It was a wet weekend in Avondale Louisiana for the inaugural IndyCar GP of Louisiana. Scheduled to go either 75 laps or 105 minutes, which ever came first, the race was concluded under the timed option because of all the yellow laps for weather conditions and several contact incidents during the course of the race. There was actually only 31 minutes of green light racing. Saturday’s qualifying session was rained out, so the cars were lined up on the starting grid according to their series point standings, which meant Juan Pablo Montoya started from the pole. As the race unfolded, there were several contact incidents that eliminated cars. Both of the Foyt cars driven by Jack Hawkersmith and Takuma Sato were eliminated early due to contact. On lap 43, Ryan Hunter-Reay tapped Simone Pagenard while trying to pass him. Pagenard spun back and took out both Hunter-Reay and Sebastien Bourdais. Hunter-Reay and Pagenard each blamed the other for the accident. A well-timed pit stop put James Hinchcliffe in front of the field as time became the issue. The Schmidt-Peterson team had Hinchcliffe running in first position and teammate James Jakes running third, where they finished the race under the yellow caution flag. Helio Castroneves was second for Penske, and in forth was Simona de Silvestro. The Swiss miss was in her first race, driving for Andretti Motorsports. Pole sitter Montoya was fifth. Honda engines took first, third, and fourth places. It was a huge day for Sam Schmidt and the Schmidt Peterson crew. While the bad weather was disappointing, IndyCar officials were generally pleased with the result of the Louisiana GP, and are planning on making it a permanent part of the racing schedule. The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is next on the schedule and will be run this coming Sunday, April 19.