After performing his famous fence climb in front of the Turn 10 grandstand to thank the spectators following his victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series’ season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the Fort Lauderdale resident jumped on top of the concrete barrier and patted the street sign that was unveiled March 7 to honor the memory of the 2005 race winner and series champion.
“You can never question God’s mysteries, and today, for me, I ended up stopping at Turn 10,” said an emotional Castroneves, who raised his head and pointed to the sky as he stood next to the green and white sign. “Honestly, I did not plan it. It was just the way it happened, and there was the sign Dan Wheldon Way. For me, and for all of us — the drivers and the fans — not having him here certainly we’ll miss. But we’ve got to remember him as he lived, the way he lived, and continue to pray for his family.”
The three-time Indianapolis 500 champion became the first three-time winner on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit, and he celebrated his first victory since Twin Ring Motegi in September 2010 with typical exuberance. Maybe there was extra sense of relief for the Brazilian, who finished 11th in the 2011 championship standings and is still seeking his first series title.
“It’s been a little while, but it never gets old,” Castroneves continued. “I did say out loud, ‘If I start in the top six, I’ll win this race.” And we did it; we are here in Victory Circle.”
Castroneves, who started fifth in the Chevrolet-powered No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske car, led Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon across the finish line by 5.5292 seconds. Following the final round of pit stops, Castroneves overtook Dixon on the outside of Turn 1 for second place on Lap 72, and three laps later passed JR Hildebrand entering the sharp right-hand turn for the lead and kept Dixon at bay the remaining 25 laps.
“It’s a terrific run,” team owner Roger Penske said. “It’s going to be a great season, and it’s great to be back racing.”
Dixon has been the runner-up in all of Castroneves’ victories at St. Pete.
“We seemed to have the strategy right, and Helio was just really fast,” Dixon said. “He was fast, but also able to save fuel. So we did a really good job for what we did at saving fuel, but obviously we didn’t have the speed and we seemed to burn the tires up really quickly. I haven’t finished here in a while, so it’s nice to come out here in St. Pete and get some good points.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car and Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe was fourth in his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the race.
“It was a fuel strategy race and the Chevy engine was getting great fuel mileage, but we had to really take our time to finish to the end,” said Hunter-Reay, who earned his second St. Pete podium finish. “We took a gamble on making it two stops instead of three and that’s just part of the game. It’s good to get a podium under our belt. Today, most of all though, we have Dan on our minds and that wound is still fresh.”
Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske finished fifth after starting on the front row next to teammate Will Power, who led the initial 11 laps and finished seventh.
“I’m very happy for Helio,” said Power, who heads to Barber Motorsports Park this week as the defending race winner. “He really deserves this victory and it’s great for Team Penske to start the season with a win. Our Verizon car was very good. We just got shuffled back a bit there after the first pit stop and we just couldn’t make up the ground we needed.”
Simon Pagenaud, who qualified sixth in the No. 77 Schmidt-Hamilton HPO Motorsports car, had to drop back to 16th at the start because of a rules infraction relating to an unauthorized engine change two days earlier. He recovered to sixth. E.J. Viso, Charlie Kimball and Justin Wilson also grabbed top-10 spots.
Reigning series champion Dario Franchitti finished 13th and Rubens Barrichello, making his IZOD IndyCar Series debut, was 17th.
Dixon, who qualified seventh, led a race-high 37 laps to gain two bonus points. There were nine lead changes and three caution periods for 15 laps (no contact between cars) as the new car and engine manufacturer competition between Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus made their season debuts. Chevrolet took the early lead in the manufacturer points race with 9 to Honda’s 6 and Lotus’ 4.
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TNG’s “Most Improved Award” for the driver who advances the most positions during the race goes to Charlie Kimball with 13. They line up this way:
1. Charlie Kimball – 13 (22nd to 9th)
2. Simon Pagenaud – 10 (16th to 6th)
3. Josef Newgarden – 8 (19th to 11th)
4. Oriol Servia – 7 (23rd to 16th)
5. Ed Carpenter – 6 (24th to 18th)
6. Justin Wilson – 5 (15th to 10th)
7. Sebastien Bourdais – 5 (26th to 21st)
8. Helio Castroneves – 4 (5th to 1st)
9. Scott Dixon – 4 (6th to 2nd)
10. E.J. Viso – 4 (12th to 8th)
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The Indianapolis Star’s Curt Cavin also reports on the IndyCar Series race (to the next starred divider line):
Helio Castroneves remembered Dan Wheldon on Sunday the best way he knew how. After winning the Izod IndyCar Series race in Wheldon’s U.S. hometown, Castroneves climbed a fence in his fallen friend’s honor. The Brazilian known for such climbs actually scaled two following the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the second to pat the sign local officials hung above a street where Wheldon made a winning pass in 2005.
