HOUSTON -- At 4:50 p.m. (Central time), Carlos Huertas completed a monumental sports day for Colombia.
The 23-year-old Verizon IndyCar Series rookie won Race 1 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers under caution for his maiden victory. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and rookie Carlos Munoz placed third for the podium sweep. A few hours earlier, Colombia won its FIFA World Cup knockout match.
Huertas' previous best finish was eighth in the opening round of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit a month ago. He is the seventh different winner in nine races.
Click it: Race 1 box score
"The kid has been getting better all year and he showed a lot today," said team owner Dale Coyne, who picked up his first victory since May 2013 at Belle Isle with driver Mike Conway. "He's been very steady and fast, and he performs. We used a good strategy to get him to the front, and when he got there he knew what to do."
Huertas, who led the final seven laps (his first of the season) after teammate Justin Wilson had to pit for fuel, started 19th in the race scheduled for 90 laps but ruled a timed race (1 hours, 50 minutes) because the wet conditions would have taken too long to complete in the NBCSN window. A late caution drew out the final laps of the unpredictable race on changing track conditions.
"The races are so long, you always have a chance to win if you do the right things at the right time," said Huertas, who went a field-high 39 laps on one set of Firestone tires and 18.5 gallons of E85 to close out the 80 laps. "Today was really tough. I was really struggling. I had no pace in the first half of the race. But I reminded myself just to stay calm and do what you have to do and I did that.
"The team called it perfectly with the fuel, and it’s a great day.”
Sebastien Bourdais, who won on the temporary street circuit in 2006 and '07, placed a season-best fourth and James Hinchcliffe, who led a field-high 32 laps in the midsection of the race, earned his second top-five finish of the season. Rookie Jack Hawksworth, whose No. 98 car made contact in practice June 27 and started 21st, earned a season-best sixth place.
Championship leader Will Power, who started 18th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, slid into the Turn 9 tires on Lap 58 to bring out a caution flag. He finished 14th and, combined with teammate Helio Castroneves' ninth place, takes a 33-point lead into Race 2 on June 29.
Montoya, who is competing in his first Indy car season since 2000, posted his best finish of the season and follows third place at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7. Munoz, who started 23rd, earned his third career podium and fourth top-five finish (in 12 races).
“We were forced to do something different (fuel strategy) and it paid off," said Montoya, who also won in his first Indy car season (1999). "We did a timed race and with 35 minutes to go, I’m counting laps and I’m thinking, ‘We can make it. Why are they not stopping.’ Our Verizon Chevy was very good. I thought we had a chance to win, but at the end the tires went off.”
Qualifications for Race 2 (10 a.m. ET June 29)
Real-time Timing & Scoring, augmented by the IMS Radio Network broadcast, will be available on IndyCar.com. All cars shall participate in one of two groups for 12 minutes each.
Group 1 shall contain all cars in the odd-numbered positions on the combined practice times sheet (Simon Pagenaud the quickest). Group 2 shall contain all cars in the even-numbered positions on the combined times sheet (Will Power the quickest). COMBINED PRACTICE TIMES
The Verizon P1 Award will be awarded to the best overall lap time in the qualifying sessions. The remainder of the cars in that group will be ranked in the odd-numbered positions. Even-numbered starting positions will be determined from the other group, starting with position two.
Verizon P1 Award winners and race finish this season on road/street courses:
St. Petersburg – Takuma Sato, No. 14 ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing; finished seventh
Long Beach – Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 DHL/Andretti Autosport; finished 21st
Barber Motorsports Park – Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske; finished fifth
Grand Prix of Indianapolis – Sebastian Saavedra, No. 17 KV AFS Racing; finished 23rd
Dual 1 in Detroit – Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Team Penske; finished fifth
Dual 2 in Detroit – Takuma Sato, No. 14 ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing; 18th
Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Race 1 -- Simon Pagenaud, No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports; 16th
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