was Hideki Mutoh and Franck Perera. On Lap 43 those pitting included Oriol Servia, Dan Wheldon, and Townsend Bell. On lap 44 it was Tony Kanaan in for slicks and fuel, along with Justin Wilson, Foyt IV and Ed Carpenter. Briscoe finally made his first stop on lap 45, also stopping was Mario Moraes, Will Power and EVENTUAL RACE WINNER GRAHAM RAHAL, never to stop again. Castroneves stopped t the end of lap 35 as well

This was the key pit stop sequence, Ryan Hunter Ray was in on lap 41, 4th in the field to get onto slicks, but that stop, three laps before Rahal stopped, was all it took for him to run out of fuel just before the end of the race, he ran 41 laps or 73.8 miles on fuel, with 9 caution laps. At the end of the race Graham Rahal had to be within 2 laps of going empty, as were the remaining race contenders.

After the stops Enrique Bernoldi, still on "wets," inherited the lead of the race with Vitor Meira and EJ Viso on slicks running 2nd and 3rd. On the run down to turn 4 Viso got under Meira and going into the turn and around the outside of him in the very short chute going into turn 5 for 2nd. Then on the run down to turn 10 just past the ballpark kink Viso and Bernoldi split the slower car of Foyt IV, Viso outside and Bernoldi on the water side. Bernoldi held on to the lead through turn 14, but Viso drafted off him down the runway and passed him underneath in turn one for the lead in the race.

(Lap 49) It's Ernesto Viso with the lead of the race, followed by Enrique Bernoldi and Vitor Meira. Viso has checked out, and Jay Howard is running solidly in 5th. All of these drivers are firmly committed to a textbook two stop race, and will have to stop very soon for fuel, all of them stopped on lap 34. Joining them on that "program" and also in the top-5 as of lap 55 are Darren manning and Jay Howard. While a cyclical anomaly that will soon disappear as the cars head for pit road within 5 laps, it is fun to watch. Ryan Briscoe is shown in 6th behind Howard. Meanwhile Viso has opened up a 5 second lead on Bernoldi, who was still on "wets," and they must be just about trash. Updating this now after the fact and knowing what is about to happen here's the lap 54 screen crawl.
1. Viso
2. Bernoldi
3. Meira
4. Manning
5. Howard
6. Briscoe
7. Dixon
8. Kanaan
9. Perera
10. Hunter-Reay
11. Castroneves
12. Wheldon
13. Mutoh
14. Patrick
15. Wilson
16. Bell
17. Servia
18. Rahal
19 Power
These are all the cars on the lead lap. The top-5 were on two-stop programs, ALL of them stopped on lap 34, (30 laps before this screen crawl, and were within 6 laps of pitting. 6th place Briscoe, on the freshest tires of the bunch was under very pressure from behind, and we were to later learn he thought he thought he was being held up by a lapped car (Howard) when indeed he was racing for a position and lead he would soon inherit, but with Dixon and Kanaan right behind I guess he felt it was time to go.

(Lap 57) Ryan Briscoe hard into the wall at the turn 9 exit , hurting the car badly. Briscoe was putting pressure on Jay Howard in 5th when he clipped the inside wall and pushed out into the wall on the turn exit at the north end of the course. Viso had nearly the last stall on pit road, actually the Howard car was the only contender behind his pit and I could see every contender behind him that pitted, here's the list. Bernoldi, Meira, Manning and Howard of course, then Dixon. Kanaan, Perera, Castroneves, Wheldon, Mutoh. Wilson, Patrick, Servia and Power. Not stopping were Hunter-Reay, and Graham Rahal. Here are the results for the race off pit road. Viso, who's stop was under 9 seconds for 4-tires-and-pull-the-fuel-hose came out 1st, with Helio Castroneves on his tail, then Wheldon, Dixon, Bernoldi, Kanaan, Manning, Meira, Wilson, Perera, Servia, Mutoh and Howard. Wheldon and Castroneves each gained 7 spots on pit road, while the biggest loser of positions was Vitor Meira. neither Wheldon nor Castroneves took tires. Lined up behind the pace car were the lapped cars of Ed Carpenter and Mario Moraes, Foyt, still on the tail of the leader lap, then new race leader Ryan Hunter-Reay, the lapped car of Buddy Rice, Graham Rahal in 2nd, Viso now 3rd, Castroneves in 4th, Wheldon 5th and Dixon 6th. Wilson was now 7th, Bernoldi 8th, Kanaan 9th, Manning 10th. Yes, Hunter-Reay stayed out, and this could have been a race winning move, or would have been if Hunter-Reay could have kept Graham Rahal behind him (and he had enough fuel), but Rahal was past him by turn one after the green flag. The race was restarted again on lap 64 and Rahal got under Hunter-Reay in turn one and right behind him Castroneves was getting past Viso. Ed Carpenter and Justin Wilson both have trouble in turn 4, caution again.

(Lap 67), Justin Wilson to pit road, he was near the back of field anyway, so he took on tires and a splash of fuel. On the restart Helio passes Hunter-Reay and sets sights on Rahal. The race resumed on lap 67 and on lap 68 Castroneves passed Hunter-Reay for 2nd. It is now officially a timed race, with 15 minutes left that will probably be 12 laps, and I'm not sure Rahal has the fuel. It's official, the race will end at 4:49 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes on my cell phone clock.

(Lap 74) Scott Dixon to pit road with earlier contact caused suspension damage, Dixon is out of the race.

(lap 75) Franck Perera tried to make an inside pass on Vitor Meira going into turn 10 and wasn't even close to being far enough under him when he made right front tire to left rear tire contact with Meira's car, sending Vitor's car backwards into the tire barrier with Perera's car avoiding further contact. It appeared that Meira's car was only slightly damaged and he actually rolled it forward enough in looking for room to get back into the race when Townsend Bell went wider in turn ten than anyone else and hit Vitor's left front tire, wearing off his right front tire in the process. The safety crew rushed to clear up the damage as Meira and Perera had words. All Vitor needed to do was point out the damage to the left rear of his car and the right front of Perera's, case closed. All three drivers were on the way to a decent top-10 result if they could have survived the final seven minutes of the race.

The green came out with 4 minutes remaining in the race. Perhaps knowing that he had little for Rahal, Helio tried to get him on the restart, and couldn't make the trip. All Rahal had to do was hold off Castroneves to win and still not run out of Ethanol. Clearly he had both issues covered, plenty of fuel and also a car that was a heck of a lot faster. Behind Rahal and Castroneves, Tony Kanaan first got past Ernesto Viso for 4th, then Ryan Hunter-Reay for 3rd. As Bobby Rahal watched his son get his first major open wheel series win, his team's car was running out of fuel soon after Kanaan passed driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. On the final lap Ed Carpenter spun in turn 10, then Jay Howard and Dan Wheldon spun in turn 1. Graham Rahal won to a rousing ovation in the Media Center... For those bothering to count, there were 6 former CCWS drivers in the top-10, and four from the ICS, but they are all in one series now, the sooner we can get past that the better off this form of racing will be. One final note, in spite of all efforts to improve the ability of these cars to turn into the corners better with front end fins and add-on's, the winning car and several others from the former CCWS teams didn't use them. Here is the unofficial order of finish...

Pos	Driver		Best Time	Best Speed	Best Lap	Last Lap
1	Graham Rahal (06)