LEAD-OFF HITTER; IN ST. PETERSBURG, BRISCOE WINS THE FIRST RACE OF THE INDYCAR SEASON.

Byline: CURT CAVIN

THE INDYCAR SERIES SEASON OPEN-er provided everything reality TV could ask for: heroes, villains and Danica Patrick in the middle of a mess.

First things first: Ryan Briscoe won the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., in what could be the first step toward a championship season. Team Penske's driver has won four of the last 13 races, including the nonpoints race in Australia last October, and he won at St. Pete with a dramatic pass of Justin Wilson on a restart with 14 laps left.

Wilsonleft unemployed by Newman/ Haas/Lanigan Racing after last yearwas on the verge of putting together an emotional first win for Dale Coyne Racing, a small team celebrating its 25th season. The winner of last year's Detroit race led 52 of 100 laps and at one point pulled away for a six-second lead. He also clocked the race's fastest lap.

But not only did Wilson lose the lead, he also lost second place to Ryan Hunter-Reay, another great story. After Rahal Letterman Racing failed to secure season-long sponsorship, Hunter-Reay was without a job a week prior to the race before series founder Tony George signed him at Vision Racing.

Meanwhile, identifying the villains depended on your perspective; almost every accident caused finger pointing in several directions.

Pole winner Graham Rahal did not get the best of starts, and he had Wilson on his left and Dario Franchitti on his right before the field reached turn one. Rahal appeared to slow briefly, only to be struck from behind by Tony Kanaan. Before the dust settled, Alex Tagliani had damaged the nose of Rahal's car, and rookie Mike Conway ...