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TUESDAY, APRIL 1, 2014 SPORTS Power opens IndyCar season with victory ST. PETERSBURG: For the fourth time in six races dating to last season, Will Power jumped from the top of his car to celebrate a win in Victory Lane. It was a strong opening salvo Sunday in St. Petersburg for Power, who struggled through most of last season until finally breaking out of his INDIANAPOLIS: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch drives down the front straightaway slump during the homestretch. He won three of in this file photo. —AP the final five races, including the last two of the season. Now he has opened 2014 with a win. Busch’s victory raises hope “Obviously, the perfect way to start,” the Australian driver said. Power passed pole-sitter after 83-race winless streak Takuma Sato for the lead with an outside move headed into the second turn on Lap 31, and was MARTINSVILLE: Kurt Busch couldn’t be more “I think the lack of security in our own car kept us never really challenged again. delighted with his move to Stewart-Haas Racing. Six from feeling more racy and putting a bumper to He had to beat Team Penske teammate Helio races into the marriage, he ended an 83-race winless someone or really getting inside someone aggres- Castroneves off pit lane during stops under cau- streak Sunday at Martinsville Speedway and said sively,” Johnson said of the rather gentlemanly finish. tion, and the only hiccup was on the first restart he’s learning that a better approach to being an Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Joey of the race. He was the leader and was slow to actual participant in a team pays big dividends. Logano and Marcos Ambrose. restart the field with 28 laps remaining. It caused “I ran a lot of my early part of my career as an traffic to stack up behind him and led to a crash individual and I didn’t respect my team, my team Here are five other things to know involving rookie Jack Hawksworth and Marco owners,” Busch said, adding that working with co- after NASCAR’s sixth race of the season: Andretti. owner Tony Stewart is helping him learn a better STILL NO REPEATS: Through six races, there Andretti got out of his car with a limp and was way. Busch won by passing Martinsville master have been six different pole-sitters and six different favoring his wrist following the accident. “It’s hard Jimmie Johnson for the lead with 10 laps to go and race-winners, a trend that is causing some winners to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just ST. PETERSBURG: Race winner Will Power (center) of Australia, poses with second- holding off the eight-time winner to win at the track to rethink their stance that with a win, they’re stopped. Once you go, you gotta go,” he said. “It place finisher Ryan Hunter-Reay (left) and third-place finisher Helio Castroneves for the first time since October 2002. It was his 25th essentially in the 16-driver playoffs for the final 10 looked like an accordion effect. I had a good (right) of Brazil, in Victory Circle after the IndyCar Grand Prix. —AP career Cup-level victory, and Busch seemed races of the season. Winning certainly gives each of restart going, but we were junk all day, so what enthralled that it came in the most unlikely of ven- them a leg up because of how much weight it car- are you going to do?” Power said he never braked recovered. things we have to do better. It’s going to be a lot ues. ries in determining the Chase field, but as long as and was confused because the field went green So it was important to the Andretti Autosport of work, but I am very excited.” “You’ve got to put life in perspective, and you new drivers keep doing burnouts after each race, earlier than it should. driver to start this year strong, which he did with a NEW FACE IN THE 10: The season-opener have to learn from your mistakes and you can’t just there’s no telling how many winners there will be. “They actually threw the green before I was second-place finish at St. Pete. marked a changing of the guard at Target/Chip sit there and try to muscle your way individually There are 26 races before the Chase. even in the (restart) zone, so it was confusing to NO REPEAT WINNER: James Hinchcliffe was the Ganassi Racing, where defending Indianapolis through certain situations,” he said about 450 laps THE DOUBTING MACHINE: Gene Haas was not me,” Power said. Castroneves didn’t buy Power’s breakout winner a year ago, but failed to find 500 winner Tony Kanaan is now driving the red after a pit road confrontation with Brad Keselowski, present for the first victory by the team he funds, version and said he was fooled by his teammate. much success in his return to the site of his first No. 10. He got the seat when good friend Dario whose on-track retaliation had Busch threatening to and admitted by telephone after Busch’s victory “Will and I know each other for a long time. He IndyCar victory. Franchitti was forced to retire because of injuries rearrange his face. “And so you rely on your experi- that he was resigned to Jimmie Johnson prevailing. knows my tricks,” Castroneves said. “I didn’t quite He ran in the back most of Sunday because of suffered in an October crash. ence level, you rely on your team, and this is a great “I was thinking that we would probably pull out know that trick from him, and he got me.” IndyCar an electrical issue and finished 19th. Qualifying It’s a tall order to replace Franchitti, the four- day for me to be able to lift the trophy in Victory in front of Jimmie Johnson and be there for a few said the restart in question was acceptable, but was also tough for the Canadian, who spun and time series champion and three-time Indy 500 Lane for Stewart-Haas Racing.” laps, but (Johnson) was better on the long run,” race control did review Power’s second restart hit the wall and failed to advance out of the first winner. Kanaan’s first time out of the gate ended Johnson, with eight wins in 25 career starts on Haas said. “I was kind of like going, ‘Well hey, at least and issued him a warning for going too early. He round. He started 19th in the 22-car field. with a sixth-place finish. He started second. the 0.526-mile oval, led 11 times for 296 laps. He we made a good show.’” Busch also told his new was not penalized, but IndyCar said he will be if JPM’S DEBUT: Juan Pablo Montoya finished CLOSE FINISH: Mike Conway finished 16th in seemed on his way to another victory when he took boss via text earlier in the week that Martinsville he does it again. 15th in his return to IndyCar for the first time his debut with Ed Carpenter Racing, but could the lead from Busch with 17 laps remaining. But was his worst track, and then was hardly able to since he left for Formula One following his have been on the podium if not for a communica- Busch stayed close, ducked underneath Johnson practice because all of Saturday’s activity was Five other developments from Indianapolis 500 win in 2000. He spent almost five tion issue. seven laps later and Johnson had no means to chal- rained out. “He doesn’t practice on Saturday and he Sunday’s season-opening race: seasons in F1 and seven in NASCAR before return- Conway did not hear a call to pit from his lenge again. wins,” Haas said. “We have a new formula here.” STRONG START: Ryan Hunter-Reay won two ing to open-wheel with Roger Penske. crew and stayed on the track during the first “That’s all I had,” Johnson said. “Man, I ran the POINTS RACE: Don’t look now, because it’s still races last season, but considered it a failure Although expectations are for Montoya to win caution, when everyone else pitted. So Conway rear tires off the car. I flipped every switch and knob really early, but Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sports’ most because he didn’t defend his 2012 series cham- immediately, he believes he needs several races pitted on the last lap of the caution period, but I could in there to get front brake and turn fans off popular driver, leads the points race and leads with pionship. His season began to unravel over a to get fully up to speed. “I think it went pretty passed the pace car to enter the pit area. He was and try to help bring my balance back.” four top-5 finishes in six races. Could this be the three-race stretch in July, when he tumbled from good,” he said. “We will learn and pass some peo- issued a penalty that cost him any shot at a Busch held on, his first top-10 finish at year that Dale Jr. finally has the year his fans have second to third in the standings and never ple and some people passed us. There are a few strong finish. —AP Martinsville in his last 17 starts there. The race fea- been waiting for? tured an event-record 33 lead changes, and Johnson FALLIBLE JIMMIE? Johnson led 11 times for 296 expected there would be one more when he retook laps on Sunday.