St. Petersburg - Team Penske - Race source: irl-live.com - E.A. Helio Castroneves was as close to perfect as possible in Sunday's Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, leading 95 of the race's 100 laps to claim his 12th career IndyCar Series victory. Castroneves' win in his No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara put him back in the championship picture and gave him much-needed momentum heading into the IndyCar season's third race April 21 in Japan. "It's incredible," said Castroneves, who recorded his second consecutive victory in the St. Petersburg race. "You have to be so focused. I had to be really careful that I didn't make a mistake. But it's my time. We won." Team-mate Sam Hornish Jr had a strong finish as well in seventh and scoring valuable points in the championship race. Castroneves is now tied for second in points, while Hornish is fifth. "We ran the Team Penske car in the top five for pretty much the first three quarters of the race," Hornish said. "We stayed out a little too long on that second stint, so it's not exactly where we wanted to finish, but sometimes that's the way it goes. Now we'll just have to keep working hard and look ahead to Japan." Castroneves, known for his post-victory fence climb, didn't climb very far after Sunday's win. The reason: He was exhausted after a gruelling, 100-lap street race in the Florida heat. "I was so focused," Castroneves explained. "That was probably one of the races where I focused the most. Nothing was distracting me. I'm glad. I'm getting better. I'm still learning, believe it or not. It was very good for me to achieve that stage. It looks very easy on TV. I have to say it isn't easy. It's not easy at all."
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