McElrea crashes out of lead, Brabham takes unexpected Indy Lights win

Hunter McElrea walks away from his first Indy Lights race with plenty of lessons learned after crashing out while leading in St Petersburg.

In Friday’s qualifying, the Kiwi sent an imposing statement to the rest of the field: his lack of experience doesn’t write him off as a championship contender.

Having scored pole, McElrea converted that advantage into a healthy, if not dominant, three-second lead by lap 13.

Unfortunately, that was where his race would end. McElrea’s Andretti Autosport racer lost control exiting the final corner and shunted into the outside wall.

McElrea’s crash gifted the lead to teammate Christian Rasmussen, the reigning Indy Pro 2000 champion and another Lights rookie.

Rasmussen was pursued hard by series returnee Matt Brabham, but a rapid lap with two remaining bumped Rasmussen’s margin out to over three seconds.

However, with a sure victory only two laps up the road, Rasmussen grounded to a halt on the back straight.

His car had run dry, and there was no fuel left in the tank.

Brabham was handed his first Indy Lights victory since 2014.

Even though two of their cars retired while in the lead, Andretti Autosport still had one of their drivers win.

“First thing’s first, absolute heartbreak for my teammate Christian,” Brabham said.

“He had me in the race. I couldn’t keep up. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling.

“But for me, especially after being away for so long and coming back and having success like that, it’s unbelievable. I’m speechless. I’m pretty emotional.”

Indy Lights has a small pause in the calendar before resuming at Barber Motorsport Park in May.