As Castroneves touched “Dan Wheldon Way,” he thought of Wheldon’s children, especially 3-year-old Sebastian, who hugged him near that spot earlier this month. Castroneves then remembered his own young daughter. Tears flowed. When Castroneves climbed down the fence, he bowed his head in prayer.
“We still hurt,” he said, choking back emotions, “but we’ve got to keep moving on.” Then, he added: “You can never question God’s mysteries. . . . We’ve got to remember Dan as he lived, the way he lived, and continue to pray for his family.”
The moment captured the love the IndyCar community and this city have for the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner who died Oct. 16 in a crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Fans wore orange — Wheldon’s favorite color — and drivers donned helmets with his Lionheart logo.
The large crowd roared when his younger sister, Holly, was introduced as the grand marshal. Holly not only waved the green flag to start the race and the season, she was in victory lane to deliver the trophy to Castroneves, who had 2-year-old Mikaella with him. “It took me a couple days (to accept the invitation),” Holly said wearing a black dress with an orange ribbon pin. “But I’m glad I did it.”
Scott Dixon finished second in the race, which added to the moment. After the Las Vegas catastrophe, he and his wife, Emma, moved their Indianapolis-based family into a rented home on Wheldon’s street north of the track to help where they could. Saturday night, the Dixons gathered with Holly at one of their favorite Italian restaurants, not far from the track. “It’s been emotional,” Dixon said. “It’s been extremely tough, just weird to not have him around or to see him when you turn around.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay, who finished third, said Sunday won’t be the last time such emotion is felt. In two months, every Indianapolis 500 ticket will bear Wheldon’s photograph as last year’s winner.
Wheldon also won the 500 in 2005, his championship season. “I know every driver in this series wants to be like him in so many ways; we all emulate him,” Hunter-Reay said. “Yeah, we love the Wheldons and today he was there with us in every way. We wish we could have him back.”
The victory was emotional for Castroneves on a professional level, too. Last year was his first winless season since joining Team Penske in 2000. He finished 11th in the points, his lowest since 1999 during his CART days. “A long time coming,” he said of the 18-race losing streak.
The win was the 26th of Castroneves’ IndyCar career, moving him into a tie with Rodger Ward for 13th place all time. Castroneves is the only driver to win this event more than once, and he’s done it three times. Dixon has finished second each time Castroneves won, but he said it was a good start to a season of change.
IndyCar debuted its new car design, a turbocharged engine configuration, an altered driver lineup minus Danica Patrick and an assortment of procedural changes. Battling for position amid cars on various fuel strategies, Castroneves beat Dixon out of the pits only to have Dixon pass him in Turn 4. Unfazed, Castroneves swept past on the outside in Turn 1.
“He passed me clean, fair and square,” Castroneves said of Dixon. “Now, I took advantage. I think it was traffic in the middle, in the mix, and I was able to get a good run.”
Last year, Castroneves contributed to a multicar crash in that turn, which is why he exhaled as he pulled this one off. “The car (stuck) and I’m like, ‘Yes, I made it!’ ” he said. Only having Wheldon present would have made it better, he said.
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg results
1. Helio Castroneves, Team Penske, Chevrolet.
2. Scott Dixon, Ganassi Racing, Honda.
3. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet.
4. James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet.
5. Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske, Chevrolet.
6. Simon Pagenaud, Schmidt Hamilton Racing, Honda.
7. Will Power, Team Penske, Chevrolet.
8. EJ Viso, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet.
9. Charlie Kimball, Ganassi Racing, Honda.
10. Justin Wilson, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda.
11. Josef Newgarden, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, Honda.
12. Graham Rahal, Ganassi Racing, Honda.
13. Dario Franchitti, Ganassi Racing, Honda.
14. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport, Chevrolet.
15. Alex Tagliani, Bryan Herta Autosport, Lotus.
16. Oriol Servia, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Lotus.
17. Rubens Barrichello, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet.
18. Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet.
19. JR Hildebrand, Panther Racing, Chevrolet.
20. Mike Conway, A.J. Foyt Racing, Honda.
21. Sebastien Bourdais, Dragon Racing, Lotus.
22. Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda.
23. Katherine Legge, Dragon Racing, Lotus.
24. Simona De Silvestro, HVM Racing, Lotus.
25. Tony Kanaan, KV Racing Technology, Chevrolet.
26. James Jakes, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda.
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Sunday’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was everything the Izod IndyCar Series expected from the equipment package. The unknown element was the drivers.
They behaved.
“I think everybody was pretty kind to each other, which was a big shock,” Scott Dixon said.
There wasn’t a first-turn pileup like last year, and this race finished mostly free of cars hitting each other. James Jakes had the only bump of a barrier. With a second race coming next weekend, it was a relief for those charged with making — and paying for — repairs.
“I figured with the long offseason and (new) carbonbrakes, it was going to be a brain meltdown at times,” Ryan Hunter-Reay said. “At times during the double-file restarts I was waiting for a thud from behind, but it really never came. That was a very nice surprise.”
