THE LINE

March 30, 2011

(Dan Helrigel/IndyCar)
Dario Franchitti (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda-Powered Dallara with Firestone tires) survived an early laps crash-fest to dominate the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg over Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske D/H/F) and Tony Kanaan (No. 82 GEICO - KV Racing Technology - Lotus D/H/F). Franchitti led 94 of the 100 laps on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit on the way to his 27th Indycar win tying him with Johnny Rutherford for 10th on the all-time wins list. But the star of the race was Simona de Silvestro (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing D/H/F) who finished in fourth in an eye-opening performance.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Will Power hung on to Franchitti as long as he could, but it was Franchitti's day all the way: "It was a very interesting start today," Power said. "Dario Franchitti got me fair and square at the beginning. When we had all of the restarts after caution periods, we got hit hard and went into neutral. We dropped to seventh position but were able to get back up to second again. I was in survival mode after getting hit. I struggled a lot on the blacks today and I was trying to hold Tony Kanaan off as he was hounding on me from behind."

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Tony Kanaan delivered - and then some - in his debut for KV Racing. "We really drove our own race. I have to thank my sponsors and friends for stepping up at the last minute and coming through to make this happen. We drove a conservative race until five laps to go and then Simona was all over me. We chose to use the reds in the beginning and I knew that was going to hurt me a little bit at the end. We should have used the black tires in the second stint like they did because I knew she was going to be running hard at the end. But I am an old man and she is a young girl and I think the experience helped out today."

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Simona de Silvestro had this to say after: "It was hard to pass because there was so much dust in the inside of the track.  It was kind of a big risk to take to try to pass him (Tony Kanaan) so I was happy with fourth, but for sure I tried a couple of times.  I couldn't make it.   But, since he has been in the series such a long time and I was battling with him for most of the race, it was pretty fun."

(Dan Helrigel/IndyCar)
Simona was excited to get the first race of the season underway.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
After the start it would all go wrong in Turn 1.

(Dan Helrigel/IndyCar)
Dario's parents shared the victory stand with him at one point.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheerleaders were on hand to provide local color.

(Chris Jones/IndyCar)
Race 1 is in the books. It's going to be an ultra-competitive IndyCar season.

(Dan Helrigel/IndyCar)
Josef Newgarden started third in the No. 11 Robo-Pong/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, but ended-up leading teammate Conor Daly (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) across the finish line by 0.8552 of a second to win in his Firestone Indy Lights debut. Peter Dempsey started fifth but jumped to the point for the first 11 laps before finishing third in his Pulse/O2 Racing car.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)
Just back from a multi-day test at Germany’s famed Nürburgring, Patrick Long (No. 45 PrivacyStar Porsche 911 GT3 Cup) set pole position and claimed  Pirelli World Challenge victories in both sprint events at St. Petersburg, Florida, this past weekend. 

 International Speedway Corporation. From the "Too Pathetic For Words" File comes word that Daytona International Speedway and Homestead Miami Speedway could become the final resting place for certifiably deranged NASCAR fans and their enablers. The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported yesterday that legislation is pending in Florida that would  “allow construction of an on-site columbarium, aka a structure that houses urns, at both speedways. “We have a lot of fans that are very, very loyal to NASCAR races and to Daytona in general,” International Speedway Corp. spokesperson Lenny Santiago told the News-Journal. “This opens that door, this bill, and we're hopeful that this will get passed.” If passed, the bill would become law on July 1. Here's what the release should have said: "Hell, we are totally out of ideas for actually fixin' our fading sport, so if we can figure out one more way to extract money from our dimwit fans, why not?" Simply beyond pathetic.

(BMW)
Looking Back: A pit stop for a factory-prepared BMW 1800 at the 24-hour race at Spa Francorchamps in 1966.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD

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