Rain can't dampen excitement of IndyCar season opener in São Paulo, Brazil [SPOILER ALERT]-We love Cars

Rain can't dampen excitement of IndyCar season opener in São Paulo, Brazil [SPOILER ALERT]: "

Rooster tails followed heavy rain at the 2010 São Paulo Indy 300 - Click above for image gallery

The 2010 Izod IndyCar Series Championship started off with a bang down in São Paulo, Brazil this weekend, with a first turn pileup and a thunderstorm that turned the race into a timed event instead of the planned 75-lapper. Even though it was cut short, it ended up being a pretty exciting kick-off to the season, the 15th for the series and third since the reunification with the Champ Car World Series. Following Brazil, the teams are headed back to the States for most of the remaining 16 races on the schedule, with two races in Canada and the Indy Japan 300 from Motegi rounding things off.

Besides the addition of Brazil to the schedule, the 2010 season sees a few rules changes - Gone is the drivers' four-position fuel mixture switch, the 'push-to-pass' Honda Overtake assist button is back but twice as effective as before giving a boost of 10-40 horsepower when pushed, and all of the cars will now have a reverse gear for road and street courses. Another big change was the signing of Izod as the series title sponsor, putting a few more bucks into the revenue sharing pot.

The driver lineup stayed pretty consistent over the off-season, with a couple of teams dropping out and another group joining the field, a few new drivers coming into the series, some as novices and others making the jump from other series, including Formula 1. While some feel the real season won't start until the teams make it back to American soil at the next race in St. Petersburg, São Paulo made a lot of fans sit up and take notice as IndyCar action was back in all its ethanol-burning, open-wheel glory. Follow the jump to read how the opener unfolded.

Gallery: 2010 São Paulo Indy 300