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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Preparations for the IndyCar Series opener began with a silly spat between the two top organizations over a perceived slight made by the president of Team Penske. The dig -- Tim Cindric compared Penske to the New York Yankees and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing to the Miami Marlins -- irritated the Ganassi camp and created some drama heading into the race Sunday. When the checkered flag waived, it was Penske driver Will Power in the winners circle. With teammate Helio Castroneves finishing third, Team Penske drivers claimed two spots on the podium and fired the opening salvo in the rivalry. "Ive only heard a little bit of that story, so I havent paid much attention," Power said. "Are the Marlins good? Do they win?" Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon, the defending series champion, finished fourth and Tony Kanaan was sixth in his debut for the team. So with Verizon-sponsored driver Power on top of the podium in the first race with Verizon on board as the series sponsor, and Castroneves on the podium with him, round one easily went to Team Penske. "We dont want to give an inch this year," said Castroneves, who lost the championship to Dixon last season. "We dont want to give any opportunity. We want to give the championship to Roger no matter what it takes." Ganassi has won five of the last six championships, and Penske last won in 2006. It was fitting that the win went to Power, who picked up right where he left off last season. He won three of the final five IndyCar races last season -- including the last two -- and his Sunday win at St. Pete gives the Australian four out of the last six victories. Power passed pole-sitter Takuma Sato for the lead with an outside move headed into the second turn on Lap 31, and was never really challenged again. He had to beat Castroneves off pit lane during stops under caution, and the only hiccup was on the first restart of the race. He was the leader and was slow to restart the field with 28 laps remaining. It caused traffic to stack-up behind him and led to a crash involving rookie Jack Hawksworth and Marco Andretti. Andretti got out of his car with a limp and was favouring his wrist following the accident. "Its hard to see because I was pretty far back, but Will just stopped. Once you go, you gotta go," he said. "It looked like an accordion effect. I had a good restart going, but we were junk all day, so what are you going to do?" Hawksworth blamed the accident on the leaders stopping at the front of the field. "We went when they said green, and all of a sudden the leaders stopped. I dont know what was going on at the front," the rookie said. Power said he never braked and was confused because the field went green earlier than it should. "They actually threw the green before I was even in the (restart) zone, so it was confusing to me," Power said. Castroneves didnt buy Powers version and said he was fooled by his teammate. "Will and I know each other for a long time. He knows my tricks," Castroneves said. "I didnt quite know that trick from him, and he got me." IndyCar said the restart in question was acceptable, but race control did review Powers second restart and issued him a warning for going too early. He was not penalized, but IndyCar said he will be if he does it again. Juan Pablo Montoya finished 15th in his return to IndyCar for the first time since he left for Formula One following his Indianapolis 500 win in 2000. He spent almost five seasons in F1 and seven in NASCAR before returning to open-wheel with Roger Penske. "I think it went pretty good," he said. "We will learn and pass some people and some people passed us. 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Coach Jorge Sampaoli resisted naming any major surprises in the list published Tuesday at the site of Chiles football association. Chile is pinning its hopes on the recovery of Vidal.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Walker scored 24 points and the Bobcats used a big first quarter to beat the Kings 95-87 on Tuesday night, snapping a three-game losing streak. Gerald Henderson added 20 points and reserve Ramon Sessions scored 16 for the Bobcats, who went 8 for 17 from 3-point range. Walker also had five assists in his 10th game with at least 20 points. "Ive been working hard since this summer," Walker said. "Ive put in a lot of time. I started off slow shooting the basketball (this season), but hopefully now I can hit a groove. Ive been feeling great and Ive been shooting a lot." Henderson says when the Bobcats start hitting 3-pointers, the defence is in for a long night. "It makes us tough to guard," he said. "You have to come out there and guard the 3-point line with guys that can get to the basket, so its a tough thing. If were knocking down the 3-ball that opens up a lot for us." DeMarcus Cousins had 30 points and 17 rebounds for Sacramento, which shot 37.5 per cent from the field. The Kings have dropped three of four. "We came out slow," Cousins said. "The effort wasnt there. It was a terrible start. That start really put us behind and we were digging ourselves out of a hole the rest of the game." Kings forward Rudy Gay scored four points on 1-of-6 shooting in his worst game since he was acquired in a seven-player trade with Toronto on Dec. 9. He departed with 5:23 left in the third quarter due to right knee stiffness. "He was complaining at halftime about his knee, I believe," coach Mike Malone said. "He wanted to go out and give it a shot in the third quarter. He gave us some minutes and wasnt moving real well out there so we decided to shut him down."t; Gay had 24 points in his first game with Sacramento, and then scored 26 to help the Kings beat Houston 106-91 on Sunday.dddddddddddd The Bobcats jumped on the Kings right from the start. Ben Gordon made a 3-pointer and Sessions had a layup to make it 35-22 after one. "Everyone says that the NBA is a fourth-quarter league," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "Statistically its a first-quarter league. Our readiness, out of the gate, was good. We were able to play from ahead and having that cushion early was the difference." Charlotte carried the 13-point lead into halftime, but the Kings rallied in the third. Cousins and Ben McLemore each made two foul shots down the stretch to help Sacramento close to 78-72 heading to the fourth. The Bobcats were clinging to a two-point lead when Josh McRoberts had a hook shot, Sessions made a layup and Al Jefferson scored to make it 86-78 Charlotte with 6:36 left. "Tonight I think we did a better job of finishing the game," Henderson said. "Against some of the really, really good teams in the league, we have struggled with that. I think were getting better at it." While Charlotte found success in finishing, Sacramento struggled to recover from the bad start. "I dont know what it was," Kings point guard Isaiah Thomas said. "They were scoring and getting whatever they wanted. We didnt play good defence and thats what got us in that hole." Jefferson finished with 10 points and nine rebounds as Charlotte snapped a four-game losing streak against Sacramento. It was the Bobcats first win over the Kings since Feb. 25, 2011. Thomas had 21 points on 8-for-23 shooting. Cousins was 9 for 13 from the field and 12 for 15 at the line in his sixth double-double in his last seven games. NOTES: Walker went 4 for 8 from 3-point range. ... Each team had 42 rebounds. ' ' '