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Castroneves wins 2010 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama12/04/2010

Indy Grand Prix of Alabama won by Helio Castroneves

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) held off Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) to win the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday 11 April.

Castroneves stormed to the finish line after coming off a late caution period with only two laps remaining. Castroneves over took Marco Andretti as the Andretti Autosport driver headed into the pits with seven laps remaining to take the lead.

Castroneves completed the 90 lap race in 1hr 56min 41.3928sec, 0.57sec ahead of Dixon. Scotland's Dario Franchitti (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) finished third and Australian Will Power (Team Penske), winner of the season's first two races, started from pole position but finished fourth - holding on to his lead in the championship.

Thanks to Firestone for great tires

"We learned a lot in Brazil and St. Pete, and we were able to execute what we learned here today. It was interesting - the alternate Firestone tires were really good in the beginning. Then, all of a sudden, they really went off. But as soon as the yellow came, and we did the restart, it was awesome! The tires got right back into the groove. So I was really happy. The primary tires kept very consistent. I'm thankful to Firestone for giving me great tires to be able to win my first race of the season."
Race winner Helio Castroneves, #12 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone

Alabama circuit is quite abrasive

"Congratulations Helio for his first win of the season, and to Team Penske for going three-for-three so far. For an inaugural event, the Firestone Firehawk tires held up very well. The track was quite abrasive, and the temperatures were higher than anything we have experienced to date in testing at the track. The alternate tires surprised us a bit by how well they held up. As Official Tire of this race, I am pleased with the event, and we look forward to many more stops at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park to come. Thanks and congratulations to the Barber staff and to ZOOM Motorsports for putting together such a fantastic event. We also really appreciate the enthusiastic fans that turned out in droves to support the IZOD IndyCar Series."
Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing