Vernay won his Firestone Indy Lights debut March 28, dominating the rain-soaked Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Vernay, who started on the outside of the front row, held off fellow series rookie Jan Heylen on a Lap 29 restart in the No. 7 Lucas Slick Mist/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car and went on to an 11.2338-second victory in the shortened (from 45 laps to 35) race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit.

Stefan Wilson drove from the 14th starting position to finish third in the No. 28 Bryan Herta Autosport car and Charlie Kimball tied his series-best finish of fourth in the No. 26 AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport car.

Cars started the race on slicks, with pole sitter James Hinchcliffe punted in Turn 1 of the first green flag lap by the No. 49 Sam Schmidt Motorsports car driven by Philip Major. He was looking to make a big move on the inside (started ninth) but braked too late to make the sharp right-hand turn.

Sebastian Saavedra emerged as the leader -- until he spun in Turn 4 of Lap 5. Vernay was in position to avoid the mid-track mess and took the lead through a red flag at the completion of Lap 6 for crews to change to rain tires.

A full-course caution on Lap 26 when the No. 29 Bryan Herta Autosport car driven by Saavedra made contact with the tire barrier on the exit of Turn 7 was the lone challenge for Vernay to overcome. Heylen, who competed in nine Champ Car races in 2007, couldn't overtake Vernay on the restart with time running out.

Gustavo Yacaman, who started 10th in the No. 10 Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing car, advanced five positions, while Martin Plowman finished sixth in the No. 27 AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport car.

James Winslow and Jonathan Summerton finished seventh and eighth, respectively.