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NOTES: Last season, Helio Castroneves captured this race for the second consecutive year, as he edged Scott Dixon by less than a second for his 12th career IndyCar title. Dixon, who finished runner-up for the second straight season, lost by 0.6007 of a second. The win by Castroneves was his only victory in 2007. Dixon has gotten off to a great start in 2008, as he recorded victory at last week's Indy 300 in Miami, his ninth IndyCar trophy. In his last 18 races, Dixon has five wins and 17 top-10 finishes. In 2006, Castroneves crossed the finish line ahead of Dixon while under caution for his then eighth career IndyCar title and first of that season. Pole sitter Dario Franchitti failed to finish the race due to wheel bearing issues and finished last after leading the first 14 laps. Castroneves battled Dixon down the stretch, recapturing the lead on lap 96 of the 100-lap race. Just one lap later, Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice collided and the caution came out, however the crash was too much to clean up in time and Castroneves took the checkered flag. The streets of St. Petersburg have hosted open-wheel racing since 2003 and has made a seamless transition from Champ Car to IndyCar Series event, beginning in 2005. Much like temporary courses in Cleveland and Edmonton, St. Petersburg uses portions of an airport for its race surface, as the runways at Albert Whitted Airport provide high-speed entries into tight passing opportunities in the Firestone Curve at Turn 1. Unlike Cleveland and Edmonton, St. Pete actually uses public street courses for the track as well as the 1.806-mile course meanders along the Bayfront and near Al Lang Field, the Spring Training home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays. Starting in the ninth position in 2005, Dan Wheldon trailed throughout the race and briefly held the lead for lap 62 of the 100-lap event. Pole sitter Bryan Herta, led for 39 laps, including the opening 16 and Ryan Briscoe, who led a race-high 43 laps, held the top spot on laps 80-91. Wheldon took control on lap 92 and held on the rest of the way, as he edged Tony Kanaan by less than two seconds to capture the inaugural race. Herta finished fourth while Briscoe placed 14th after suffering an accident on lap 91. Twelve of the 21 cars were still running at the end of the race with eight on the lead lap. Ryan Hunter-Reay will make his 51st open-wheel start right where he put the #1 on his list. Hunter-Reay ran his first Champ Car race ever on the streets of St. Pete, competing with Stefan Johansson's American Spirit Racing squad. He made only 61 laps that day before contact put him out, but he qualified 12th in his first event. The reigning Bombardier Rookie of the Year, Hunter-Reay has earned one of his two Indy Car wins on a street course as he stormed to the checkers at Surfers Paradise as a rookie in 2003. The next event on the IndyCar series schedule will be April 19th for the Indy Japan 300, as Tony Kanaan defends his title at Twin Ring Motegi. 04/01 16:03:42 ET