Manchester's Alex Lloyd scored his third IndyPro Series victory in a crash filled season opener for the Indy Racing League's development series. He led 27 laps in a race shorted by ten circuits to 57 laps after the second of two major crashes damaged the catch fencing in turn two.

With a record 25 cars starting the race, the event started out fairly clean, until lap 22 when Wade Cunningham made contact in turn two. The resulting debris was hit by Ryan Justice, who then made heavy impact with the retaining wall. Initially unconscious, he came to en route to the infield care center and airlifted to the local trauma center for precautionary observation and the released.

Pablo Perez, 24, from Argentina faired considerably worse in his lap 47 crash. After pushing up the banking and making light contact with Sean Guthrie, the two touched tires and Perez jumped into the turn two fencing.

The nose of his car made heavy contact with a fence post, splitting the safety tub away from the engine with Perez then tumbling down the race track. He was awake and alert in the infield care center before being flown to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for surgery on significant orthopaedic injuries to his lower extremities and a CT scan.

Chris Festa finished second, with Hideki Mutoh notching third place in his US racing debut.

ORS / CAPSIS International