# 2006 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2006 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2006 IndyCar Series season, held on April 2, 2006 on the Streets of St. Petersburg city track and covered by ESPN. Dario Franchitti won the pole, but was knocked out early due to mechanical failure. The race was won by Helio Castroneves, finishing under the yellow flag after Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice hit the barrier with 4 laps to go.

## Qualifying results

| Pos | Name | Team | Qual Time | Best Lap | Laps |
| 1 | Dario Franchitti | Andretti Green Racing | 1:02.2753 | 5 | 6 |
| 2 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:02.5951 | 4 | 7 |
| 3 | Tony Kanaan | Andretti Green Racing | 1:02.6127 | 7 | 11 |
| 4 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Team Penske | 1:02.6758 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | 1:02.7482 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Bryan Herta | Andretti Green Racing | 1:02.8774 | 6 | 7 |
| 7 | Buddy Rice | Rahal Letterman Racing Team | 1:03.5648 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Tomas Scheckter | Vision Racing | 1:03.7143 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Kosuke Matsuura | Super Aguri Fernandez Racing | 1:03.8033 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing | 1:03.8853 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Roberto Moreno | Vision Racing | 1:03.9455 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Vítor Meira | Panther Racing | 1:04.0206 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Dan Wheldon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:04.0267 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Danica Patrick | Rahal Letterman Racing Team | 1:04.4436 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Scott Sharp | Super Aguri Fernandez Racing | 1:04.8588 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Felipe Giaffone | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:05.3845 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Eddie Cheever Jr. | Cheever Racing | 1:05.5475 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | Buddy Lazier | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 1:06.2425 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | P. J. Chesson | Hemelgarn Racing | 1:08.8266 | 1 | 1 |

## Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Lead | Points |
| 1 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | 100 | 1:56:57.5172 | 5 | 40 | 53 |
| 2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 100 | +0.1386 secs | 2 | 36 | 40 |
| 3 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | Andretti Green Racing | 100 | +0.6284 secs | 3 | 0 | 35 |
| 4 | 7 | Bryan Herta | Andretti Green Racing | 100 | +0.7813 secs | 6 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 | 4 | Vítor Meira | Panther Racing | 100 | +2.5995 secs | 12 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 16 | Danica Patrick | Rahal Letterman Racing Team | 100 | +3.0433 secs | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 | 55 | Kosuke Matsuura | Super Aguri Fernandez Racing | 100 | +52.7172 secs | 9 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 6 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Team Penske | 99 | + 1 Lap | 4 | 2 | 24 |
| 9 | 14 | Felipe Giaffone | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 99 | + 1 Lap | 16 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 8 | Scott Sharp | Super Aguri Fernandez Racing | 99 | + 1 Lap | 15 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 51 | Eddie Cheever Jr. | Cheever Racing | 99 | + 1 Lap | 17 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 2 | Tomas Scheckter | Vision Racing | 96 | Accident | 8 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 15 | Buddy Rice | Rahal Letterman Racing Team | 96 | Accident | 7 | 8 | 17 |
| 14 | 5 | Buddy Lazier | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 59 | Mechanical | 18 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 26 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing | 58 | Halfshaft | 10 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | 10 | Dan Wheldon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 57 | Accident | 13 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 91 | P. J. Chesson | Hemelgarn Racing | 55 | Suspension | 19 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 20 | Roberto Moreno | Vision Racing | 32 | Steering | 11 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Andretti Green Racing | 15 | Wheel Bearing | 1 | 14 | 12 |

## Caution flags

* Caution 1: Laps 53-59 (7) - Spin: Car 91 in Turn 10
* Caution 2: Laps 97-100 (4) - Contact: Cars 2 and 15 in Turn 4