Other performers of note on Sunday included Darren Manning and Buddy Rice. Driving for the single-car A. J. Foyt team, Manning ran as high as third behind Castroneves and Dixon in the middle portion of the 100-lap contest, the strongest run for a Foyt entry in the past three seasons. Locking rear brakes led to a spin on Lap 75, but Manning recovered to finish 12th, just one lap down on the leaders.
Rice started 13th after a disappointing qualifying run, but quickly improved, moving into the top 10 almost immediately and battling with former teammate Danica Patrick during the middle stages. Even after a link in the right rear suspension failed with more than half the race remaining, Rice battled on as part of an entertaining multi-car scrap for sixth place that also included Andretti, Patrick, Franchitti and Tomas Scheckter. A last lap stop for a splash of fuel dropped Rice from eighth to tenth at the checker, but it was still a noteworthy performance for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team.
After opening the 2007 season with an oval race and street course on back-to-back weekends in Florida, the IndyCar Series now heads to Japan for Honda s “home” race at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, a 1.5-mile oval located northeast of Tokyo, on April 21st.
Helio Castroneves (#3 Team Penske Honda) Started 1st, finished 1st, his 12th career IndyCar Series victory and second consecutive win at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: “It s just incredible. I tell you what, you have to be so focused on this race track, and make sure you don t mess anything up. And it seemed like every time I managed to build up a bit of a lead, the caution flag would come out and it would be gone! But I just kept focused, focused, focused, all day long, getting every corner perfect. Honda did a great job as always with the engine, and my crew was great at all the pit stops. Toward the end of the race, the [transmission] gears weren t able to come in and I had to hold on make sure I didn t make any mistakes. But hey, we got the win, and it was great day for Team Penske. “
Scott Dixon (#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started 4th, finished 2nd, takes over the early season drivers championship lead with 80 points: “It was a tough day. Our car was definitely faster than Helio s on cold tries, but we didn t have anything for him on the longer runs. Our best bet was to get them in the pits or on a restart, but we couldn t get it done today. It s good to have a pair of strong finishes early in the season and be leading the championship going to Japan. ”
| 
|