Wickens to debut in IndyCar on St. Pete pole

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- In a new car and on a slick racing surface, rookie Robert Wickens snatched the pole away from Will Power for IndyCar's season-opening race through the streets of St. Petersburg.

Power had won seven of the past eight poles for Sunday's race, and he shot to the top of the board with less than a minute left in the final qualifying session. But Wickens bumped him to second at the buzzer in an upset for the Canadian driver.

Wickens starred in DTM driving for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport with six wins but made the move to IndyCar this year because Mercedes said it was pulling out of the series. Wickens landed at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports as teammate to childhood friend James…