Wheldon surprised by dominance

The Ganassi driver won by over six seconds, despite dropping to ninth place with a slow mid-race pit stop. It took Wheldon just 11 laps to move back into the lead after the incident.

The 2005 champion had also been fastest in pre-season testing at the Miami oval, despite crashing heavily, but was still surprised by his performance in the race.

"You always want to dominate," said Wheldon. "And I knew at the test that I had something that was very competitive.

"But, no, I guess I didn't think I would dominate like that.

"That was one of the nicest days I had in the car. When the car handles that well, the race just can't go by fast enough."

Wheldon said that even during the pit delay - caused by an air hose becoming caught under the Ganassi Dallara - he was confident that he would be able to get back to the front.

"With the situation that we had in the pits, we were able to not lose too much time because I could get to the front quickly and really not work the tires too much in doing so," he explained.

"I think just with experience you understand the circumstances. I did have a very good car underneath me. And I still had about 90 laps to get to the front.

"So it wasn't a big issue. And the biggest thing that I felt last year is sometimes I really tried to force the issue. And I didn't want to do that again. I wanted to let it come to me."