[FastCarFan]

I watched the IRL race today from St. Pete. Very entertaining, once they finally went green after something like 10 laps under yellow due to the wet track.

Early in the race someone hit Graham Rahal & spun him. Near the end Rahal -- all of 19-years-old -- made an actual pass for the lead & ran away. Then, after yet another yellow, Helio was right on his tail when they went green with 4-5 laps to go. I thought Helio -- who has won it 2 (or is it 3?) years in a row, & who has a LOT more experience than Rahal -- was going to dispatch Graham to 2nd place.

But...Rahal held him off & eventually ran away from him as well to win in the 1st IRL race he has ever run! And he did it going away. And did I say he is 19-years-old? He is very, very mature &, based on what I saw, this was just the 1st of many wins for him...at least on road-courses. And I think he will figure ovals out pretty quickly too.

It was great to see a young American driver -- who seems like a very nice, polite kid -- win decisively. He deserved the win.

What does everyone else think of him? He will be fun to watch. I know it is very early, but do you think he could be F1 material?

I can't wait until the Mid-Ohio IRL race, home of so many great races by his father.