Background This race was the first race since
Dan Wheldon was killed in an accident, five month earlier during the
2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October 2011. It was also the first race run with the new
ICONIC chassis by
Dallara, which Wheldon was helping to develop and was named the
"DW12" in his honor. This race also marked the first time since the end of the 2005 season that
Honda wouldn't be IndyCar's exclusive engine supplier.
Chevrolet re-entered Indy racing for the first time since that season and
Lotus was the third supplier.
Qualifying For the third consecutive year,
Will Power took the pole position for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a circuit-qualifying record of 1:01.3721. Alongside of Power,
Penske teammate
Ryan Briscoe will start in row one, in second position. The second row will be occupied
Ryan Hunter-Reay and
James Hinchcliffe, both of
Andretti Autosport.
Race The 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg started with pole sitter
Will Power leading the field for the majority of the first few laps, with
Ryan Briscoe, who qualified second, trailing behind him. Briscoe would eventually take the lead after Power pitted, in for fuel strategy. However, the pit stop by Power would eventually take him out of contention for the race, as he would not near the top spot for the remaining laps. While Briscoe did hold the top position for eight laps, it was
Scott Dixon, who was consistently around the top and eventually would inherit the lead on lap 20. Throughout the entirety of the race,
Lotus Cars such as rookie
Katherine Legge and
Simona de Silvestro face mechanical problems, as Lotus finished third between the manufactures, behind
Chevrolet and
Honda. During the mid-portion of the race, drivers such as
Takuma Sato, defending series champion
Dario Franchitti and
J. R. Hildebrand would all hold a lead in the race. However, coming down to the end, it would be
Hélio Castroneves and Dixon battling for the lead in the race and the victory. After a series of pit stops on lap 72, Castroneves would make a bold pass on Dixon, giving him position behind, then leader Hildebrand. This position would eventually allow him to inherit the lead of the race, as Castroneves would lead the final 26 laps, giving him the victory, his first victory since the
2010 season. == Classification ==