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2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Race RecapsHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Sunday, March 25 at Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.Helio Castroneves ended a winless drought of more than a year by winning the Honda Grand Prixof St. Petersburg for the third time on March 25.Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Chevrolet, passedTarget Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon for second place with a pass on the outside of Turn 1 on Lap73 and went on to score the 26th win of his Indy car career.Dixon finished second in his Honda-powered car, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay of AndrettiAutosport in a Chevrolet-powered car. James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top-five.It was an emotional day for Castroneves, who dedicated his win to the late Dan Wheldon.After taking the checkered flag, Castroneves stopped his car at Turn 10 and honored Wheldon,who called St. Petersburg home, by climbing the fence and patting the "Dan Wheldon Way" sign locatedthere.Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama – Sunday, April 1 at Barber Motorsports ParkWill Power held off Scott Dixon on a restart with 16 laps left to win the Honda Indy Grand Prixof Alabama for the second year in a row.Dixon, who was 3.3709 seconds behind in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, has thedistinction of being the race runner-up all three years (twice to Power and in the inaugural race to HelioCastroneves). He broke a tie with teammate Dario Franchitti with 27 second-place finishes on the all-timelist and is one behind Castroneves.Castroneves, the pole sitter, finished third to maintain the points lead in the young season andcontinue his resurgence after a disappointing 2011 season. He held off Graham Rahal in the No. 38Service Chip Ganassi Racing car by 0.2245 of a second.Simon Pagenaud finished fifth and James Hinchcliffe was sixth after starting on the front row forthe first time in his IZOD IndyCar Series career. Mike Conway, who provided A.J. Foyt Racing its bestnon-oval starting position (fourth) since 2007, finished seventh.Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – Sunday, April 15 at Streets of Long Beach, Calif.Will Power, who started the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in Row 6 because of apenalty assessed on all 11 Chevrolet-powered cars for unapproved engine changes, overcame the deficitby stretching 18.5 gallons of E85 the last 21 laps on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit, all the whilebeing chased down by Simon Pagenaud.It was Team Penske's first Indy car victory at Long Beach since 2001 (Helio Castroneves), whilePower won the Champ Car finale on the course in 2008 with KV Racing Technology.Pagenaud, who pitted the No. 77 Honda-powered car for the final time on Lap 70 of 85, finished0.8675 of a second back. Over the final three laps, he ran lap times 1.5-2 seconds quicker than Power(1:10.4941 to 1:12.0333 for instance on Lap 84).Pagenaud, who led laps for the first time since 2007 in Belgium, also gave Schmidt Hamilton HPMotorsports its highest finish since Jaques Lazier at Nashville in 2001 (as Sam Schmidt Motorsports).Seven different teams were represented in the top 10.James Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 27 GoDaddy.com car for Andretti Autosport, finished third asteammate Ryan Hunter-Reay incurred a 30-second penalty on the final lap for avoidable contact with theNo. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car. It was his first podium finish in his IZOD IndyCar Seriescareer. Sato, seeking his first IZOD IndyCar Series podium, finished eighth. Hunter-Reay checked insixth.Tony Kanaan, who started 19th, finished a season-best fourth and JR Hildebrand was fifth -- hisbest since placing fourth at Iowa last June.