DIXON 2ND, FRANCHITTI 13TH AT ST. PETE

Results (with starting pos.) from St. Petersburg
1. (5) Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Chevrolet Dallara
2. (6) Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Honda Dallara
3. (3) Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 Chevrolet Dallara
13. (9) Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Target Honda Dallara
 
Dixon Finishes Second, Franchitti 13th at St. Petersburg
 
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 25, 2012) – Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) driver Scott Dixon led the most laps today with 37 (of 100) at the Honda Prix of St. Petersburg en route to a second-place finish, while Target teammate Dario Franchitti came home 13th.  
 
Dixon started the race in seventh, jumping up to fourth by the end of the first lap.  He would remain in the top-five running order, taking the lead on lap 21 as the No. 9 Target Honda Dallara ran on an alternate pit-strategy.  Dixon would come to pit-road for his first stop of the day on lap 37 and regain the lead by lap 47 as pit-stops cycled through.  He continued to lead until making his last stop of the day on lap 68.  Dixon would run the remainder of the race in the top-three running order, finishing second. 
 
Franchitti started the race in 10th, and moved up to eighth before the completion of the first lap.  When a car stalled on the course on lap 13, Franchitti’s crew called him to pit-road, beating the caution-flag.  Franchitti would continue to run in the top-15 as the leaders remained on an alternate pit-strategy.  The No. 10 Target Honda Dallara came to pit road for the last time on lap 67, returning to the course in 16th.  Franchitti would work his way up to 10th, but finish 13th after running out of fuel on the last lap. 
  
With the results, Dixon is second in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 42 markers, while Franchitti stands 13th with 17 markers. 
 
Honda is second in the manufacturer point standings with six, trailing Chevrolet with nine. 
 
Up next for Team Target is Round 2 of the IZOD IndyCar Series with the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama from Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, April 1st (2:00 pm ET NBC Sports).
 
 
NOTES
- Dixon’s finish of second marks the third time he has finished second at St. Pete (2006, 2007) – each time to Castroneves.
- Dixon clinched two bonus points for leading the most laps today, with 37 laps lead.
- Today’s top-five finish marks the 91st of Dixon’s career. 
 
TCGR Quoteboard 
 
Scott Dixon: “The day was tough, obviously, the first race back after losing Dan [Wheldon].  It’s been a sad start to the year, but for us it ended up being a great race.  I don’t know that we quite had the speed, but we were great on restarts and were able to jump some people.  All in all, a great day for Team Target.  It was nice to finish this race, I haven’t finished this race in about three or four years.” 
 
Dario Franchitti: “It was a tough day.  We ran out of fuel leaving that last corner.  The Target Team will do some work and be back strong in Barber.”