Kanaan, Castroneves keep climbing the charts

Before climbing in the No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing car for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Tony Kanaan flashed back to the inaugural Verizon IndyCar Series race on the street circuit.

Kanaan finished 1.4577 seconds behind race winner Dan Wheldon, with Dario Franchitti placing third and Bryan Herta finishing fourth. Andretti Green Racing’s 1-2-3-4 finish is the only one for a team in an Indy car event.

“For us it was great, it made everybody else mad,” Kanaan said of the 2005 finish. "That came up in my mind. I said, 'You know what, that was so great with Dan that we shouldn't allow that to happen (again) yet.' ”

With Will Power earning the Verizon P1 Award for the 110-lap race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit March 28 and teammates Simon Pagenaud, Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya completing the first two rows, Team Penske threatened to match the feat.

“You get four very good drivers with four very good cars, chances are that you're eventually going to get 1-2-3-4,” Kanaan continued.  “Like I said, I've been on a team like that before. I think they're dialed in. It's up to us to try to break that.”

Kanaan finished third and Castroneves, who placed fourth, moved into a sixth-place tie on the all-time list in top-five finishes. It also was Kanaan’s 72nd career top-three finish and sixth in 11 starts at St. Petersburg, though he hasn’t cracked the winner’s circle.

“I have plenty of podiums here, but not a win. As long as I come back here, I'm going to keep digging, trying to get a win," said Kanaan, 40, who made his 295th Indy car start. “This is a nice way to start the season, and after this third-place finish I'm even more motivated to continue to do better."