News Director 
Story By: MITCH ROBINSON / INDYCAR – ST PETERSBURG, FL – It appears the growing pains between reunited Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda may be short-lived. Three of the top four cars in this afternoon’s practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg came from the Ganassi stable, with four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon (No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda) leading the way with a fast lap of 1 minute, 2.5591 seconds (103.582 mph).
“Generally comfortable,” Dixon said of his Honda, “in a different rhythm from what I’ve had here previously with the car, just with some fundamental changes we made in the winter.”
But for Dixon, today’s result isn’t worth much. After all, Dixon has never won at St. Petersburg, despite three second-place finishes.
“It’s Friday. It doesn’t pay anything, doesn’t mean anything,” said Dixon, whose 40 career Indy car wins rank fourth all-time. “Hopefully what we learned today, we can continue on and help improve the car come tomorrow, and more importantly for the race on Sunday.”
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) made up for a morning crash by running second fastest (1:02.8416) this afternoon on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. He was followed by a pair of Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, Tony Kanaan (No. 10 NTT Data Honda, 1:02.8545) and Charlie Kimball (No. 83 Tresiba Honda, 1:02.8748). Sebastien Bourdais (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda) rounded out the top five with a fast lap of 1:02.9056.
“Yeah, it was a good session,” said Power, who has won the pole at St. Pete six out of the last seven years and won the race in 2010 and ‘14. “Definitely made progress on the car. Great to be here. Great to start the season off.”
The afternoon session saw most drivers bolt on alternate Firestone tires, as part of a new rule delivered by INDYCAR giving teams an extra set of the red-sidewall tires to use in practice.
A single red flag came out early in the session when Takuma Sato made contact with the Turn 13 wall. Sato was uninjured, but the damage to his No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda was too severe for him to continue.
Defending series champion Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet) finished the session ninth quickest at 1:03.1462 (102.619 mph), as the first 18 cars were covered by less than a second when the checkered flag fell.
Andretti leads field in opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete practice
Race fans can rejoice: the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season is underway at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
After a slight delay for track work in the morning, Marco Andretti (No. 27 hhgregg Andretti Autosport Honda) led the inaugural practice session of the year with a time of 1 minute, 3.7559 seconds (101.638 mph) on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course.
Carlos MunozAndretti was followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Tony Kanaan (No. 10 NTT Data Honda, 1:03.8450) and Scott Dixon (No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda, 1:03.8798), James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, 1:04.1560) and defending series champion Simon Pagenaud (No. 1 PPG Automotive Finish Team Penske Chevrolet) rounding out the top five at 1:04.2131 (100.914 mph).
After several incidents in Turn 3 of the track during support series practices Thursday, INDYCAR modified the area overnight by moving approximately 180 feet of wall on the drivers’ left side back some 40 feet and adding curbing to the right side of the right-hand turn. The result changes the turn’s apex and makes it slower corner with a traditional braking area.
Turn 3 ran issue-free in the first session. The same could not be said for Turn 10. The new season got off to a rough start for 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power, whose No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet backed into the wall of Turn 10 on just his fifth lap of the session. Power was unhurt and, in fact, drove his damaged car back to pit lane.
Saturday is qualifying day for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Practice 3 begins at 10:50 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 2:55 p.m. Coverage can be found RaceControl.IndyCar.com. The 2017 season kicks off Sunday with the 110-lap race, airing live at noon on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
