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Date: Sunday, March 24
Start Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
Site: Streets of St. Petersburg (2005) -- St. Petersburg, Fla.
Track: 1.806-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit
Laps: 100
Miles: 180.6
Capacity:
Total purse:
Payouts:
Year: 9th
On TV: NBC Sports Network
Announcers:
On Radio: IMS Radio Network/SIRIUS XM Satellite
Race record: Helio Castroneves, 2006 (92.340 mph)
Qualifying record: Will Power, 2012 (105.585 mph)
2012 Finish
Defending champion: Helio Castroneves
Runner up: Scott Dixon
Pole winner: Will Power (105.585 mph)
Top 10:
1. Helio Castroneves (Start: 5)
2. Scott Dixon (6)
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay (3)
4. James Hinchcliffe (4)
5. Ryan Briscoe (2)
6. Simon Pagenaud (16)
7. Will Power (1)
8. E.J. Viso (12)
9. Charlie Kimball (22)
10. Justin Wilson (15)
Average speed: 90.113 mph
Time of race: 1 hr., 59 mins. 50.9863 secs.
Margin of victory: 5.5292 secs.
Caution flags: 3 for 15 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 7 drivers
Past winners
2012 Helio Castroneves, Dallara Chevrolet, 90.113 mph
2011 Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 89.260 mph
2010 Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 84.975 mph
2009 Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 81.542 mph
2008 Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 74.251 mph
2007 Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 89.166 mph
2006 Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 92.340 mph (race record)
2005 Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 83.140 mph
Last race
Race: MAVTV 500 (Sept. 15, 2012)
Site: Auto Club Speedway -- Fontana, Calif.
Miles: 500
Laps: 250
Finish line order: Ed Carpenter, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves
Time of Race: 2 hrs., 57 mins., 34.7433 secs.
Average speed: 168.939 mph
Margin of victory: Caution
Caution flags: 7 for 43 laps
Lead changes: 29 among 12 drivers
Lap leaders: Marco Andretti - pole; Tony Kanaan 1; Andretti 2-4; J.R. Marco Andretti - pole; Tony Kanaan 1; Andretti 2-4; J.R. Hildebrand 5-35; Ryan Briscoe 36-37; Takuma Sato 38-39; Josef Newgarden 40; Hildebrand 41-65; Ed Carpenter 66-75; James Jakes 76-85; Carpenter 86-109; Scott Dixon 110; Carpenter 111-122; Dixon 123-133; Kanaan 134-147; Helio Castroneves 148-149; Sato 150-152; Kanaan 153-184; Dixon 185-195; Carpenter 196; Dixon 197-198; Carpenter 199-203; Alex Tagliani 204-217; Carpenter 218; Tagliani 219-223; Dario Franchitti 224-225; Tagliani 226-227; Sato 228; Carpenter 229-236; Franchitti 237-249; Carpenter 250.
Entry list
#1 Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ft. Lauderdale, FL DHL/Andretti Autosport
#3 * Helio Castroneves (Sao Paulo, Brazil Hitachi/Team Penske
#4 J.R. Hildebrand (Sausalito, CA) U.S. National Guard/Panther Racing
#5 E.J. Viso (Caracas, Venezuela) Venezuela/Andretti Autosport/HVM
#6 Sebastian Saavedra (Bogota, Colombia Dragon Racing
#7 Sebastien Bourdais (Le Mans, France) Dragon Racing
#9 Scott Dixon (Auckland, New Zealand) Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 Dario Franchitti (Edinburgh,Scotland Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 Tony Kanaan (Salvador, Brazil) Hydroxycut/KV Racing Technology
#12 Will Power (Toowoomba, Australia) Verizon/Team Penske
#14 Takuma Sato (Tokyo, Japan) ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Enterprises
#15 Graham Rahal (New Albany, OH) Midas/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
#16 James Jakes (Leeds, England) Acorn Stairlifts/RLL Racing
#18 Ana Beatriz (Sao Paulo, Brazil) Dale Coyne Racing
#19 Justin Wilson (Sheffield, England) Dale Coyne Racing
#20 Ed Carpenter (Indianapolis, IN) Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing
#22 Oriol Servia (Pals, Spain) Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#25 Marco Andretti (Nazareth, PA) RC Cola/Andretti Autosport
#27 James Hinchcliffe (Toronto, Canada) GoDaddy.com/Andretti Autosport
#55 Tristan Vautier (Corenc, France) Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
#67 Josef Newgarden (Hendersonville, TN) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
#77 Simon Pagenaud (Montmorillon, France Schmidt-Hamilton HP Motorsports
#78 Simona de Silvestro (Thun, Switzer.) Nuclear Entergy Areva/KVRT
#83 Charlie Kimball (Camarillo, CA) Novolog FlexPen/Chip Ganassi Racing
#98 Alex Tagliani (Lachenaie, QB, Canada Barracuda Racing/Bryan Herta Autospt
Leading contenders
| Name | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helio Castroneves | 20 | Won | Won | 2 | 4 | 20 | Won | |
| Scott Dixon | 6 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 2 |
| Ryan Hunter-Reay | 17 | 2 | 11 | 21 | 3 | |||
| James Hinchcliffe | 4 | |||||||
| Simon Pagenaud | 6 | |||||||
| Will Power | 8 | 6 | Won | 2 | 7 | |||
| Justin Wilson | 9 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 10 | |||
| Graham Rahal | Won | 7 | 9 | 17 | 12 | |||
| Dario Franchitti | 3 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 5 | Won | 13 | |
| Marco Andretti | 15 | 4 | 25 | 13 | 12 | 24 | 14 | |
| Tony Kanaan | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 25 |
Notes
St. Petersburg has hosted an IndyCar race each year since 2005. This event has been the season-opener in the series the past two years as well as in 2009.
Helio Castroneves is the only driver with multiple victories in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Castroneves has won this race three time, including a victory last year.
In the 2012 race, Castroneves grabbed the lead from J.R. Hildebrand with 27 laps to and then ran in front from there to snap an 18-race winless streak in IndyCar.
Last year's race marked the debut of IndyCar's new "DW12" car, which was named in honor of Dan Wheldon, who suffered life-ending injuries during a horrific 15-car crash in October 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Wheldon, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2005 series champion, had resided in St. Petersburg. He won the inaugural event there in '05.
In what was the first race since Wheldon's death, Castroneves paid tribute to his late-friend when, after taking the checkered flag, he got out of his car in turn 10, which was named "Dan Wheldon Way." Castroneves did his trademark climbing of the fence to salute the fans in that area of the racetrack. He then walked over to the other side of the turn and climbed another fence to pat a street sign in honor of Wheldon.
Tony Kanaan has six top-5 finishes at St. Petersburg, which is more than any other driver. Kanaan has yet to win a race at this track. His best finish there is second, which came in '05.
The winner at St. Petersburg has gone on to win the IndyCar championship twice in eight years of the event: Wheldon (2005) and Dario Franchitti (2011).
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been won from the pole position just twice: Castroneves (2007) and Will Power (2010). Power has won the pole in each of the last three races at this track.
When Graham Rahal took the checkered flag at St. Petersburg on April 6, 2008, he became the youngest driver ever to win an IndyCar race. Rahal was 19 years and 93 days old when he scored his first career victory in the series.
The next race is the April 7 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala. Will Power won last year's event there.
