NASCAR Cup Series

Another rough St. Pete visit for Scott Dixon

Published Mar. 29, 2010 7:21 p.m. ET

foxsports

Scott Dixon might not be in any hurry to return to the Honda Grand Prix.

Dixon's run of ridiculously bad luck on the streets of St. Petersburg continued Monday, when the runner-up in last year's Indy Racing League series point chase finished 18th after two incidents - both of which he took the blame for - marred his chances.

``Just two mistakes on my part,'' Dixon said.

Dixon finished second behind Helio Castroneves in 2006 and 2007. He hasn't been remotely close to victory in St. Pete since.

Mechanical issues sent him to a 22nd-place finish (in a 26-car field) in 2008, and a wreck in Turn 3 last year gave him a mere 16th-place showing.

It's early in the season, of course, but Dixon knows every standings point counts, a lesson learned once again last year when Dario Franchitti nipped him by 11 points for the IndyCar championship.

``You never know what happens at the end,'' Dixon said. ``You need all the points you can.''

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CRISIS AVERTED: The combination of course cleanup and sweeping led to an interesting moment about 30 minutes into Monday's Honda Grand Prix.

The yellow flag came out when Takuma Sato went into a tire wall, ending his day and sending most cars to the pits. With both the wrecker on the course - to pick up Sato's damaged ride - and the large truck that serves as a street-sweeper also on-track, there were two large obstacles for drivers to deal with as they returned from the pits.

Many had to slam on the brakes to avoid the sweeper truck, causing a five-wide traffic jam. Somehow, there was no incidents.

``Well, that was interesting,'' Nicole Briscoe typed onto her husband Ryan Briscoe's Twitter feed.

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SCHEDULE ISSUE: Gen. David Petraeus, who was expected to serve as the honorary Grand Marshal and issue the ``Drivers, start your engines'' command, was unable to attend Monday's delayed race because of schedule conflicts.

Command Sergeant Major Marvin Hill filled in for Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Afghanistan and typically regarded as the most popular and widely known general of his generation. Many have speculated that Petraeus could become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

He's wildly popular in this section of Florida, given its proximity to the headquarters of the United States Central Command, which Petraeus oversees.

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KANAAN'S SHUFFLE: Tony Kanaan says there's a new attitude around his team this year, and is thrilled about it.

The offseason was one big shake-up for Kanaan's team, after a sixth-place finish in the overall 2009 IndyCar standings. Every aspect was evaluated and re-evaluated, and the decision was made for sweeping change.

``The only person left on that team from last year is myself,'' Kanaan said. ``Everybody else is different. Not new people, but we shuffled people around in the team.''

Based on what he sees so far, Kanaan says that was the right move.

Another edge for Kanaan this year, he said, was having team owner Michael Andretti around more often for advice and counsel.

``When it goes right, it goes right,'' said Kanaan, the series champion in 2004 with essentially the same team he had through 2009. ``Everything is awesome. The atmosphere is better. It's just different people. We're kind of getting to know each other.''

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50 FOR ANDRETTI: Michael Andretti got his 50th win as a car owner this weekend.

Sage Karam, 15, won USF2000 series races - the entry-level rung on the ``Road to Indy'' ladder series - on Saturday and Sunday by an average of 14 seconds for Andretti Autosport. The second of those victories was the milestone one for Andretti.

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NOTES: Scott Dixon started third, extending his record of consecutive races starting in the 10th spot or better to 34. Dixon was fastest in Sunday morning's final practice as well, the first time all weekend that Will Power hadn't had the top lap time in an on-track session. ... France's J.K. Vernay became the eighth driver to win his debut race in the IndyLights series on Sunday before the really hard rain came down and pushed the IRL race to Monday. He's gone by ``Jean Karl'' in the past. On the name change? ``Because normally, Americans, it's more difficult for them to say 'Jean Karl,''' he said. ... Jon Secada sang the national anthem. ... A prerace video showed a quick question-and-answer session with Danica Patrick, including having her spell ``aerodynamic.'' Patrick balked at first, then seemed to surprise herself by getting it right on the first try. ... When Vitor Meira stayed out during a yellow in lap 28 to take the lead, it was his first time in front of an IndyCar race since August 2008.