MATOS COMPLETES INDY PRO SERIES STREET SWEEP
Helio Castroneves captured his first non-oval win in the IndyCar® Series holding off Scott Dixon to win the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Castroneves took the lead on Lap 95 after leader Scott Dixon pitted for fuel. Castroneves beat Dixon into Turn 1 of the 1.8-mile temporary street course.
Dixon, who exited the pits just ahead of Tony Kanaan, never had a chance to chase down Castroneves after Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice made contact while battling for fourth.
Castroneves, who won his eighth career win and marked the win with his signature fence climb victory celebration, took the IndyCar Series point lead with the win and leads Kanaan by 23 heading into the Indy Japan 300 on April 22 at Twin Ring Motegi.
Also on April 2, Raphael Matos completed a St. Petersburg sweep by winning his second Indy Pro Series of the weekend in the Indy Pro Series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
HONDA GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG POST-RACE QUOTES:
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, winner, Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg): “I was really pushing out there. I was trying to go as fast as I could. Even when I was in the lead, I was getting too close to the wall, trying to make up time. (Were you happy to see the caution come out?): “Everyone was telling me ‘Go for it. Go for it.’ I drove it like I stole it. The team worked so hard. Sam (Hornish) and everyone else.” (About Paul Dana): “Paul Dana, you’re in our hearts. You and your whole family.”
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz/Honda/Firestone finished second): “It's always a lot easier when the car roles off the trailer quick. You just get with it. With this series, you don't get a whole lot of time on the track, so you have to be on it quick. Team Target definitely did that, so it was a good weekend all-in-all."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished third): “When you have a very good car, you can do a lot of pushups after the race. I'm not blaming it on the car. I think we definitely had a competitive car, but trying to keep up with those guys made it a very hard day. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough. I'm very tired for sure."
BRYAN HERTA (No. 7 XM Satellite Radio Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished fourth): “We got shuffled back. We got caught behind a couple of slower cars at some crucial moments and that hurt us a little bit. But we battled back and got fourth place and a whole lot of points. It’s something we can build on and get some momentum now.”
VITOR MEIRA (No. 4 Econova Panther Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished fifth): “I was telling (team co-owner) John Barnes that patience pays here. That’s what we did the whole race. How do you here depends on your strategy. We were saving fuel since the first lap and never really risked much. We were racing smart instead of racing aggressive. Some people chose to race aggressive, but we didn’t. It paid off for us.”
FELIPE GIAFFONE (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished ninth): “I knew it was going to be a hard weekend because it was my first road race in an Indy Car. I had a great time. I learned a lot, especially in the race. We were stronger from the middle out, and then A.J. (Foyt) made a good call on pit strategy to pick up two spots at the end. We need to keep finishing races and we can keep improving our communication, and I think we’ll keep getting stronger and stronger.”
DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz/Honda/Firestone, finished 16th): “The Target team got word from Race Control that we were indeed in front of the No. 6 car coming out of the pits, and that we were going to be waved ahead of (Sam) Hornish. All I saw was Sam’s (Hornish Jr.) hand come off the wheel like he was signaling to let me by. I waved a thank you back, made the pass and then suddenly I was up in the air and out of the race. I made it back to the pits but there was too much damage to repair. I’m disappointed for the Target team because we overcame a lot to get back into the fray at the front. The No.10 Target Honda was as quick as the leaders but it just didn’t happen for us.”
TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 2 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished 13th): “The team did a great job all weekend, and I was pleased the race up until the accident. I’m disappointed, but excited about the potential we showed.”
BUDDY RICE (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Argent Panoz/Honda/Firestone, finished 12th): “We went with a different strategy than the others but it could have worked well for us late in the race. We saved fuel in the middle of the race, and we could go all out in the last 10 laps. Unfortunately, (Sam) Hornish ran out in front of us with old tires, and he was about two seconds a lap off the leaders then. That killed us with a chance to race at the end. I was able to get by Bryan (Herta) and then Kosuke (Matsuura) with the same wear on our tires. (Tomas) Scheckter’s team tried to stretch their tires a lot longer, and he was all over the place. He was slow too, like Hornish was with old tires. I thought I had a good run on him, and I moved to the inside. I moved over twice and he kept coming, then we tangled. I was further back on Herta twice in that corner, and he gave me room for the pass. I guess Scheckter wasn’t going to let me by at any cost. It cost us two top-five posit!ions.”
SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished eighth): “The #6 Marlboro Team Penske car was very strong for the first half of the race, but we ran into some problems at the end with the brakes. I had to push so hard that they would either lock up, or I couldn’t stop. We tried a little bit different strategy than Helio and ran the last 45 laps on the same set of tires. The combination of the two problems hurt us. I’m really happy that Helio (Castroneves) won because we had such bad luck on the road courses last year. He deserves this one. Now, we’ll just look to Motegi, and hopefully we’ll get a better result.
DANICA PATRICK (No. 16 15 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Argent Panoz/Honda/ Firestone, finished sixth): “We gambled on a two pit strategy, and the key for us today was our fuel mileage. We had to make sure that we got good fuel mileage. We ran pretty conservatively the first half to three-quarters of the race. We really made sure that we were getting good mileage, especially under the yellows, and that enabled us to do the race in two stops. It made all the difference. I said it earlier to the Argent group, our team is pretty good when it comes to strategy, and that was something they should watch for today. The experience we have gained over the last year really helped today. I really had a feel for when I could push the Argent Honda and when I needed to be patient and not make mistakes. We just need to build on this momentum. It was really important for us to place well since we didn't run last week. It doesn't matter if it was a DNF or a withdraw last week, we just had to sc!ore points in St. Pete. With 14 races on the schedule any time you don't finish the race, it is going to loom large.”
INDY PRO SERIES POST-RACE QUOTES:
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 41 Guthrie Racing/Car Crafters, winner Race #2): “It's been like a dream come true for me. Everything was perfect this race. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes yesterday, especially on the restart. Today, I had everything sorted out. I was able to study a little bit on what Jay Howard would do on the restart. So I tried different lines on every restart and I was able to get into position to win again. “
JAY HOWARD (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Isilon/Sam Schmidt Mtrspts, finished second): “First start yesterday, I had a great start. Second start yesterday, I was really suprised. He (Raphael Matos) didn't learn from his mistake in the first one. Three times they learn, or whatever the saying is. He did finally learn from it, and he managed to get ahead. He was fast. But my team has done a great job this weekend. Even with a full course yellow with one or two laps to go, I would have been struggling. I'm pleased, so I have to say thanks to everyone again. We'll see what's next in Indianapolis.
ALEX LLOYD (No. 26 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, finished third): “Well, it was a good race. I had nothing to lose. Yesterday was disappointing because we qualified well, had a quick (spin), and that was pretty much it for the race. The boys did a few adjustments to the car today, and it was very good. Going through the first half of the race, it was great. I managed to work my way through the field. I had a good run. After that it was just difficult. Jay (Howard) had a little more speed than me, but I think there was a bit more wing. When your running that close to someone that long, it’s very tough. We had Jeff Simmons behind me at the end. It’s difficult being in the middle. You want to attack, but at the same time, you have to defend. I'm very happy to be on the podium. It’s great for the team. This is our first run together, we only met last weekend. Hopefully we can be together the rest of the season, stay on the podium and get a few wins.”
JEFF SIMMONS (No. 24 Kenn Hardley Racing, finished fourth): “My car was much better on the longer runs. I think we were maybe as quick as the leader, definitely quicker than the guys ahead of us on the longer runs. I’m just sorry for Kenn Hardley Racing. I wanted to give them a better finish today. Not being on the podium is a disappointment.”
JONATHAN KLEIN (No. 27 Klein Tools, finished fifth): “We were looking to finish the race, get experience, get points, take advantage of certain situations, like Wade (Cunningham) being out. And we wanted maximize points, so I didn't want to do anything stupid or go for something that would be an iffy move just for one position and risk taking myself out of the race. I drove conservatively today. I didn't drive to aggressively. The car was pretty decent, but all in all, I didn't have the car to keep up with (Jeff) Simmons and the top three guys after tires came in. The car was great on cold tires, so we were good on the restarts and could keep up with those guys pretty good. But, two races in two days, all four corners (still) on the car, and we got points finishing in the top five both days, so we're pretty happy." (About race weekend): “This weekend was a lot of fun. This is my first street race, and Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Andretti Green Racing crews did an excellent jo!b getting me a good car to hang onto for all 40 laps."
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The next IndyCar Series race is the Indy Japan 300 on April 22 at Twin Ring Motegi. The race will be telecast by ESPN at Noon (EDT) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network at 11:30 p.m. on April 21. The race also will be available on XM Satellite Radio channel 145 “IndyCar Racing.” ESPN2’s coverage of the Indy Pro Series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be telecast at 4 p.m. (EDT) on April 7. The next Indy Pro Series race is the Futaba Freedom 100 on May 26 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