As expected, there were several mechanical issues. Seven cars officially retired that way. Rubens Barrichello finished 17th as a faulty computer reading caused him to run out of fuel at the end. “However, I enjoyed the race and dicing with other cars,” he said.
The top-finishing Lotus was Alex Tagliani in 15th, but Sebastien Bourdais ran as high as second before retiring.
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Drivers beware: IndyCar’s new race director is serious about having random weigh-ins at events. EJ Viso apparently learned the hard way over the weekend, when, following an on-track session, he was escorted to a weigh station by series security director Charles Burns. Like other drivers, Viso had been weighed by IndyCar a couple of weeks ago to establish how much weight his team, KV Racing Technology, had to add to his car. The driver and ballast must equal 185 pounds, and Viso was 15 pounds lighter in St. Petersburg.
Beaux Barfield, the race director, wouldn’t say how Viso got to be so light so fast, but there are theories that involve him manipulating the scale at the baseline test. Viso raced Sunday with 15 more pounds added to his car. Viso also raced with food poisoning that developed through the night. He still had one of his best races in the series, finishing eighth.
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Barfield on the new defending rule: “If I allow blocking, I should allow punting.”
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Barfield’s first race-day drivers’ meeting was a hit with the drivers. Said Will Power: “He says something and it’s bam, you know where he stands. It will be even better when he starts laying down the law.”
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Pocono Raceway President and CEO Brandon Igdalsky attended Sunday’s race and met with IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard to discuss the possibility of having a race at the eastern Pennsylvania oval track in 2013. Igdalsky’s grandfather, Joseph Mattioli, founded the track.
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James Hinchcliffe, who replaced Danica Patrick at Andretti Autosport, wore a wig resembling Patrick’s hair before the race and wished her “Happy Birthday” on the television broadcast. Sunday was her 30th birthday.
He won the British ARP Formula 3 Championship in 2004, winning 10 races driving an older model car. He then went on and won the Asian Formula Three Championship and also won the Australia Grand Prix Formula 3 support race in 2006 beating Bruno Senna and Tim Macrow. In 2007, he won races in both the Australian Formula Three Championship and the Formula V6 Asia championships. On September 24-25, 2007, he took part in a Champ Car test at Sebring International Raceway with Conquest Racing with a view to securing a full-time drive in 2008, but the series ultimately folded.
Winslow, driving for Team Meritus, won the Formula Asia V6 Championship at the last round of the season in Zhuhai, China, beating Armaan Ebrahim. Winslow had the chance to test drive a World Series by Renault race car at Paul Ricard test track on November 8 and 9, 2007 as the prize for winning the championship. He returned to the Australian Formula 3 for 2008 winning six times and taking the overall championship at the final round. He also won the final of the three the Formula 3 showcase races on the streets of Surfers Paradise in support of the Nikon Indy 300 IndyCar race.
James then participated as a “Rookie Driver” A1 Team Great Britain in A1 Grand Prix test sessions. In 2009 Winslow drove in the American Atlantic Championship series for four different teams (primarilyGenoa Racing) and finished 6th after missing two events without a DNF. In the races he contested that year, he scored in the Top Nine in 10 of 10 contests.
For 2010, Winslow signed with Sam Schmidt Motorsports to drive in the Firestone Indy Lights, a developmental series sanctioned by the Indy Racing League. He made 6 starts for the team, all on road and street courses, and finished 14th in points with a best finish of 5th at Watkins Glen. He was also 7th at St. Petersburg, and 9th at Mid-Ohio.
The start of the 2011 season saw Winslow drive for Andretti Autosport for the opening two rounds of the 2011 Indy Lights season championship at St. Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park. At the St Petersburg race, which was Winslow’s first time in the Andretti Autosport car, he ran well through the weekend, but mayhem early in the race saw him suffer damage to the front wing, which forced him to pit and finish tenth. He finished in the Top Ten in 3 of 4 races with a 17th in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis.
James Winslow was featured on BBC One program “Accidental Heroes” on September 25, 2008, for his rescue of former rival in the Asian Formula Three Championship Moreno Suprapto, after the two collided in a round of the championship, at Sentul in Indonesia. For this act of heroism, Winslow was invited to Buckingham Palace, Haberdasher’s Hall, London to receive the Prestigious ‘Royal Humane Award’ from Patron Her Majesty the Queen of England’ and the RHS President Princess Alexandra. The award states: “Awarded to James Winslow for ‘Having on the 24th September 2006, at great personal risk, courageously saved the life of a fellow racing driver, trapped in his burning car following a collision during a race at the Sentul circuit Indonesia’.”
* website: “wikipedia.com”
* “National Speed Sport News”, Sept. 26, 2007, p. 39
* website: “JamesWinslow.com”