IndyCar: Marcus Ericsson wins the first race of the season

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jack Harvey was taken to the hospital for observation and Helio Castroneves needed an ice pack and x-rays. A few cars exploded, the leaders collided and the entire Andretti Autosport fleet was knocked out.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson won the season-opening IndyCar race.

Ericsson survived the chaos on the streets of downtown St. Petersburg to give Chip Ganassi Racing an upset victory on a tough Sunday in Florida. It was the fourth victory in an IndyCar race for the former Swedish Formula 1 driver.

But an Andretti car was expected to take the win, at least based on the speed displayed by the team all weekend. Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta started from the front row of the grid, but things went wrong from the start.

A seven-car crash on the first lap knocked out five cars, including driver Andretti Devlin DeFrancesco, who took off when rookie Ben Pedersen collided directly with his stopped car. Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, limped out of the crash as Meyer Shank Racing teammate Simon Pagenaud held his hand.

Castroneves emerged from IndyCar’s new mobile medical facility with an ice pack on his right hand and a clean x-ray on his right knee. Pagenaud said he had a bruised finger, but was fine.

Harvey was not so lucky and was taken to hospital. IndyCar reported it was for an “extreme caution” assessment after Kyle Kirkwood became the second Andretti driver to fly, passing directly over Harvey’s head. Rinus VeeKay had skidded into a tire barrier, Harvey crashed into the rear of VeeKay and Kirkwood flew over both cars.