If the intermediate ovals are becoming Dan Wheldon's
raison d'etre and road courses like Watkins Glen are likewise for Scott Dixon, then street circuits are that way for Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, who won for the second straight time on the challenging street course on the St. Petersburg waterfront.
Leading all but 5 laps today(the only times he didn't lead were during pitstops.....
), Castroneves crossed the start/finish line .601 sec. ahead of Target/Ganassi's Scott Dixon(the closest finish on an IndyCar Series road/street circuit) but.....the day's activities belied the finish.....
Highlights and Thoughts on the Race................
~~Oops on the language!! When the post-script for this race is written, I suspect series officials are going to give Kosuke Matsuura a nice "present"(read.... a monetary fine!) for inappropriate language during an interview w/ABC's Brienne Pedigo after getting punted into the tirewalls by Jeff Simmons following a dive-bombing pass attempt by Simmons at turn 4.....The irony over Matsuura's use of the "f-bomb" wasn't in using it(inappropriate, yes, but...IMO Simmons deserved it; he did dive-bomb Matsuura entering the corner....
); it was the fact that ABC Sports didn't catch it and use a delay on it(lead announcer Marty Reid apologized on-air for Matsuura's language later in the broadcast)....
~~How dominant? How dominant has Helio Castroneves been at St. Pete? Well......how about 135 of 200 laps led in two years.
~~Comeback of the Day Awards.......this award goes to Andretti-Green Racing drivers Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti for their herculean efforts today......for Kanaan, the day began by getting nerfed into the tirewalls by Franchitti, causing him to have to claw his way back to the front and hang on all race.....for the Scotsman, he spent several laps on pitlane as his team repaired some front suspension damage; he fell back two laps but through pit management and opportune passing, found himself back up to 5th by race's end.
Top-10 from St. Pete................
1st} #3 Helio Castroneves....................................100 laps
2nd} #9 Scott Dixon.............................................-.601 sec
3rd} #11 Tony Kanaan..........................................-7.913 sec
4th} #26 Marco Andretti........................................-13.509 sec
5th} #27 Dario Franchitti.......................................-14.594 sec
6th} #2 Tomas Scheckter......................................-25.311 sec
7th} #6 Sam Hornish, Jr........................................-27.072 sec
8th} #7 Danica Patrick..........................................-28.038 sec
9th} #10 Dan Wheldon..........................................-34.390 sec
10th} #15 Buddy Rice...........................................-46.908 sec
