Dan Wheldon claimed victory in the first race of the 2005 IRL IndyCar Series in Florida yesterday. Wheldon took first place in the Toyota Indy 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway with his No.26 Honda-powered Dallara crossing the finish line 3.6936 seconds ahead of runner-up Sam Hornish Jr.  The victory was the fourth of Wheldon's IndyCar career. Tony Kanaan, Vitor Meira and Helio Castroneves completed the top-five.

“It was pretty tough,” said Wheldon, who took the lead for good on Lap 151 and steered clear of an incident that eliminated eight cars on Lap 159. “It was a fantastic result for the team. They worked very hard.”

Although delighted with his victory from a starting position of 11th, the English driver was careful to keep his feet on the ground and keep his focus on the long IRL season ahead, “it’s going to be a tough season, you could see how competitive it was,” he said. “I’m very happy with the result, but it’s one race into the championship. One race. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I just enjoy winning races.” – 7th March 2005